I searched, but a lot of the threads were old/related to investing. I’m 20, and just want to know the best way to put away about $1200 a month. I don’t know if I particularly care about interest or anything, as I’ll only be saving at this rate for the next three years. I don’t plan on buying a new car or something frivolous, but money = freedom, so I want to know where I can put my money. I won’t be withdrawing from it either. Thanks for the help, and sorry if this questions been asked.
Best Savings Account
What's your timeline for wanting access to the cash? One year? Two years? Five years? Ten?
Preferably in three years, when I'm out of the military. Possibly five years of the options at that time are better, because I'll be in college for a couple of years wrapping up my BA.
Have you ever looked into the TSP you can get through the military?
Quote: (12-16-2014 08:29 AM)General Mayhem Wrote:I've been half-awake through the 100 briefings I've gotten on it, and the impression I get is for lifers and/or people who are going the traditional savings route to save to retire. Also, as far as I know, it's a long term savings plan, and theres penalties on early withdrawals.
Have you ever looked into the TSP you can get through the military?
Quote: (12-16-2014 05:35 AM)dads Wrote:
I’m 20, and just want to know the best way to put away about $1200 a month. I don’t know if I particularly care about interest or anything, as I’ll only be saving at this rate for the next three years.
Not caring about return is a mistake, IMO. Using what you provided and assuming you earn less then 40k/year (dividends would be tax free), what I would do is invest in high dividend yielding stocks. 1200/month over 3 years with 8% annual return (which is easily doable) you will end up with just under 50k.
Three years is a relatively short time horizon when it comes to investing. Buying stocks or corporate bonds would be risky if you definitely want to have access to the money.
You can get 3 year CDs for about 1.5% APY at the moment. That's not bad, inflation for 2014 was 1.7%. If you definitely want to have access to your money in 3 years I'd do that.
If you're ok waiting a few years longer then stocks would be fine. You might be up in 3 years, you might be down. Long term you'll likely be up so you just have to make sure you can weather the storm. If you'd bought the S&P 500 in October of 2007 you wouldn't have broken even until Feb. of 2013. So you have to be comfortable waiting 5 or more years to recoup your losses if you invest in an indexed fund. Personally I wont put any money I need in less than 10 years in stocks.
On the other hand if you don't mind losing your money but want to have a higher return something like microfinance might make sense. People who do well make 20-30% but people who do poorly lose a lot of money. Not for the faint of heart.
You can get 3 year CDs for about 1.5% APY at the moment. That's not bad, inflation for 2014 was 1.7%. If you definitely want to have access to your money in 3 years I'd do that.
If you're ok waiting a few years longer then stocks would be fine. You might be up in 3 years, you might be down. Long term you'll likely be up so you just have to make sure you can weather the storm. If you'd bought the S&P 500 in October of 2007 you wouldn't have broken even until Feb. of 2013. So you have to be comfortable waiting 5 or more years to recoup your losses if you invest in an indexed fund. Personally I wont put any money I need in less than 10 years in stocks.
On the other hand if you don't mind losing your money but want to have a higher return something like microfinance might make sense. People who do well make 20-30% but people who do poorly lose a lot of money. Not for the faint of heart.
username: dads
age: 20
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age: 20
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Quote: (12-16-2014 07:25 AM)dads Wrote:
Preferably in three years, when I'm out of the military. Possibly five years of the options at that time are better, because I'll be in college for a couple of years wrapping up my BA.
Open up a bank account, car insurance, renters insurance with USAA. You won;t regret it.
I'd agree with a CD, if you go with Ally Bank (they are online-only) they give you at least 1.5% for a 3-year maturity CD. But overall, the +/- of .3% in which bank you choose won't matter that much if yr only saving ~15,000 per year. Certain CDs allow you to withdraw 1-2 times per month, your bank will probably have a dozen options.
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