<p>I have a certain sum of money that I’d like to invest, and I am wondering if anyone (dstark) has suggestions on where to invest it. It’s large enough that I don’t have to worry about minimum investment requirements of most mutual funds.</p>
<p>I am most interested in stocks, mutual funds, and bonds. I’m not interested in alternate investments like penny stocks or other things. My outlook is long term, and I have no need to receive income.</p>
<p>Thanks for your suggestions.</p>
<p>You’ve got your retirement investments squared away, so this is your mad money account?</p>
<p>I have two different mad money stock portfolios that I run…2/3 of my money goes into the “big dividend” portfolio–oil and gas pipeline MLP, a big pharma holding, tobacco company, a utility and a mortgage REIT. </p>
<p>The other 1/3 goes into the “shoot for the stars” portfolio–it holds a biotech company, a small diagnostics company, a cloud software company, Apple, and a natural gas provider (OK, I thought nat gas had hit bottom and that takeovers would drive prices of the companies up, but I was WRONG and didn’t get out when the getting was better!). </p>
<p>My advice is that if you do buy stocks that you buy at least 5, so that if one craters, you aren’t wiped out.</p>
<p>I believe I’m on track for retirement. So this is a random account for future needs, but I have no particular purpose in mind for it. I just happen to notice that I have a sum of money in cash right now and would like to invest it so it’ll grow.</p>
<p>What would happen to your overall financial picture if you lost all of this money? What would be your risk tolerance for this investment. I’m concerned with your statement “I believe I’m on track”. Why don’t you KNOW where you are? Where are your other investments?</p>
<p>If you have $100k and are an accredited investor, you can buy facebook stocks.:)</p>
<p>Engineer4life…</p>
<p>I am not an investment advisor.</p>
<p>I don’t know how old you are…but if you are under 40…I don’t think I would bother with bonds…The rates are too low.</p>
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<p>Ah, but that didn’t stop you from asking for advice on yield a couple weeks ago?</p>
<p>I’m not looking for an investment advisor, just various ideas that I can research.</p>
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<p>By “I believe I’m on track”, I’ll have a much larger retirement income than what I anticipate I could possibly have good use for. The only chance I’m not on track is if I find lots of expensive hobbies between now and then.</p>
<p>I don’t want to lose all of the money. if I wanted to lose it, I’d go spend six months in Vegas gambling. But if something weird were to happen and I were to lose it all, it wouldn’t change my current financial picture - I’d just be grumpy about it.</p>
<p>For my other investments, 50% is cash, waiting to be spent on a house when I find the right one at the right price. The other 50% is a mix of retirement and non-retirement monies, all invested in stocks.</p>
<p>Ok…</p>
<p>Did you notice I did not get any contructive replies. :)</p>
<p>How old are you?</p>
<p>Are there industries and companies you know well because of your work or life experience?
You may have an advantage over other investors or investment advisors because of your work.</p>
<p>Are you going to receive a pension? If so, how secure is it?
Edit: I see your retirement income is covered. Nevermind.</p>
<p>I kind of like what ellemenope does…her concept… Maybe the
percentages might vary depending on the situation…and I won’t invest </p>
<p>in a tobacco company…but I like what she is doing.</p>
<p>You can also look overseas…because that is where the growth is…
Look at low cost funds that invest overseas…or low cost non-leveraged etfs.</p>
<p>Companies like Schwab give free advice.</p>
<p>Edit: I guess you are young. You are in great financial shape. You don’t need bonds.</p>
<p>buy vt (vanguard all world)</p>
<p>I looked at the list of the largest holdings of VT…</p>
<p>I don’t know if I was 30 years old if I would want to own these companies…</p>
<p>Have you had any tax issues with etfs like this, Doct?</p>
<p>I don’t own it - the point I’m trying to make is whether its vt or something else is buy the world or buy combinations of etfs (low fees like Vanguard) that mimic the world country weightings.</p>
<p>Buy an S&P 500 index fund with the lowest administrative costs.</p>
<p>You’ll drive yourself crazy trying to pick the winners, and if you compare the holdings of the various categories of funds, you’ll find a tremendous overlap of investments where you didn’t really expect it.</p>
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<p>This is really something to explore. You can know a lot more about an industry than any investment adviser and can use that knowledge to make money.</p>
<p>However, investing in your own industry can concentrate your risks – if your industry does poorly, you could lose your job while your investments take a worse than market hit.</p>
<p>For example, if you were working as a civil engineer and invested your money in the construction industry, 2008-2009 may not have been a very good time for you.</p>
<p>I’d call Vanguard and/or Fidelity and chat with an adviser. They might suggest diversified funds or one fund that already does this. I don’t know the amount you are investing.</p>
<p>I’ve been burned enough by the stock market to not want to own many individual stocks. I’m too busy/lazy to stay on top of things</p>