If You Had $20k and No Savings...

[Brian4Liberty]

What would you do with the money right now? I'm asking in complete seriousness, and could really use the advice. Where would you invest? And mutual funds worth looking at? How much into gold & silver?

Will you need the money in the short term? Most advisers would say that you need a liquid emergency fund.

[Czolgosz]

Is this money you may be needing in the next couple years? If so (and you indicate you want safety), you want to take less risk than if you won't need it for a long time. You will at least want to keep enough in a safe, liquid form to be able to cover all your expenses for a year (they used to say about six months but given the current employment situation I would want a year) should you for some reason lose your income source. I would not put that money into stocks or metals. But having said that, where I have a block of my "emergency fund" is in a stock- a dividend paying utility stock. Look into DRIPs or Dividend ReInvestment Plans- the cheapest way to invest in stocks (lower costs means higher returns). I get a guaranteed return with the dividend and utility stocks tend to be pretty stable so are less risky than other stocks. I keep another chunk (at least three months expenses) in a basic bank account. Low interest but safe keeping for the money. Having a reserve was critical the last time I found myself out of work- and it took 11 months to find a new job.

I'm in the same position, looks like just a little over 11 months and I have a new gig.

[Zippyjuan]

Congratulations! I was so happy to be finally working again! I did not care that I was working for a lot less money than before- it was more money than not working and I had the chance to work my way up. Now I make more than I used to. Looking for work was very frustrating and really sucked. A really crappy job is better than trying to find a job for that long.

[brandon]

I'd put it all into a savings account and then I would have savings.

[Czolgosz]

Congratulations! I was so happy to be finally working again! I did not care that I was working for a lot less money than before- it was more money than not working and I had the chance to work my way up. Now I make more than I used to. Looking for work was very frustrating and really sucked. A really crappy job is better than trying to find a job for that long.

Indeed :-)

I'm making about 10% less, but getting back in the saddle is worth it. I tried getting a crappy job, nobody would hire me...really a lame position to be in.

[Tpoints]

Haha, well my savings WERE Apple stock, but I had to bail on it because I think it's a sinking ship. I'm a small business owner making $800 a month, so it will be a long journey before I have more money to invest. I just need a safe place for that money. Inflation makes savings accounts pointless.

what kind of business do you own? if you run a business, $20k shouldn't be hard to use

[2young2vote]

Assuming I had no home no car and no job, I would build myself a tiny house (one of those 100 square foot homes) with solar panels for heat and a wood stove for warmth at a cost of less than $10,000, buy a cheap car that can tow it and find someone that is willing to let me stay in their driveway and use their water. I would have a home with no debt that I can take anywhere I need, a car to get me anywhere I need, and I could find a minimum wage job and have next to no expenses beyond food/wood/water which would all be pretty cheap. And if i could I would not even get a car at all which would eliminate car maintenance costs. From there I could save several thousand a year and after a few years I would have more money than I started with. At that point I could start investing.

[Zippyjuan]

100 square foot would be ten feet by ten feet. That is indeed tiny.

[amonasro]

100 square foot would be ten feet by ten feet. That is indeed tiny.

About the size of a Manhattan studio.

[brandon]

Setting your sites kind of low there 2young, eh? $20,000 isn't a lot of money. Why would you want to work a minimum wage job?