What do I do with $50,000?

But before setting off plans to travel I'd pay off all credit card debt and car payments. I don't have any so I didn't add that. I assumed that you didn't have any bad debt.

Spend most of it on wild women and whiskey. The rest of it you can just waste.

I really appreciate everyone's advice. It truly is helpful.

To fill in some details:

I have no debt. This money, as you might suspect, came as inheritance. I received an initial disbursement last year, which I used to pay off car/student loans. The rest of that (about $10K) is sitting in a savings account (I would consider this my emergency fund). I am now receiving the remainder of the inheritance (the $50K). So I am free to do with this money as I please (my salary, while nothing crazy, does afford me some breathing room once bills are paid). Investments are a bit daunting because I never really devoted much thought or research to this stuff (to my own peril). My risk tolerance is pretty low. I have a girlfriend but no plans to get married anytime soon. I rent. I've never had a credit card in my life.

I'm not saying this just to pick on you OP, but just in general because it needs to be said. If you were a Native American living on the plains 200 years ago you would know everything about buffalo from thier migration habits to how to make a coat or bowstring out of their body parts. Because that would be your means of survival. If you were a Viking you would know all there is to know about sailing.

We are lucky that when it comes to making a living we can do nearly anything we can imagine. However, it is our responsibility to know how to manage money as a means of survival. There is more information on the subject than you can fathom, study and spread what you learn because there are too many people who are uninformed.

The less interest you have in studying the subject, the more conservative the source of info should be.

No offense taken. I readily acknowledge my relative ignorance when it comes to investing money (hence the 'novice' in my name). My studies/profession have had absolutely nothing to do with finances or money management. But I think I'm capable of deciphering the suggestions being given here.

one dude wrote:

Two chicks at the same time.

This ^^^^^ or a lot of crack cocaine

Jogger to be wrote:

That PTTRX fund is crap. Low returns and you have to have 1mil to invest initially according to the link.

After you get debt free, some mutual funds that I own are

TWMIX (American Century Emerging Markets Fund)

FIREX (Fidelity International Real Estate Fund)

FHKCX (Fidelity China Region Fund)

Vanguard also has some really good options. Asia and Eastern Europe has been doing well since the 2008/09 crash.

Also, for your emergency fund or liquid fund, look at an online high yield savings account. Capital one has the best return right now at 1.24% with HSBC right behind. Back in 2006 HSBC was paying out over 5%. All these based on the fed rate.

Typical know-it-all you find here. Pimco Total Return has several options depending on minimum purchase. I have made made a significant amount of money being a trend follower in futures over the last decade, but the fact is that Pimco has several options, and the PTTAX has a minimum purchase of $1000. Since most of my investment is in futures (long 2 SP500 contracts and 3 comex gold contracts), due to leverage, most of my money is in Pimco Total Returns, which absolutely KILLS Vanguard Index 500 over the last 10 years.

I see various people claiming to be financial gurus with their advice, and Bill Gross has been you guys look like fools WITH BONDS.

And if you really want to talk about investment returns, these are my stocks (unlike others here, I don't make facts up as I go along):

Up 200% since June 22, 2009 when I went from being short 2 SP500 contracts to being fully long.

financial novice,

Good for you to be seeking out advice.

My first suggestion to you would be to do NOTHING with the money for a year. That's right, let it sit in a high yield savings account, earning a shitty 1.5% interest, for at least 12 months.

Why? Because it will force you to avoid making a rash (uneducated) decision. I think this is a great practice for anyone receiving windfall money (inheritance, lottery win, etc..)

Now, in that 12 months, do some research and educate yourself.

Mutual Funds - read up on Vanguard (the best) and why they are the best (low fees). Read something by Vanguard's founder, Jack Bogle.

Diversification - find a book that shows you the power of including non-correlated assets in your portfolio. So, not just stocks, or bonds, or gold, or cash, or real estate, but the right combination of them. It sounds complicated, but it isn't.

Read the book "Fail Safe Investing", by Harry Browne. In it he explains his Permanent Portfolio, why it works. He also explains a lot of the pitfalls of "investing". There is a Harry Browne website, with some archives of his radio shows if you want an introduction. By the way, the Permanent Portfolio is 25% each of Growth stocks, Long-term US Treasury bonds, cash, and gold.

Most of the advice Flagpole spelled out mirrors Dave Ramsey's book. Read his book "Total Money Makeover" if you want to.

Get a PROFESSIONAL to advise you. If you get financial advice from a bunch of anonymous joggers (who might be living in their parents' garage), on a running board, you are an IDIOT.

Buy 2 birds and let em fly. Translation: Buy 2 kilos of cocaine and rent a studio apt near any large white college or university. Go to GNC and buy a bottle of inosotol. Put a 2 on the package. Break it all down to 8 balls and grams. Within a month you will be sitting on $200,000.

As a bonus, you should also get to bang a few co-eds.

Bird Man wrote:

Buy 2 birds and let em fly. Translation: Buy 2 kilos of cocaine and rent a studio apt near any large white college or university. Go to GNC and buy a bottle of inosotol. Put a 2 on the package. Break it all down to 8 balls and grams. Within a month you will be sitting on $200,000.

As a bonus, you should also get to bang a few co-eds.

How do I get to the admissions office?

Not bad advice really...you're right on about Vanguard. Man how do other firms even make it with Vanguard as a competitor? Of course I'm not a fan of the GOLD part of Browne's investing advice, but that's ok. Also, while I agree in principle with not making any rash decisions, I think it's for sure a no-brainer to get rid of any debt with interest at a minimum and perhaps all of it. Also, if the money is in a mutual fund, it's still liquid, so he can cash out at any time. I suppose you're just wanting him to be conservative for a year...because, I mean, the mutual funds COULD go down over just a one-year period. So, not horrible to sit on the money for a little while...not what I would do, but I won't tell you it's wrong. Now, he COULD put the money (after paying off debt) into an MMA account so it is staged for investing.

I don't agree with the notion that you should only purchase a house if you intend to live in it for 15+ years. I purchased my starter home in 1991 for $105K. In 1999 after living there for 8 years, I sold it for $135K and rolled the equity into my current home, purchased for $235K. 12 years later even after the fluctuations in the real estate market, the house is worth at least $380K.

I haven't lived in either house for longer than 15 years, but I would say both have been good investments. In another seven years, my mortgage will be paid off, at which point I'll probably suffer a Beamon-like seizure from the sudden onslaught of emotional security.

Flagpole wrote:

You meet the woman of your dreams the day after you buy a house and then marry her 2 years later (and she also has a house), then you need to sell one or both of them to move on with your lives. Pain in the ass.

Flagpole, this is EXACTLY what happened to me. Did you borrow this example from my thread?

Why Oh Why? wrote:

Flagpole wrote:

You meet the woman of your dreams the day after you buy a house and then marry her 2 years later (and she also has a house), then you need to sell one or both of them to move on with your lives. Pain in the ass.

Flagpole, this is EXACTLY what happened to me. Did you borrow this example from my thread?

Nope. Your story is not unique brother. You NEED to be at a certain stage in your life (and it doesn't mean just money) before you buy a house. I didn't buy my first home until I was 33...traveling around the country getting degrees and stepping-stone jobs before we decided where we wanted to raise kids.

Jogger to be wrote:

And then if you do, I have a condo in Atlanta for sale.

If you bought that condo right, you could have had a great income renting it out. Never buy a home for you that you couldn't make money on renting it.

not the realtors association wrote:

Jogger to be wrote:

And then if you do, I have a condo in Atlanta for sale.

If you bought that condo right, you could have had a great income renting it out. Never buy a home for you that you couldn't make money on renting it.

Ahh, thanks for the "advice" now, ha. I am renting it out but not making any money on it. The rent covers my rent in Boulder and a little extra. But when you take in account the mortgage and the condo fees (plus the fact Atlanta is very inexpensive to rent) it is hard to make money.

I was not trying to be a know it all. The link given for PTTAX has a minimum of 1mil to invest.

On returns:

PTTAX 5yr- 6.8% 10yr 6.4%

TWMIX 5yr- 10.5% 10yr 12%

FIREX 5yr- 5.2% 10yr too new.

FHKCX 5yr- 15.4% 10yr 11.2%

Yes PTTAX has a more consistent slow gain, but its extra cash and hes a young investor. Take a little more risk.

Charlie Sheen wrote:

Bird Man wrote:

Buy 2 birds and let em fly. Translation: Buy 2 kilos of cocaine and rent a studio apt near any large white college or university. Go to GNC and buy a bottle of inosotol. Put a 2 on the package. Break it all down to 8 balls and grams. Within a month you will be sitting on $200,000.

As a bonus, you should also get to bang a few co-eds.

How do I get to the admissions office?

Take those 2 bricks and drop them in a big pot of water. Add some baking soda and bring to a rapid boil while stirring. Then add COLD water and stir fast. Coke will solidify into a ball. Take it out of the water and let dry. Like magic, YOU WILL HAVE A BIG BRICK OF CRACK! Break it down to dime bags and sel, sell, sell. $300,000 in 2 weeks. No stock can beat that rate of return.

Thats what I do.

SmartGuy wrote:

Charlie Sheen wrote:

How do I get to the admissions office?

Take those 2 bricks and drop them in a big pot of water. Add some baking soda and bring to a rapid boil while stirring. Then add COLD water and stir fast. Coke will solidify into a ball. Take it out of the water and let dry. Like magic, YOU WILL HAVE A BIG BRICK OF CRACK! Break it down to dime bags and sel, sell, sell. $300,000 in 2 weeks. No stock can beat that rate of return.

Thats what I do.

I think we have a winner.