what is the best way to invest  your money, a house in florida or in a mutual fund with interes t of 8%?
541810
rather depends on where in Florida. If the house is subject to hurricane damage, that would not be a good investment. In fact it may be difficult to get a homeowner's policy anywhere in Florida.
1091650
The best option for you would be to find others with 30k to invest and see about setting up a REIT (real estate investment trust). Think about it, get 10 people together and now you've got 300k to work with. At that point, you can put the money down on a strip mall, apt complex, etc... Commercial real estate is very lucrative and often you will walk in cash positive. In fact, you can't buy the place (conventionally) unless you are cash positive. You get to see the previous owners 3yrs of financial records to tell you if it's going to yeild you a return or not and so on.
1036940
If you dont plan on touching the money for a while, a CD would be good. They have interest rates around 4 percent.
48259
The best area in Florida is anyplace the majority of boomers don't want to be, but which still suits you.  Central Florida, small town away from the beach might be good.\n\nKeep socking that money in the 401k so it grows tax free.  A lot of people think the real estate boom in Fla. can't last.
288141
Buy a good S&P index fund. Vanguard has a good one with lows fees.  Should get you 8-10% a year over the long run.
66458
Invest,\nReal Estate, Stocks
410844
none of the bonds. A mutual fund is nice as is a Roth IRA; and forget the 1.6% savings account.\n One way to make 18% on your money is to cut up those credit cards thereby saving the interest 6-24%, and pay cash..\nDave Ramsey has a great financial peace series he teaches calles FPU financial peace university
600478
The answer to this depends on what you will need the money for, and when you'll need it. If it's anything over 10 years (ie retirement, kids' college education, saving for that vacation home, etc), equities-based investments are the way to go. Long term, they've average an 11% return, compared to 6.8% for real estate, 5% for bonds, and 2.5% for cash investments. Of course, stocks are a lot more volatile than most other kinds of investments (excepting commodities, of course), so short-term, a mostly-stock portfolio is a no-go.\n\nIndividual stocks are usually way too risky to even bother with, to be even more forthcoming. In 2000, you could have invested in the #1 energy company in the U.S., or the #2 phone company. What could have been more stable than a couple of leading utilities? Ask the shareholders of Enron and Worldcom, respectively. No, a far smarter, and safer, way to get that needed equity exposure is through high-quality mutual funds. I'm not talking the junky tech-bombs that exploded on the scene the late 90's. I'm talking about quality funds that own quality stocks, and have a quality track record to back it up.\n\nNo matter what route you go with, the most important thing is to DIVERSIFY. Diversify, diversify, diversify. I can't say it enough. A good rule of thumb for most people is that your age should be the percentage you are in fixed income investments, like bonds, CDs, and cash. Thus, the older you get, the more conservative you'll become. Of course, your individual risk tolerance will vary.\n\nAssuming you are 25, a sample portfolio like the following will be sufficient:\n\n20% Large-cap stocks\n20% Mid/small cap stocks\n20% International stocks\n5% Real Estate Investments\n5% Commodities\n5% Precious Metals\n10% Government bonds\n10% Corporate Bonds\n5% International bonds\n\nAs daunting as that may or may not look, it can be achieved very easily through just a few mutual funds. Consult a financial advisor, or do the research yourself if you have the time, tools, and talent. Oh, and the discipline. That's probably the #1 reason people go to financial advisors: they realize they don't have the discipline to stick with a plan on their own.\n\nA portfolio like the one above should average 8-10% annually, or better. They key is that all the different asset calsses behave differently when the same economic event happens, like, say, interest rates risiin, or a war starting in Bulgaria. Stocks behave differently than bonds, which behave differently than commodities, which behave differently tha real estate, etc.\n\nThis sort of portfolio should average 8-12% per year, so just split the difference and say 10%. Will it do 10% EVERY year? Of course not. I'd be surprised if it ever did EXACTLY 10%. That's an annual average. Using the "Rule of 72", where you divide the number 72 by your return % to see how often your money will double, we see that if this portfolio is earning 10%, it will double every 7.2 years. Compare that to a money market earning 2%, which will double every 36 years!\n\nSo, in 7 years you should have about $140,000\nin 14 years you should have about $280,000\nin 21 years you should have about $560,000\nin 28 years you should have about $1,120,000\nin 35 years you should have about $2,240,000\nin 42 years you should have about $4,480,000\nin 49 years you should have about $8,960,000\nin 56 years you should have about $17,920,000\nand on and on and on....\n\nOf course, if you keep adding money in, say $100 a month, you'll become a millionaire MUCH sooner. The key is discipline, and sticking in when markets are up OR down. Don't try to time the market--you'll NEVER get it right.\n\nHope this helps!\n--J.
586030
There are plenty of ways to invest and also plenty of investments in which you can loose your money. \n\nfarm land. buy it and rent it out to farmers or go shares\n\nrental properties. maintenance can be a nightmare though, but the tax advantages are terrific\n\nrare coins, stamps, baseball cards, comic books, etc. but you have to spend a lot of time and energy persuing that venue. \n\nvacation home. but not in a huricane prone area.\n\nthose are some of your options. Now let's talk stocks\n\nYou say you are invested in stocks but how diversified is your portfolio?  Do you have 50% of your porfolio invested outside the U S? Is a portion invested where the future growth is expected to be? India, China
722674
Your best bet is a no load mutual fund. But you need to be a little selective. I have run a yahoo screen of candidate mutual funds for you to consider. \n\nThe best results come with having a quarterly, some say monthly, investment plan--say add $100 to $200 quarterly. That way you average out the market swings buying less stock when the market is up and more when the market is down. \n\nNote: mutual funds have a year end distribution of realized gains. It is best to purchase right after the distribution because the price reflects the amount distributed.
1081491
Buy a house and invest the rest
261930
This question has different answers for different people.  It will depend on your risk tolerance and time horizon.  If you have a short time horizon and low risk tolerance then a money market fund would be the answer.  If you have a long time horizon and low risk tolerance then a bond fund may be the answer.  And if you have a long time horizon and a high risk tolerance, then a stock fund would probably be the best choice.  Keep in mind that proper diversification is always best.
228452
Invest $500 a month in a diversified stock mutual fund (I like Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund). Wait ~30 years and you will have around a million dollars. Most people would hedge their bets by putting some money in bonds, in which case it will take longer. This assumes you have the stomach to handle the volatility of the stock market.
108583
All the above answers are good, but I would say it depends..\nWhat are you saving for?  Retirement?  A house?  Vacation?\nBefore wasting your time with a financial planner you really have to decide what your portfolio will be used for.  If it's retirement, by all means use your 401(k) if your employer matches any amount (it's free money and an immediate return on your investment).  If a 401(k) is not available, by all means look at a Roth IRA.  After 5 years your returns are not taxable.  Use the Motley Fool (www.motleyfool.com) for advice.  For long term investment, go with a mutual fund that follows the S&P 500.  I didn't, I was in large caps and mid-caps and haven't made the long term returns that Vanguard 500 returned (over the past 15 years).  Real estate, especially your own home, is a good idea so that it will be paid for before you retire.  Don't overspend yourself on real estate by buying more than you can afford.  Again, figure out what you are saving for and then make a plan based upon what you will need the money for in the future.  Bear in mind when you will need the money as well.  Mutual funds are good for long term (10-15 years+), but if you will need the money in a shorter term (say five years or less) and need for ALL of your original savings to be there, stick with money funds.  They pay more than savings accounts and generally won't lose principal the way your standard mutual funds, or even real estate, could.
922472
The best relative safe one that I have found is a Bond fund that Charles Schwab has--it currently pays 5.8%.  I have some funds in it and did a lot of checking before going in that direction.  Schwab is a good Co. to deal with --no conning or high-pressure.\nRemember the "rule of 72" says that your 5.8% compounded and reinvested will double in 12 and 1/2 years.
207614
Invest in Mutual Fund, the way to make a fortune in mutual funds are through compounding.  Compounding happens when your earnings themselves generate more earnings, allowing you put ever-greater sums to work.  The more time that goes by, the more powerful compounding becomes.\n\nIn order to get the most benefit from compounding, you'll need a carefully selected growth-stock fund, and you'll need to stick with over time.  For example, if you purchased $10,000 of a diversified domestick growth-stock fund that average about 15% a year over a period of 35 years, you will have $1.28 million!\n\nSuppose you also added $2,000 each year and let it compound as well. your total would then come to more than $3 million!  Now, how much more do you think you'sd have if you also bought a little extra during every bear market while the fund was temporarily down 30% or more from its peak?  \n\nNothing's guaranteed in this world, and yes, there are always taxes,  How better growth funds over the last 50 years, and what could happen to you if you plan and invest in mutual fund correctly.
168979
There is no magic investment out there which is going to provide you with lots of income with little work. Most reputable financial advisors will tell you there are only 3 basic passive investments that most rational people use:\n\n1. Bank accounts and Money Market accounts.\n(These usually barely keep up with inflation.)\n2. Bonds and Bond Funds\n(These currently don't yield much better.)\n3. Diversified Stocks\n(These Average 10% a year but have large swings in price)\n\nMost other investments you hear about are usually of questionable worth.  You can make money in Real Estate as a landlord if you are willing to put a lot of work into it.  Most good financial advisors will not recommend passive real estate investments.  (An exception is REIT's, but they are basically a type of stock)