<p>With all the talk of the the investment value of Ferraris in the money/marital conflict thread (not to mention that seedling thread), I started to wonder about the investment potential of different purchases. This seems like it would require some specialized knowledge, like knowing what year model, etc. is in demand. If you were to come into a windfall, say $25,000, what would you buy with an eye towards selling it at a profit at a later date?</p>
<p>Apple stock</p>
<p>$25,000 is a windfall?</p>
<p>LOL A few years ago, I received an unexpected $10,000 inheritance from an aunt which was a windfall to me. At the suggestion of a friend, I bought 200 shares of Oracle and at the advice of my husband’s broker, i bought 100 shares of Sun Microsystems. After maybe 5 years, both stocks hovered around the price that I had paid. I sold them, one at a loss, and bought 125 shares of Apple just after it split; the price was $43 and it dropped to $36 the next week. As a relatively inexperienced stock buyer, I figured that I had goofed again. I think Apple is now at $276. Of course, as my husband keeps telling me, it is only worth that if I sell it, which I don’t plan to do in the near future.</p>
<p>I think you really need to decide how much risk you are willing to accept. If your attitude is “easy come, easy go,” then go ahead, buy a stock you like. There is inherent risk in all stock purchases and you have to prepare yourself that you may lose money, or not make much of a profit, even after several years. On the other hand, if you purchase tax-free municipal bonds there will be little risk, they will generate a fixed income (which you can invest or spend) and at the end of the term, you’ll still have your principal. Another option is to use the money for home improvement, which if well-selected, can increase the value of the home significantly over the cost of investment. This makes sense only if you plan to sell in the near future.</p>
<p>Spending the $25K on a car, artwork, gems or other item only makes sense if you are somewhat of an expert in that particular field, and even if you are, has significant risk.</p>
<p>Additionally, if you have credit card debt, loans, etc., your best bet would be to use the windfall to pay them off and stop losing money on interest payments.</p>
<p>BTY, the Ferrari was not purchased as an investment, but as something pleasurable my husband could enjoy with his sons, and which he could easily afford. He bought it new - custom-made - went to the factory in Italy - just a very fun, exciting thing to do. We have no doubt that it has depreciated significantly, but it was never purchased as an investment, and we knew that it would likely not hold its value, so it was never a concern.</p>
<p>I guess I am too conservative but in today’s market I would put it right in my Costco Capital One Money Market account. Interest is better than a bank or CD and it is totally liquid.</p>
<p>If I had $25,000 laying around I would put it in my safe deposit box. Could care less about interest loss, I am sick of the government constantly putting their hand out for my money and any interest earned would go to Uncle Sam anyway.</p>
<p>I would put it into some home remodeling. I don’t plan to sell for at least 20 years, so a new kitchen and bathroom would really be for our enjoyment rather than investment.</p>
<p>National Australia Bank Term Deposits</p>
<p>5-year TDs paying 6.4%.</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.nab.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/nab/nab/home/personal_finance/6/3/nab_article_088716?urid=1284731004582[/url]”>https://www.nab.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/nab/nab/home/personal_finance/6/3/nab_article_088716?urid=1284731004582</a></p>
<p>There have been numerous articles written about what to do with a windfall. The best advice IMHO is “Put it in the bank and take a year to think about how best to use it.” Of course when our family received an unexpected $10,000 we “invested” it in a travel van and spent the next three years showing the country to our eight and ten-year-old girls. No regrets.</p>
<p>^^^^</p>
<p>No travel van here, but a whole bunch of don’t-have-to-worry-where-the-money-will-come-from vacations and extended family events. Favorite vacation ever was to Australia, which makes BCEagle91’s suggestion mighty tempting!</p>
<p>My D would say we should use a windfall of 25,000 to buy her a new horse!
I would probably save it and draw on it periodically for things that I would love to do but couldn’t afford. H would put it into some form of real estate(not that 25,000 would even be a drop in the bucket)</p>
<p>Gold coins.</p>
<p>If I had $25,000 all of a sudden I think I’d buy a buildable lot and just hold it for a long time. </p>
<p>Of course, that would be after paying the last college bill. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>You’ve got your big b’day trip coming up, mom60. You could use a little of the hypothetical windfall to extend your visit a few days and take a side trip to Atlanta :)</p>
<p>If I had a surprise windfall, I’d first stick it in our liquid money market account and then probably give it to DH to invest. He’s pretty good at that, thank heavens. If I considered spending a little frivolously (cant imagine doing that, its not my comfort zone) I’d still invest at least 1/2 of it.</p>
<p>We have been putting off a repaving of the driveway that will also involve re-landscaping and taking down/moving a brick wall and a large tree. It is a big, expensive project. If I had a windfall, I’d probably move that up to the “to-do” list. It is becoming a necessity, with the driveway cracks getting bigger and the brick wall also showing evidence of a crack.</p>
<p>Whats the seedling thread, mousegray?? You mean BOTW’s thread?</p>
<p>BTW- congrats on the Apple stock purchase, lotsofquests!</p>
<p>I would kick DH’s behind so he could finally get his MBA (he’s got plenty of street-smart business savviness, just no formal degree). His lame excuse is always “we do not have the money” (he admits that he has plety of time if he cuts down his Internet science forums activities). $25K will at least partially pay for the tuition (his co is too cheap to pay for it).</p>
<p>The Seedlings thread is this one:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/998805-good-investment.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/998805-good-investment.html</a></p>
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<p>Wow! Thanks for the tip, BCEagle. The 7 month TD is paying 6%. Are thier TDs like our CDs? </p>
<p>My husband works for an Australian company. I’ve asked him to check out this bank.</p>
<p>My husband received a small inheritance a number of years ago. We used it to pay off much of what remained of our home mortgage (it wasn’t enough for the whole thing, but it allowed us to finish up in another couple of years). The standard advice from financial planners is to hang onto the mortgage in order to take the tax deduction, and put the money in the stock market. However, it has been enormously freeing, financially and psychologically, not to have to budget for mortgage payments.</p>
<p>I’m glad he isn’t interested in Harleys :-).</p>
<p>“However, it has been enormously freeing, financially and psychologically, not to have to budget for mortgage payments.”</p>
<p>jingle, Suze Orman will give you A+ :)</p>
<p>Every year we had the “should we pay more to pay off the mortgage” discussion when we met with our accountant at tax time. The discussion was always started by me, because I didn’t understand why we didn’t just pay it off. We didn’t have much left to pay on it, and the interest rate was low (which is why DH and accountant wanted to leave it alone). I wanted to feel the way jingle felt. We weren’t getting much of a write-off on taxes since most was going to principal, but each year I relented, knowing I’d probably ask again the next year.</p>
<p>Well, fast-forward to last year. DH was laid off from a start-up co that started up at the wrong time. There were other expenses (not to mention college) being paid at that time. While on the one hand not having to pay that mortgage payment might have felt freeing, on the other hand we had the $$ liquid to cover expenses that we might not have if we’d paid off the mortgage early, and we might have had to sell stock or something if we needed liquidity. Fortunately it all worked out fine… DH started a new job early this year, and we paid our last monthly mortgage payment this past spring! Yes it is a very freeing feeling!</p>