I have a million dollars.

[harrymcwealth]

What should I invest in?

[BMX]

My Business. PM me!

[noumenon]

In the unlikely scenario that you actually have a million dollars and are seeking financial advice in an online forum on how to lose it, I will give you some solid advice.
Please note, though, that I am not a certified financial analyst, broker or anything else that would deem me to be in a position of giving such advice. Take my advice with a grain of salt and do the research yourself.

Tip 1.
The best way to make money is investing in your own business. Of the 500 richest people in America, over 60% of them became rich by investing in their own business, not real estate or the stock market.

Tip 2.
If you're going to invest in the stock market, invest in alternative energy. Solar and wind power, especially, not ethanol, which is essentially a bad joke being played on America. Some good stocks for Solar are SOLF ( Chinese Solar company ) and TAN ( Solar Exchange Traded Fund/Index ). You could also invest in Oil, which will probably go over 150/barrel this year. Make sure you invest in several stocks, though, and never put more than 25% of your money into any individual investment. Diversification, as cliche as it may sound, is the key to success!

Tip 3.
If you're not looking for a really huge return, CD's and Bonds are always a safe bet. Their rates are rather low right now, hovering around 3% a year, but that's still $30,000 a year guaranteed. You could always keep your $1,000,000 in a CD or bond every year and invest the interest every following year into some kind of business venture. Within 4-5 years I'm sure you would find a successful business plan and begin building an empire.

The possibilities are basically limitless with a million dollars. If I had a million dollars, I'd be set for life, that much is for sure. You just have to handle it intelligently and be a little patient.

Good luck with your money, or your fantasy, whichever one it truly is.

[entrepresooner]

I'd invest in Real Estate if I had a Million. Right now is the time to buy, because there are plenty of steals to find. Either flip'em, or rent them out for a few years until the market stabilizes and then sell and reinvest. I'd start off with residential, and slowly move into commercial.

<edit>
But I wouldn't invest it all at ounce or all in one place either. I'd probably do one property at a time for the first year or so. Minimize risk. Definitily start a Roth IRA and deposit the max amt every year. Then invest the IRA's money, and watch it grow 100&#37; tax free. So now you are making money for now and for later....

[noumenon]

Real estate is not necessarily a bad choice but it is a buyer's market right now. That means you can buy your home for cheap, but finding someone to rent it out to will be difficult. Selling it would be even harder. The market is very competitive and we're not sure how quickly that's going to change.

As for IRA's, there are two different kinds. A Roth IRA is tax free when you take the money out. A Traditional IRA is not tax free when you take the money out, it only reduces your taxable income when you put money in, which is only useful if you want to lower your tax bracket, but the maximum amount you can put into an IRA every year is something like $2,500.

The safest bet in the end, I still confidently believe, is to either invest in stability ( CD, Bond, etc ) or a business. It depends on your goal.

[Gaulkin]

Hookers and blow. (This is what i tell everyone that asks this stupid question)

[Gaulkin]

Real estate is not necessarily a bad choice but it is a buyer's market right now. That means you can buy your home for cheap, but finding someone to rent it out to will be difficult. Selling it would be even harder. The market is very competitive and we're not sure how quickly that's going to change.

As for IRA's, there are two different kinds. A Roth IRA is tax free when you take the money out. A Traditional IRA is not tax free when you take the money out, it only reduces your taxable income when you put money in, which is only useful if you want to lower your tax bracket, but the maximum amount you can put into an IRA every year is something like $2,500.

The safest bet in the end, I still confidently believe, is to either invest in stability ( CD, Bond, etc ) or a business. It depends on your goal.

Actually your wrong, since there not giving out loans its easy to find people to rent to because they cant get financing to buy.

[rejoice]

invest it all in education because that will make you more millions than you could ever dream

[allysa]

I like noumenon's Tip 1 & Tip 2. I like the idea of investing in alternative energy.

[entrepresooner]

Gaulkin, My point exactly! All those people that got foreclosed and now have horrible credit basically are forced to rent.

Plus, RE in Texas in still growing, esp Houston (and Dallas from what I hear.)

[harrymcwealth]

Gaulkin you cocky retard, you obviously don't know anything about business. Just because you discuss something doesn't mean you have to do it. It's called a fucking brainstorm.

[harrymcwealth]

Anyway, in response to Allysa...

I think alternative energy would be a good investment. My thinking is that alternative energy systems are great -- but not highly accessible to many people, because of the upfront cost. So why not a company that buys solar panels and wind turbines in bulk, then rents them out?

[Gaulkin]

Gaulkin you cocky retard, you obviously don't know anything about business. Just because you discuss something doesn't mean you have to do it. It's called a fucking brainstorm.

Well aren't you an angry little guy, do a search and you'll find at least 10 of these stupid threads.

[RLorenzen]

Well aren't you an angry little guy, do a search and you'll find at least 10 of these stupid threads.

I know, this topic has been beaten to death.

[noumenon]

To Gaulkin and entrepresooner,

You're both correct in thinking the drop in home ownership levels will increase the number of potential renters. However, you might be overlooking the quality of renter available today. With the credit crisis, many people are broke or in debt - and those who aren't can buy foreclosed homes for very cheap to compete with you. A tenant who defaults on their payment can take months to evict, and all the while you have to pay the mortgage and court fees out of pocket.

Again, I'm not saying real estate is a bad investment, but being 'cheap' and 'available' doesn't necessarily create ideal circumstances for the entrepreneur. You will have a great deal of competition and many of the tenants you will be competing for will be broke and unable to pay their bills on time. It's just as risky as any other investment, and that is why I propose owning your own business before real estate or stocks.