Re: $5000 to invest
 

Thanks for the explanation. Sounds good.

Re: $5000 to invest
 

Buffett is a genius investor, probably the best... but even his a man of his reputation is going to find it tough to squeeze abnormal returns out of a company the size of Berkshire over long periods of time. That and he's probably going to retire soon. So I guess it all depends on what you're looking for.

Re: $5000 to invest
 

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BERK-B are B shares of Warren Buffett's holding company, Berkshire Hathaway... basically whatever he invests in. B are like A except worth 1/10 as much, to make it more accessible to regular investors. (Warren isn't fond of stock splits, so 1 A share sells for about as much as a luxury car)

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Did you take the time to read OP's post?

Re: $5000 to invest
 

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[ QUOTE ]
BERK-B are B shares of Warren Buffett's holding company, Berkshire Hathaway... basically whatever he invests in. B are like A except worth 1/10 as much, to make it more accessible to regular investors. (Warren isn't fond of stock splits, so 1 A share sells for about as much as a luxury car)

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Did you take the time to read OP's post?

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Did you take the time to read the question I was answering?

Re: $5000 to invest
 

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Ok I have $5,000 to invest and I have no idea what the stock, cds, and stuff to invest in. Can someone give me some good idea? I'm 18 and want to learn what to do.

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You can give me your money and I will invest it for you if you want.

Re: $5000 to invest
 

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invest in your financial education or end up blowing your money

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On a more serious note this post is spot on.


Take 5000 dollars, park it somewhere, and slowly spend that 5000$ on your financial education.

Re: $5000 to invest
 

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invest in your financial education or end up blowing your money

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Take 5000 dollars, park it somewhere, and slowly spend that 5000$ on your financial education.

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slowly? You mean like in one semester?

Re: $5000 to invest
 

Please don't listen to the posts in this thread.

Index funds are your best bet, if you can tolerate the risk of loss. Index funds have the same expected returns as individual stocks, but with much less risk.

If you can't tolerate the risk of loss, then a high-yield savings account would be good.


Try reading the sticky or searching. Your question has been asked and answered many times before. That's probably why people are giving such short responses.

Re: $5000 to invest
 

[ QUOTE ]
Please don't listen to the posts in this thread.

Index funds are your best bet, if you can tolerate the risk of loss. Index funds have the same expected returns as individual stocks, but with much less risk.

If you can't tolerate the risk of loss, then a high-yield savings account would be good.


Try reading the sticky or searching. Your question has been asked and answered many times before. That's probably why people are giving such short responses.

[/ QUOTE ]gull is dead on and most people in the thread are wrong. You want something like:

vanguard total stock market fund (VTSMX) + vanguard total international stock market fund (VGTSX)

or

vanguard target retirement fund


it's been proven (no literature links off hand) that the lowest expense ratios have the best returns and passive investing (via index funds) is best for almost all investors. Vanguard has the cheapest expense ratios that you can get. If you invest in a single stock, you are betting that the stock will go up FASTER than all the wall street professionals think it will go up. But if you just invest in the stock market as a whole, you are betting that the market will continue to rise as it has since it started. You get the same expected EV by investing in the entire market but reduce the variance a ton. Park it in a passive index fund, then learn about investing if you want to eek out a few extra %s on your money, but for now it's definitely your best bet.

A benefit of the vanguard target retirement fund is you can invest in it, and then never touch it until you retire and it automatically rebalances to allow the optimal allocation of your stocks and bonds. In general, the older you get the more bonds and less stock you want (stocks have more variance and bonds have less variance) because you don't want a short term dip in the market to happen right before you retire, but when you're young you can afford a short term dip in the market b/c the longer the money is invested the less likely it will end up a losing wager.
vanguard total international (all but USA)
vanguard total stock market fund (USA)
vanguard target retirement

Re: $5000 to invest
 

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Index funds have the same expected returns as individual stocks, but with much less risk.


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If you do your homework, individual stocks can beat the market with less risk as well.