Investment thread

[Arnox]

Let's talk investments. When you make money in adult, what do you do with it?

I personally split my profits in the following ways:

1. Shares - I love shares, and the market here in Australia is pretty good. I'm pretty smart with money and know that the most intelligent step is spread ETFs that give me solid returns - that said, I like small cap stocks. I'm not talking penny stock trading on paper-based ideas, but companies with profits and growth. I bought into Integrated Research at $1 around 8 months back and they're now up to $1.80. Solid gains, but I'm in no rush to sell with such great profit margins. I'm also a fan of Crowd Mobile Ltd, they launched here at the start of Jan and make good profits on a number of different mobile applications. They're also in talks with that chick that married the guy who did a thing with Daft Punk once. She's pretty popular, apparently. Eventually I'll get into ETFs this year, probably Japan/European markets, but I'm young.

2. Gold & Silver - I don't think that the world is about to go into a downward spiral where I'll have to barter my way out of sexual assaults with precious metals, but I do like having some form of physical access to money. I'm currently a fan of silver rounds and $200 Australian coins - the latter contain around $440~ AUD worth of gold at spot prices, plus they're just cool because I could potentially use them to purchase goods (I doubt anywhere apart from a bank would take them, but still). I'll probably end up buying more gold next year when I upgrade my safe here at home or rent a deposit box at the bank.

3. Numismatics - Morgan Dollars are beautiful coins and when graded high, can be worth a pretty penny. I started buying up all local ones on eBay and from stores a few years ago and given the exchange rate has jumped so much, I've already made a nice profit. I probably won't sell any time soon because I just love coins, but they're still easy to cash in at the local coin stores. I'm also a fan of 50c rounds (around $8~ in silver), rare decimal varieties and pre-decimal notes. I also collect high graded proof coins with a particular fetish for 20c pieces.

4. High Interest Savings Account - My bank's current best rate is 3.2%. I keep very little cash in this format, because I'm losing money in the long run because of inflation. Just an emergency fund in case I need to pay for something quickly. Cash is really boring, too. Oh look, my monthly, never changing, totally predictable payment came through. :|

5. Websites - I've started buying up niche interest websites in a mainstream venture that I plan to kick off in the second part of 2015. I may have paid a little too much for these, but I figure they'll be good for my empire for years to come. Traffic has been pretty solid, although sales on the low side. Still, it's a work in progress, so I won't worry too much.

6. Property - I pay $1600 a month for rent, but because every fucking bank in the country needs two years of proof of income under an ABN, I can't buy property until 2017. I can afford a mortgage and have the deposit on hand, but sadly, this just isn't an option right now. I'm pretty eager to stop paying rent, though. It's not fun at all.

Anyway, what are you guys doing with your money? What are your picks? Where have you made gains/losses?

[yuu.design]

Developing new online business

[jimmycooper]

Writing covered calls on highly traded, moderately volatile stocks or ETFs. Preferably ETFs and preferably by writing the calls on LEAPs so as you get more leverage. The trade is actually called a 'diagonal spread' but it's pretty much the same as a covered call. Very simple. Other than that, I just like keeping my eyes open for opportunities.

I have the same dilemma when it comes to owning vs. renting. I live in Manhattan so the barrier to entry for owning is pretty steep. With my relatively unstable work history over the past five or so years, buying a co-op and having to go through a board approval process is not even close to being an option. Even a majority of condo boards in the city have a stringent approval process. That's on top of being able to put down at least 20% and have 12-24 months of carrying charges liquid. Not easy to do when most condos are in full-service buildings with high monthly maintenance charges. And if you want to own in a decent neighborhood, it's AT LEAST $600K for a studio. At least that was the case 4-5 years ago which was when I last looking into buying. So, yeah I rent too. $1600 for a studio way the fuck up on the UWS near Colombia. Before that I was paying $2500 for a 1BR in Hell's Kitchen but had to downgrade my expenses while dealing with health issues and not being able to work at all for the past 1.5 years. Sure, I guess moving to and possibly buying something in one of the outer boroughs or, god forbid, New Jersey would be a more practical thing to do but fuck that! I also like the flexibility of renting.

Investing in art is something I'd like to do at some point but need to start bringing in more money first. I made some good money from investing in wine back in the early 2000s and really, really enjoyed the process of doing so because I learned so much about wine. Knowledge is something that sticks with you long after the money is gone. So I guess that's pretty much the same reason as to why I'd like to start investing in art. I believe they call it 'passion investing' or something like that.

[PR_Glen]

rent in adelaide is so expensive i've noticed. real estate wasn't as bad though.

You seem to spread things out pretty good to me. not that i'm an expert

[ErectMedia]

I reinvest the majority. Combo of...

Site Improvements
New Sites
Advertising
Domain Investments
Fun
etc...

[Arnox]

Originally Posted by PR_Glen

rent in adelaide is so expensive i've noticed. real estate wasn't as bad though.

You seem to spread things out pretty good to me. not that i'm an expert

Adelaide is a lot better than Sydney, put it that way. But I do live in the CBD, which pushes prices a little north. I could probably find somewhere for 1k a month, but I'd rather live in a nice place that motivates me to work hard.

Still, can't complain with the exchange rate and that 70% of my income is in USD right now.