30,000 to invest?

Now I am ready, I have 30k to invest. My 401 and roth ira are maxed so I was thinking maybe a couple Vanguard or Fidelity funds. Any good suggestions??? I have about 20 yrs to retirement and really do not feel that I will need this money till then.

THanks

You should invest in a diversified mix of stocks, bonds, and money market funds. You want to buy a diversified portfolio of stocks as individual stocks are too risky. Most folks have a dificult time buying a properly balanced portfoilio of stocks on their own. They will misbalance their portfolio by buying all small stocks or all growth stocks, or some other misbalanced assortment of stocks. Unless you know what you are doing, it is best to buy mutual funds. I like Vanguard.com, other people like Fidelity, TIAA-CREF, and DFA. Buy no-load, low cost funds. If you are like most people you will invest part of your money aggressively in stock funds, and part conservatively in money market funds and bond funds. Vanguard.com has an on-line questionnaire which will give you an idea of how to do "Asset Allocation," determining how much to put in each type of fund.


I like index funds. Because of their broad diversification, you are less likely to have a dramatic drop in value. They also have the lowest expenses. For stock funds, I would suggest putting ~70-80% of your money in the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund. and ~20-30% in a foreign stock index fund. However, there are many different opinions out there on what the best mutual funds are. Read the links below and form your own opinion.

If you have high-interest debt, like credit cards, it is best to pay this off first before trying most of the investment ideas above. You should also have 3-6 months of salary saved up as an emergency fund in a bank or money market fund before trying more risky investments.

If you have children, you may want to consider a 529 plan or other college savings plan that grows tax free.


Believing advice you get on Yahoo answers can be risky, so read these websites for further information. If you find it too confusing, contact a professional financial advisor. They will charge you significant commissions, however.

Sources:

http://www.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/planni...
http://www.fool.com/school.htm
http://sec.gov/investor/pubs/assetalloca...
http://www.diehards.org/readsites.htm
http://finance.yahoo.com/education/begin...
http://finance.yahoo.com/funds/basics

Asset Allocation Calculators
(Determining how much to put in stocks and how much into bonds and money markets is a personal decision depending on your financial status. These Asset Allocation questionaires give you a rough idea how to do this. I like Vanguard best, but try some of the other sites as well.)
https://flagship.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/...
https://ais2.tiaa-cref.org/cgi-bin/WebOb...
http://www.ifa.com/SurveyNET/index.aspx

Web forum: http://www.diehards.org/
(Many investment web forums are overrun by scam artists. This one seems the most legitimate site.)


529 plans: http://www.savingforcollege.com

no idea what are those 401 etc are actually but if you have a 30thou to invest then you can get an insurance that can triple or more your money so that when you retire you can be comfy. sounds like you are earning lots so get a bigger insurance coverage and allot some of you r income to pay this at the end you will still benefit from it...goodluck...

I've got some GREAT land in Florida...

If you have 30k, then you have an excellent amount to work with right now. I would look to land as an asset right now. The price correction that has happened makes for a lot of deals right now.

Be a bargain buyer in nicer areas. You will see the prices rebound on 2 to 3 years and then you can really have a good return on the money. Figure returns in average of 18% after taxes.

I wouldn't go for houses at the moment, just for land. The reason is two fold, #1 you don't have enough cash to purchase a property outright. #2 if you are mortaging the house it kills your return on your investment.

In the long run: if you can get together enough cash to buy a house, that is a 3 bedroom minimun, then buy it and rent it. The income from rentals is higher than the market in return in the short and long run. Also the appreciation on the homes in the long run is a killer investment.

Virtually all millionaires in this country have been made in realestate. It is a slow and steady process, but worth it.

Invest 50% in ELSS funds
Invest rest in good MFs

Fidelity & Vanguard are your best choices. My wife had money at Fidelity; I'm not familiar with Vanguard online, but I'm sure they are similar. You can call to set up account & get some allocation advice or use online tools. (We use Schwab, I'd recommend them also).

You want to invest in index mutual funds, large growth, large value, midcap, smallcap, international (non-US), and global (includes US).

They both have low fees, you have capital gains & dividends reinvested (you'll have to pay tax on them, of course).

In 20 years, you should have averaged between 8% and 12% returns, giving you between $140,000 and $300,000.

Invest in India and China. I don't think you could go wrong in the long run.

I am a professional investment advisor. I have found that there is a recurring problem with the questions that are asked on this site. Not enough information is given by the asker to accurately answer the question. In your case I would need to know what Vanguard Fund you are looking at and also a little biography about yourself. Your age, goals etc.

What we can try if you seriously would like a professional answer would be for you to email or Yahoo Messenger me. Reask your question and answer mine. We could then have more meaningful dialog and help you more efficiently. It now becomes one on one personal help. You can now compare my answer to the other ones you got on Yahoo Answers and make the right decision.

By the way for the others of you who are reading this response you can email or Yahoo Messenger me with any comments or questions you have and we can also have private dialog.

My credentials as an advisor if you are interested are contained on my website which is www.themutualfundhelper.com. I am providing my website not as a sales-tool but simply as a vehicle to present my credentials.

You need some retirement planning. calculate how much you need by the time you retire, and select whichever investment that can give you that kind of return (or cash flow). Assess the risks, and there you go; financial freedom...

Open a brokerage account at Zecco and I will help you for FREE. (I am a Portfolio Manager with over a decade of experience in the Stock Markets)