Ideas to invest small amounts of money in

[MigL]

Take Ten oz's advice...
Save a little more, enough for a down payment, invest in real estate.
Re-invest the gains in value.
Make your money work for you.

You won't become filthy rich, but you'll be more than comfortable.

In the early 80s, I had about $25000 saved. Older war-time homes ( built in the 40s ) were selling for about $25-35000.
But interest rates were as high as 16-18%, which made investment kind of scary for a person in their early 20s without a good job.
Three years later, after the recession, these same homes were selling for $75-90000.

Had I taken the risk and invested $5000 ( down payment ) on five such homes, and rented them out, I could have increased my 'wealth' by more than an order of magnitude.
To this day, I still kick myself for not taking the risk.

Edited October 12, 2018 by MigL

[iNow]

Invest in your debt. If you’re paying 5% on a loan or mortgage, then it becomes clear that earning only 2-3% on a fund is the dumb move. 

Invest in yourself. Education. Travel. Family. Not necessarily in that order. 

Right now, the market is bearish. All week it’s been tanking. This may continue. A cratering market is a tune to buy, not to sell. 

I don’t like gambling, though. So I’ll just stick to my smart autopilot approach and avoid letting my emotions dictate my actions... unless a high value high return company tanks and becomes a cheap purchase. 

[Silvestru]

Thank you studiot,MigL, iNow.
This thread is a bit old so to update you, I invested in a special program from the multinational company that I work for where they sell shares with a 15% discount to it's employees.
It makes the company look better when more people buy shares and a 15% discount makes is almost impossible to loose money. (It's a big company. some big scandal should take place to get a loss.) The trick is that I have to keep these shares and the $$$ is frozen until February.
Until then I am on standby and I keep buying shares. I will keep you updated then but please feel free to share your history or current ideas/plans.

PS MigL, don't beat yourself too bad for the house that could have been. To quote Max Payne:
There are no choices. Nothing but a straight line. The illusion comes afterwards, when you ask 'Why me?' and 'What if?' when you look back, see the branches, like a pruned bonsai tree, or a forked lightning. If you had done something differently, it wouldn't be you, it would be someone else looking back, asking a different set of questions.

[studiot]

23 minutes ago, Silvestru said:

Thank you studiot,MigL, iNow.
This thread is a bit old so to update you, I invested in a special program from the multinational company that I work for where they sell shares with a 15% discount to it's employees.
It makes the company look better when more people buy shares and a 15% discount makes is almost impossible to loose money. (It's a big company. some big scandal should take place to get a loss.) The trick is that I have to keep these shares and the $$$ is frozen until February.
Until then I am on standby and I keep buying shares. I will keep you updated then but please feel free to share your history or current ideas/plans.

Yes that is a good way to go in England.

If your company has an employee share options scheme, you also get (some) tax relief on the purchase/profit from those shares - an added bonus.

So look into that aspect

[iNow]

37 minutes ago, Silvestru said:

I invested in a special program from the multinational company that I work for where they sell shares with a 15% discount to it's employees.

Smart idea. Employee stock purchase programs are often a great way to earn at a discounted price. I've taken advantage of same with most of my employers.

Obviously, we need/want the employers stock to rise, and we need to hold to avoid short-term gains taxes, and avoid selling during blackout periods, etc... but a wise move.

A similar wise move is taking advantage of company match for 401K type investments (if those are relevant where you live). It's free money, and ignoring it is IMO dumb.

[MigL]

Well don't keep us in suspense.
What is this multinational company you've invested in ?

( mine is in my profile )

[Silvestru]

20 hours ago, MigL said:

Well don't keep us in suspense.
What is this multinational company you've invested in ?

( mine is in my profile )

Ah sorry, it wasn't meant to be suspense. I work in finance for Shell haha. I didn't mention it because I didn't want to be seen as the biggest hypocrite and a traitor to my people.

(Shell has a program where you can buy shares from them at a discount.)

To clarify polar bears and Shell were never on the best of terms:

Spoiler

  

 

Edited October 13, 2018 by Silvestru

[Sensei]

27 minutes ago, Silvestru said:

To clarify polar bears and Shell were never on the best of terms:

You can always persuade them to make fuel (CO₂ + H₂O + energy from the Sun in the middle of nowhere, like on the Sahara), instead of digging it..

Search net for "ethanol for air" + eventually "chemistry select".

http://time.com/4536708/carbon-dioxide-ethanol/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2016/10/21/addressing-another-energy-miracle-ethanol-from-carbon-dioxide/#7614130518b7

 

[studiot]

My brother-in-law has worked for Shell since he left university and his family have done very well out of the company share scheme.

Buy all you can get hold of.

 

And could I have a copy of the pic (by PM?) as I can't extract it from the spoiler?

Edited October 13, 2018 by studiot

[StringJunky]

42 minutes ago, studiot said:

My brother-in-law has worked for Shell since he left university and his family have done very well out of the company share scheme.

Buy all you can get hold of.

 

And could I have a copy of the pic (by PM?) as I can't extract it from the spoiler?

In Windows: Right-click on image and select "Save image as" to your desktop

Edited October 13, 2018 by StringJunky

[mistermack]

Buy a classic motorcycle, and look after it. If you are sensible when you buy it, and don't pay way over market price,  you will have an asset that will grow in value, be cheap to insure, and give pleasure on nice days.

I have a Triumph Speed Twin that I've had for about 20 years. Never regretted it. It doesn't even need to be taxed or tested on the road, just insurance, which is lumped in with the policy for my Honda 800. 

[Silvestru]

"My father never went to college so it was really important I go to college. After college, I called him long distance and said, now what? My dad didn't know. When I got a job and turned twenty-five, long distance, I said, now what? My dad didn't know, so he said, get married. I'm a thirty-year-old boy, and I'm wondering if another woman is really the answer I need."

Happy new year! Now 2018 is over and we reaped the benefits from the share scheme. 

I've also been painting and selling for some small profit this year so I would like to thank you all for the support and encourage you to save/invest for your future.

So as my quote suggests: Now what?  

• I was thinking to craft something and sell like I've been doing with paintings but I have no inspiration. 
• I was thinking of buying a 3-D printer and make stuff and sell it. (like a vase and other home stuff).
• Opening a Pet Hotel.

As you can see I am low on ideas. How have you guys been? Not wasting money on useless stuff I hope.

[Sensei]

On 10/12/2018 at 4:58 PM, Silvestru said:

It makes the company look better when more people buy shares and a 15% discount makes is almost impossible to loose money. (It's a big company. some big scandal should take place to get a loss.) The trick is that I have to keep these shares and the $$$ is frozen until February.
Until then I am on standby and I keep buying shares. I will keep you updated then but please feel free to share your history or current ideas/plans. 

Shell stock prices at the beginning of October 2018 were even for 30 euros, in the day you wrote above words costed 28.2. After 15% discount, it's ~26 and ~24.5 respectively. Current (today) price of Shell stocks is 26.32 euros... The trend is downward... Looks like entire discount vanished..

What was absolute price per stock you bought them?

Edited January 4, 2019 by Sensei

[Silvestru]

51 minutes ago, Sensei said:

Shell stock prices at the beginning of October 2018 were even for 30 euros, in the day you wrote above words costed 28.2. After 15% discount, it's ~26 and ~24.5 respectively. Current (today) price of Shell stocks is 26.32 euros... The trend is downward... Looks like entire discount vanished..

What was absolute price per stock you bought them?

Not really. Bought them for 25.95 without discount. In this moment they are 26.30. So very small gain even without discount.

All I can say is that prices fluctuate  

But I am not here to talk about share plans haha. I wanted others to share their plans as well and hopefully to inspire each other.

Oh Sensei I just realised the confusion. So the shares are bought on the first business day of the new year. Even though I was contributing throughout the year.