Say you had an extra 15 grand lying around...where would you put it?

[MrCoffee]

Say you wanted some return on it, but were more interested in safekeeping the principal. CD? Treasury bills/notes/bonds? Municipal bonds?

[kimmerspixelated]

1. Psssst! My Freeend!

Shhh! U mus immediately find yerself a big handbag to put said cash in. Zip it up good!

[flvegan]

2. Depends. Is this a long term investment, or just temporary storage?

[MrCoffee]

6. 2-5 years...needs to be slightly liquid

It'll eventually become part of a down payment on a house.

[flvegan]

13. I'd probably go with CDs and different terms.

Lengths of time sort of thing, keep rolling them over until you need them. Just one man's opinion.

[MrCoffee]

14. That's what I'm leaning toward

Just wondering if there were any other ideas floating around that I hadn't considered.

[no name no slogan]

32. What flvegan said. And maybe keep some $$ in Money Markets if you need liquidity

I'm in a similar position: I've got some $$$ from the sale of a home currently getting a whopping 1.25% in a bank Money Market account. Unfortunately, 6 month CDs are paying about 1.5% right now, which isn't much better.

CDs are a good investment for where you're at right now. Go that way.

[montanto]

7. I wouldn't put 15k in Depends,

sounds like a shit investment to me.

[flvegan]

20. Ugh

that was bad.

Good, but bad.

[Broken_Hero]

3. I'd stuff it in my

superman piggy bank....so Luthor and his cronies couldn't find it...


:D

[Lil Missy]

4. I'd pay down the principle on the mortgage. n/t

[MrCoffee]

5. This will eventually become the down payment.

[JVS]

8. Real estate. Property values are way down, while cash is currently deflating, it looks like the...

government will likely be increasing the money supply in an attempt to move the economy.

[MrCoffee]

9. How do you put $15k in real estate?

[JVS]

11. Either as down payment or slum shopping.

You might be able to buy a block of an inner ring Detroit suburb.

[MrCoffee]

12. For $15k I might be able to buy Detroit this time next year.

[JVS]

15. Hey, if you don't think the market has bottomed, hold out.

But frankly when I hear about how cheap some of the vacation homes in Florida are going for, I'm seriously tempted to try to get one of them before they go back up.

[cbayer]

10. Certificate of Deposit

Guaranteed, decent interest and you can buy a 12 or 24 month one.

:hi:

[sohndrsmith]

16. Well, since I don't have a home, or savings, or assets or a job, or ... I'd

health insurance, or.... I'd put it away for college for my kids... I'd love to have a working car, but nothing is more important than college for them.

If it were enough for me to really make a difference in my life (and theirs) that would be different... : ).

Which reminds me, I've been wanting to post a thread along this idea.... if you don't mind, I'd like to (or someone else can).

I'd like to see a poll with several different amounts of money (or maybe just let people come up with their own). The question is an offshoot of yours:

If someone handed you X amount of cash right now, how much would it be to really make a long term difference in your life and current situation - in realistic terms...

I'd be fascinated to know what people would come up with.

[4 t 4]

17. trying to be safe

T-Bills are gaurenteed

[sohndrsmith]

26. Okay! But - can you access them when you want to? My kids are 6.5 years

apart. One graduates from HS in 2 months and she's arriving on my doorstep the next day. Her dad has said he'd pay for college (or help) if she stays near him.... but she's not interested in that.

I'm terrified... she's got to go to college. I didn't finish and it's a hard price to pay - and gets harder every year I get older. I've got to get her in school somehow...

(sorry - sorta off topic...)

[Xipe Totec]

18. Well, I HAD and extra $10K lying around

I put it into the Eastern European investment fund.

Now it's worth about $4K.

[HopeHoops]

19. Fine wine

[Schema Thing]

21. A "green" investment mutual fund

find one where the manager has already shown ability to make money; he or she will only do better in the coming years.


And by "green" I mean mostly alternative energy sources. Wind, solar, tide, and storage/delivery of said power; batteries, efficient grid, flywheel storage, etc.

[BOSSHOG]

22. 10K on a one year CD then

parcel out the remaining 5K in $500 increments per month to a mutual fund. Maybe buy some GM stock.

[Bucky]

23. Too little for real estate. But energy companies are a good investment.

Also, despite hitting the same bump as everyone else, China (I think) is still going to grow in the next few decades. If we're talking long-term strategy, buying stocks in Chinese, Indian, and Iranian tech savvy firms overseas will give you a big bang for your buck---but diversify the hell out of your portfolio there. A lot of their firms will fold when new energy realities start to hammer unadjusted industries.

[MilesColtrane]

24. I think the housing market still has a long way to fall.

I refer you to a chart posted by ozymandius in today's Stock Market Watch thread:

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2009/02/rise-and-fall-of-us-mortgage-and-credit.html

Hey, you may be able to buy an entire house for 15 grand if deflation starts spiraling out of control

I'd put the money in CDs.

[hobbit709]

25. If I had 15G, I'd pay off our mortgage.

And still have a little change left over.

[Bennyboy]

27. I would start a business...

The one I ahve been exploring and doing some studies on. It costs 5,000 plus about 2000 in tools and whatnot...

[mentalsolstice]

28. CDs (not the music kind)

My FiL passed away last year, and he had a pretty large amount socked away in CDs and then a more conservative amount in liquid cash (his wealthy sister passed away about 4 years ago with just him and a couple of nieces as heirs). We're NOT touching the CDs, as they seem pretty safe where they are at this time.

My husband is 62, already has one gov't pension coming in, and working on another, and we're trying to stretch it out for when he retires (I'm on SSDI). We've been using the more liquid assets to make minor improvements on our house which is a historic property. We've upgraded our bathrooms, and replaced the ugly thin cheap plastic blinds in the windows, which we have a brazillion of. And we bought an economy car (see my sig).

We still have to sell his house, which we're not having much luck at. Thankfully it's paid for!

[denbot]

29. This is another good reason Ali wants in on all saving/spending issues.

http://www.obsessiontelescopes.com/telescopes/25/index.html

[Chan790]

30. Invest in a Red-One camera...

$15K is only the down payment, but renting it out I could make back the entire $100K cost of the camera within a year.

[PBS Poll-435]

31. Other -

I would start my own independent Sham-Wow reselling stand.

[wartrace]

33. Covered call writing using leaps as a stock substitute.

You asked.