Getting my first job, and going to have some disposible income, investment advice?

My Situation(may be skipped for brevity):
I'm going to be 18 in 8 days, and I have well paying job lined up that is very close to home, and I will be able work near full time even with my full time college enrollment. (I literally do the exact same stuff in my off hours anyway >_< )

I'll point immediately out I totally own (no payment) a reliable vehicle (consider it a handmedown) with ~25MPG

I've taken my gross pay and subtracted 45% as a rough estimate of income tax, social security, etc. (anything spare from this goes towards loans/savings)

I've tracked my expenses for the last 6 months, and multiplied the average by 150% and subtracted that from my pay. (That's gas, food, runescape membership, my web hosting, small out of wallet purchases, car insurance, etc)

I've subtracted the $200 monthly my parents are going to charge for rent >_< (but, hey, free meals and utilities!) (I can stay here as long as im in college)

Half of the remaining income I will put towards paying off my student loans(and saving to pay outright for the next semester and books, avoiding adding a loan)(As a side-note, the loan interest is ~1% and I dont have to start paying until i finish college)

What is left is disposable income

-----------------------
AAAAnyways, I'm going to have roughly $400-600/month in disposable income after taking all of that out. (not having to pay much rent, utilities, or food really helps. plus my beer, coffee, cigarette, and car bills are much lower than other peoples :noworry: )
(blowing money was included with expenses, so this is the amount I can abstain from spending :laugh: )
(I do believe $500/month is a decent amount to invest)

I'm seriously considering using this money to invest, But I dont know where yet.


I'm not interested in building a retirement fund(ultra stable low gain) this early...(My job field is high demand, VERY high demand. I got an interview just by saying what position i was interested in over the phone, virtually no other questions asked! So I'm not worried about unemployment. this is typical, 6 other students got jobs in similar manners)

The obvious types of investments are to buy stocks, mutual funds, etc...
I've been researching those, and have seen mentions of "DRIPS" and other investment types as well...

I wanted to ask the sythe community what type of investments they might choose if they were in my situation, both in high and low risk categories.

Please, No "Give me yoor monies so i cam make them biggggger!" posts...
I'm not asking for SPECIFIC investments par se, but rather investment types and categories.

Thank you, And I appreciate your advice :love:

 

you dont have much for major invests i dont know sorry
get atleast 10k$-50k$

 

im not looking for a "major invest" that requires 20K, im looking for something in my price range... Which is to invest up to $600 per month.

 

Buy bulk good? Sell on ebay? Designer clothes? Electirical goods? Stocks and shares? ... Um Illegal substances?

 

im thinking more stocks and shares type, not selling stuff on ebay.

(Well, i might, but I would make the goods myself... I can produce precision aircraft parts in my back yard if i want to. but thats separate to "investments")

 

Gold, Silver and Copper.
High demand. but the copper will be dipping in price in about 6 months, and I think Gold will also see a price dip in the near future.

 

I see metals at an extreme high atm, so im not interested in them. (only one way to go - down.)

 

Take your first $600, get yourself a nice hat, suite, cane, glasses, and 3-4 of your closest female girl friends. You may even be able to afford a billy club or something, but doubtful. Start by selling kisses at your local elementary school ($.50-$2 a kiss typically). As you start racking in the cash, odds are other females well smell the money and come join your club. I'll leave it to you to figure out where to go from there, but I don't think I've ever seen this sort of investment fail. Enjoy your lewt

 

You have got to be kidding me...>_<

 

Look into stocks around 7-13 dollars a peice if you only have 1 grand to gamble.

Once you get used to the market you can have up to 800 dollar profits in one day.

I use e trade. I dont have a job, but i make a good living in the stock market as a 19 year old.

Stocks to look into now:

DGIT (Hd Commercials for Super bowl)
AIG (google it)
GM (Common since, its up 11% after the bail out has been paid back)
RSH (Radio shack is at an all time low, buy now)

 

You could invest in rares on Runescape? I mean, if you feel the game will survive another decade, by that point rare prices could be through the roof...Or the game could die off and you lose tons of money. I'm envious of anyone who stockpiled phats back when they were a few hundred million, they must've made thousands of dollars if they held onto them this long.

Whether or not this is a smart investment, I don't know but it'd still be cool .

 

Do you have any suggestions for reading material, or maybe specific strategies I might consider?
I appreciate it!

BTW, I'll have to see why radioshack is low before I would buy, maybe reduced hobby spending due to tight finances?

EDIT: Yep, Their announcement!
It looks like they have crashed asfter every quarterly report though...

I dont think putting $600/month into runescape rares is going to outperform the stock market in both ROI and risk.
Plus, how do you put that on your tax return forms? :laugh:
"I deal in... rare goods... and... special services..."

 

Ill post my account differences as of now.

DGIT [$10.7501] (Price now) $0.42(Cents per share since i bought) 4.07%(Percentage of profit per share) $10.36 is what i bought for

 

do you think DGIT and radioshack are going to go back up?

DGIT > around the 3rd and 4th quarters, when they are starting to produce those expensive super bowl ads?

RSH > The drop in price was stupidity anyway?

Again, I appreciate it.

Also, I'm looking at "Zecco.com" fir my trading, because of the really low fees.
I have yet to comb over the fine print yet, though.

 

you can make money if you think precious metal's prices will fall. with gold for example you could: short stock of gold producing companies, short gold futures, or sell call ('short call') options on gold futures or buy put ('long put') options on the same futures.

i was reading through some of your stock-picking analysis above. could you explain and tell me what the beta of those stocks are? their jensen's alpha? what's your entry/ exit strategy? what's the current support and resistance level for those stocks? what's their standard deviation and by adding these to your portfolio, what is your new portfolio's standard deviation?- my point is you need to be financially sophisticated to invest. you could buy textbooks and learn it yourself, but considering your age i think you should consider getting a financial adviser.

also, you need roughly 30 stocks to be fully diversified. by that i mean that your immune to idiosyncratic risk (individual firm risk). so- if you insist on personally investing, maybe put off acquiring a broker until you have at least 25 stocks picked out.

even with your lack of capital, you could get hedge fund exposure. this can be done by investing in a fund of funds. they circumvent the usual requirements of HF investing because they have 'old money' in the HF's already. as they all have different capital requirements however, i would assume you'd need a larger investment initially- so maybe save up more, or raise some more by other means.

for the above reasons, i would suggest you consider (ask an advisor) about an ETF investment. an exchange traded fund is essentially a pro rata share in a pool of shares. i.e. you buy one ETF share which is comprised of dozens of other shares. a bonus of this is that you don't have to pick out stocks and they are already fully diversified. also, there's less capital gains tax because of 'in-kind' redemption feature of the ETF.

/advice.

 

1. I wont proceed until I understand things better.

2. I didn't think about getting an adviser, How should I go about getting one, and how much do you think It might cost me?

3. The reason I want to invest is because I'm going to have money that I will not be using.

I have no upcoming expenses, My income is going to increase ~%50-80 within the next 6 years (There's over 200 jobs for my field in this region, and the skilled workforce is nearly DECREASING due to retirement, and lack of training. My instructor gets 5 job calls per week.) (If I had three more years of experience right now I could be making $25-30 an hour in this area. I say that with a strong level of certainty.)

I already have everything I need provided for, as well as an emergency fund.
And no upcoming expenses (My decidedly non-existent social life will not produce any expensive women. :laugh: )

what else should I do with my money?

 

Hoard precious metals for a long-term investment.

 

Buy shares in Apple... The only way they are going is up ^^^

Obviously this kind of thing is a long term investment? Just think of a company which right now is doing well in the recession/inflation "Apple"

Idk I'm not to good at this kind of thing.. but if you were looking to make $600 to $1000 every month then ye buy prescious metals like copper and gold.. they will not fall in price they are in massive demand.

Hopefully I helped? if not sorry for wasting your reading time lol

 

1. that's good to hear.
2. no idea of their individual payment/ fee structure. in searching for one i would suggest asking your current bank for suggestions or google the term for your geographical area.
3. again, great to hear.

fantastic that your income maybe increasing by 65% over six years [(50+80)/2]. don't forget though that is a nominal figure i.e. assuming inflation of 3% a year, your real increase in wage will be= 0.65- ((1.03^6) -1)= 46%, which is still a great real growth rate.

i would advise that you put your money into a term deposit offered by a reputable bank, or if your lucky like me and your government has some kind of guaranteed bond scheme-> park your funds in there until you find an adviser. he or she will help you to find your risk aversion level (the extent to which you dislike risk), as i don't know that it's probably best to suggest the most conservative approach until you know that.

and lastly: 'expensive' women are worth it most of the time so maybe get out there every so often- i mean that's fundamentally why people (men) want to be wealthy isn't it?

 

I wrote up a big disorganized post. Here it is, Organized:

Part 1: Women And Their Cost/Benefit Ratio
I do believe at this young age It would be irresponsible. Women and children are expensive. Not that I would not desire that at some point, but not until I am well established. (I do want children some day, for sure! Just not soon!)

As part of my personality, I would not be interested in casual relationships.

And, Isn't “Shipping” on a baby like $15K? That's what my parents told me I cost... But I was 8.5LBS and there were complications that they charged for...

Part 2: My Financial Motivations

My Primary financial goal is to never be in debt, next I suppose is the freedom to do things I want to, be it projects, building a home, etc. And next is a family, I want one, but not until I'm totally prepared - armed with the finances, home, knowledge, wisdom, and right partner to raise a family properly.*

* Also understanding that “Spoiling” children is bad, I've witnessed it and it's ugly.

Part 3: My Financial Philosophy

Why do people Buy a nice car, a house, fancy clothes, ETC and end up paying for most of their lives?

Why don't I exercise self control, and save as much money as I can?

House
With a house, you are probably going to pay well over double the actual cost... assuming you ever do pay it off. I'd rather wait 10 years. (Not only am I paying half what others do, but I'm also having compound interest work FOR me during the waiting period, even If i don't invest the money in stocks, etc.)

Also, Don't need a house until there's a woman anyway.


My mom moved out a few days ago, took my brother with her. My dad says I can stay as long as I want. (House is so quiet now, a 6 bedroom, 2.5 bath house for two people and a dog?) (I still have to pay rent)

Why? I don’t know, they didn’t fight or anything.
Somehow I called it 5 years ago in my journal, IDK how though.
I don't think I’m being impacted too hard. proactive coping and "compartmentalization of thoughts memories and emotions" is what Wikipedia calls it (read this years ago).

Constant thinking ahead and planning is also important for my field, in fact it's impossible without it.
You can't just start with a problem and see where it takes you, you have to see it, plot a solution, and then get to work.

Car
Car? I've got one, don't need a new one. I've budgeted for replacement. I don't care if it's beater. So long as it has airbags and doesn't smell. My current vehicle is old but reliable.

Nice Clothes?
Lol.

I've got 5 $5 tee-shirts, and 3 $10 walmart jeans, as well as a suit (that i never wear), and warm flannel overshirts
The blue flannel + black t-shirt and black jeans is for job interviews - that's almost too formal for my job field. :laugh:

I've also got a pair of sandals, tennis shoes, and steel toed boots. My massive shoe collection has (historically) a half life of two years. (since my feet stopped growing) and my most expensive shoes are the steel toes, cost $35.

Sufficient, I desire no more. (I know a guy who lost a $200 pair of sunglasses... WTF? Then he bought replacements...)

Luxuries? entertainment? No thanks. :laugh:
Seriously, I love my work. Aside from a few video games, daily walks, and the occasional TV show (sons of guns lol) It's what I occupy my time with. (My dad also has some old snow mobiles, and the odd movie doesn't hurt)
Although, I guess ammo for shooting the AK-47 does get expensive, but I don't do that all the time.

Eating Out?
Did you know, My meals cost $4 apiece on average? And are on-par with the quality at a restaurant? (I cook my own food) (Also I don't have a taste for extravagant meals. Usually burgers, salads, steak, although the odd shrimp is good.)




Every time over the years that I've looked into taxes, loans, finances, mortgages, homes, jobs...
It feels like an old system designed to screw people, prevent them from getting ahead in the world, trap them, if you will. Impatient and undisciplined people especially.

(Again, WTF $200 sunglasses? Then he puts another pair on his credit card... and he's 20 years old! Bad way to start!)

Part 4: Additional Financial Philosophy

Money doing nothing is decreasing in value constantly, use it somehow to negate this...
Also, Money tied up in useless things is money that isn't working for you. (Hoarders = extreme example)

Part 5: Explaining my Income Situation, Increase

I've got a two year degree, most companies want 5 years of experience though.
But, they aren't finding many people.

We've taken about 15-20 tours of companies, and almost every one ended with a job pitch.

One offered $22/hour(with more after they can review our skills) + full benefits(TOTAL paid medical, dental, optical, paid vacation! None of the benefits come out of pay! + Optional 401K with matching) + $3K per year towards further education - all assuming we have the skills. Even while we're still in college! But, Specifically to work swing shift(full time), they cant meet demand with only one shift, and they cant get enough people to get swing shift operating at full capacity.

The reason for the extreme benefits is because people are so hard to get, that tour was 8 months ago and they called last week saying they still need people for swing.
They explained that a healthy well compensated employee is not as likely to leave, die, or anything...
Given that the average age of people with the required skills is something like 50+ (I forget the exact figure) It actually is a consideration. (and the company is something like 60 years old)

But it's a one and a half hour drive there, I'd rather take the lower pay for the job that's down the street. + It's a bit less demanding.

That is for the top level positions, the people (like me) who can do every job under them well. (It's not a management position) (I'm one of three out of my class of 10 that can handle it. They are both working under similar (less benefits) compensation at other companies... both of which we've taken tours of)

Part 6: Risk Aversion Level
For the first few years, I don't think I mind high risk, but as I get older this will get to be less and less, logically a total rebuild is easy when you've only got 1 or 2 years into it.

But, your right about that.



And I'm in the USA btw.