Again, financial advisors are sales people. Keep reminding yourself of that. Their job is not to help you, it is to sell products that benefit their employers. I don’t hold it against them, but I don’t expect them to be my friend.
You need to educate yourself. The wiki at bogleheads is excellent, and they have some good book recommendations.
@doschicos no illusions here. I’m not investing in penny stocks. I’m just playing around with some money. Less than I’d spend on a night at a casino 
@mom60 my BIL did VERY well with crypto but he got in early and got out recently. He paid off all of his wife’s student loans with it. I’m too skiddish for that. I think it’ll bust and it’s not worth buying now.
I use Ally for savings and I’m earning 1.35% on what’s in there. CDs might be worth looking at for short term though.
What’s the interest rate you are paying on your loans, and how does that compare to the interest rate or ROI you can get on your savings/investments?
In general terms I think one is usually better off paying down loans than to save or invest an extra windfall. Ultimately, what you probably want to do is set aside some (20%?) for short-term “needs” or enhancement of your emergency savings, some (30%?) for longer-term saving/investment, and the balance (50%) for paying down loans.
What do people think about the “Index Card” philosophy of money management?
http://time.com/money/4161238/index-card-harold-pollack/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/09/16/this-4x6-index-card-has-all-the-financial-advice-youll-ever-need/?utm_term=.b094af5b33f2
In general, I think the index card advice is good and helpful for most. However, I’m not always a fan of target timelines (can be too conservative for some investors needs) nor do I think you always need to avoid buying individual stocks. I think it can be fine for part of one’s portfolio once a certain level of assets is reached.
Just as a technical clarification, the term “China region” for mutual funds generally does not include Japan/Nikkei. It usually refers to China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
I’d pay off the student loans, at least as much as you can while setting some aside in case of emergency - as I’m guessing 6-7% interest rates, compounded over many years, this would free up your income every month and lift that burden, allowing you if you wish to invest part of what you don’t have to pay back, or use it in other ways.
5000 at 2% is $100. Instead, pay off a larger interest loan. And reserve a little for something special with Mr R, plain fun.
It goes without saying that your long term objective should be to “buy low” and “sell high”. That said, timing markets is essentially impossible because, while the past is clear, the future is unknowable.
With that in mind I’ll make two recommendations:
Simply put, dollar cost averaging is when you consistently invest a fixed amount over prolonged regular periods, such as monthly or annually. To illustrate how and why it works, imagine that over the next thirty years you’re going to invest $1000 per year in a particular index fund I’ll call XYZ. Let’s assume that XYZ currently trades at $20/share and over the next 30 years will vary between $10 and $40. Of course if you had a crystal ball you’d time the market and buy on the lows and sell on the highs, but since you’re mortal you’ll just buy $1000 worth of XYZ every year. Here’s the beauty in that: when it’s at its low ($10) your $1000 buys you 100 shares but when it’s at its high ($40) your $1000 only buys 25 shares, which combined gives you 125 shares at a total cost of $2000, for an average price of $16 per share. In that sense, you’ve made volatility your friend, because your strategy has allowed you to buy more shares when the fund is “on sale” and less when it’s relatively expensive.
Since you’re young, I’d also advise you to try to learn to look at the market counterintuitively, not hoping for short term gains but, rather, for the markets to fall, so that your dollars buy more as you’re young. To put it another way, every year you’re a buyer you want the market to be low and every year you’re a seller you are and it to be high.
One more thing regarding picking stocks vs. investing in index funds; one of my kids is a sector analyst at a hedge fund, and has a thorough, up to the minute understanding of a group of well known companies, but keeps all of their stock portfolio, both retirement one non-retirement, invested in index funds and advise I do the same.
I hope you find this helpful.
@sherpa ah got it. So what I’m hearing is: “invest in a psychic!”
Kidding of course. This was actually really helpful. Thank you so much. As I’ve said before, growing up poor meant never being able to save or think beyond the next paycheck. Thinking long-term is not something my brain is trained to do quite yet but I’m getting there. I have the “6 month expenses saved” thing down… now it’s time to work on the 'One day you’ll retire and you don’t want to starve" thing.
I don’t know about the specific types of investments recommended on the index card, but I think the overall strategy of how to allocate your money (e.g., taking maximum advantage of employer matches and tax advantaged accounts, and minimizing costs) is spot on.
That’s the other reason I want to go talk to a financial advisor of some sort.<<<<<<
My assumption is that you are no no financial position to pay for or need a financial adviser.
No one with loans at normal student rates should be considering investing (outside of 401K) until they are paid off, even mortgage holders at low interest rates with little equity should not risk money that would otherwise help pay that down.
Not knowing your age or financial situation, but I would take that money and buy a market index fund – S&P 500 or total stock market. You could average into it at these levels, mayby 4 investments over the next several months. Then I would forget it. Come back in 10 years and see how you did. Good luck.
^
I’m not paying anyone.
I would disagree with that. Sure in theory, it’s an excellent course of action – and you can make the spreadsheet numbers look really good. But in reality, it is not. People don’t necessarily work that way. If someone can make their monthly payments and put a little bit away, instead of paying down the loan they will be better off as their investments grow over time and their loan balances decrease. It develops good investing discipline as well. Slow and steady on both the payoff and investments will win the race.
Pay off your loans. It’s not sexy, but the interest you are paying on them is probably more than any interest you’d make by investing.
I’d fund a Roth in full first if you have extra cash. Next I’d pay off any high interest loans. Finally I’d set aside some money for emergencies
If you want to de-stress about things, watch this live video feed from Elon Musk’s Tesla roadster in space!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBr2kKAHN6M
In a few hours, the upper stage it’s on will fire the engine and send it into an orbit that extends out to Mars’ orbit (but won’t pass very close to Mars itself, unfortunately).
It’s not just paying monthly student loan amounts. Look at how the interest accrues over 10 or 10+ years. You know my warning: look for “Who’s driving the Mercedes.” Loans aren’t free. They make profit for lenders.
It is sexy when you pay down a chunk. We have an idea a thousand invested will be someday worth 50k. That’s not only not guaranteed, meanwhile, you’re paying interest through the nose. Don’t make the other guys wealthy.
Paying off loans is good, but it is also important to have some liquidity. So enough money in savings that you aren’t one of the 57% of Americans who would have to take on debt to deal with an unexpected $500 expense – https://www.cbsnews.com/news/most-americans-cant-afford-a-500-emergency-expense/
(Because that likely would be credit card debt, at a rate fare higher than what you are paying in student loan interest – and at least the student loan interest is still deductible).
Bottom line: things in your car and your house are going to break and need to be repaired or replaced; your dog is going to get sick or hurt and there’s going to be a vet bill – and these things are all going to happen at inconvenient and unexpected times. So put a decent chunk into some savings account or CD where it is not easy to get at (so no temptation to spend) – but available when needed to cover an emergency.