20, in school, $1500

[toby]

This might seem like small change for you high rollers, but what would you recommend doing with about $1500 as a college student (not tuition money, it's extra).

Is that enough think about investing since a 5% return is just a measly $75.

Thanks,

[Michael Davis]

Use it as a poker bankroll. Much higher than 5% returns if you read these boards for awhile.

-Michael

[laserboy]

If you have the mentality for it, take the time to learn about stock valuation and long term investing while you are young. It is one of the easiest ways to build long term wealth and could mean millions of dollars over the course of your lifetime.

Whatever investment you decide to go with, I would open a Roth IRA. The gains in a Roth IRA account are tax-free which makes a considerable difference over time.

[Senor Choppy]

[ QUOTE ]
Whatever investment you decide to go with, I would open a Roth IRA.

[/ QUOTE ]

Unless you care about spending the money while you can still enjoy it.

[laserboy]

Contributions to Roth IRA's can be withdrawn penalty-free, although gains cannot.

[GeorgeF]

Consider investing in yourself.

Buy a couple of suits, go to a decent barber and take a dale carnegie course. Although open to the public The Dale Carnegie course is generally attended by pudgy middle aged mid level manager types. The kind of people who make hiring decisions, ie the kind worth knowing (unlike the bums you hang out with). It is very likely that you will be the only one in the room looking for entry level work amoungst people looking to hire entry level go getter types (like yourself?). Trust me when the boss man walks into HR with a resume it goes directly GO and collects $200. If you do this remember to look sharp in business dress.

http://www.dalecarnegie.com/

Alternatively go to your library travel section and look through lonely planet travel guides. See about learning a language comparitively few Americans do like Chineese Japaneese Arabic Mongolian. I suggest you spend 6 months in the US with language software and work/save as much as you can. Then see if you can do a year of your college study in that country. You may even be able to find work in that country if you are slick. $1500 is a bit lite for this plan.

Learning to play poker is a decent idea. Assuming you can do it you will learn skills they do not teach in school. You will also loose your $1500+. I suggest you reduce your risk level to 0 and become a poker dealer or other poker room employee. A poker dealer learns the most important poker skill of all, paying close attention to the game without playing any hands. Working behind the scenes of a poker room will teach you event organizing skills that will look really good on a resume.

You might try to buy $1500 of inventory and start a business. I have no idea what kind of business.

You could just leave the $1500 in the bank and leave your options open.

On the other hand you will only be 20 once, at 40 it would cost me about $15,000 to have as much fun as you can with $1500. Sad but true. Just blow the money on chicks.

[astroglide]

what would you recommend doing with about $1500

a hot girl, while you are under the influence. poker's a good idea too. i think anybody that suggests a roth ira or similar long-term investment is soundly insane /images/graemlins/frown.gif

[adios]

[ QUOTE ]
think anybody that suggests a roth ira or similar long-term investment is soundly insane

[/ QUOTE ]

You have an annoying trait of putting people down that you don't agree with. You're not necessarily putting the original poster down but you're putting down others in this thread IMO who advocate opening a Roth IRA. You come off as being arrogant but I really don't think you are that way. Your claim that a Roth IRA is be a poor choice may have merit but some reasoning behind that claim would be appreciated. Also a Roth IRA is not an investment, it's a retirement account so it's somewhat contradictory in my mind to equate long term investments with a retirement account. One could do a lot of short term trading in a retirement account.

[astroglide]

notice the frowny face? i believe i made my position completely clear with the first sentence of my response.

[Ulysses]

Peter Gibbons: What would you do if you had a million dollars?

Lawrence: I'll tell you what I'd do, man, two chicks at the same time, man.

Peter Gibbons: That's it? If you had a million dollars, you'd do two chicks at the same time?

Lawrence: Damn straight. I always wanted to do that, man. And I think if I had a million dollars I could hook that up, cause chicks dig a dude with money.

Peter Gibbons: Well, not all chicks.

Lawrence: Well the kind of chicks that'd double up on a dude like me do.

[Carl_William]

U said: "Whatever investment you decide to go with, I would open a Roth IRA. The gains in a Roth IRA account are tax-free which makes a considerable difference over time"

My comment is: Don't you have to have a job to start an IRA. I guess a part time job might be OK. He could declare being a poker pro as a job -- would that be OK???

[Nemesis]

I didn't have a job when i dropped 2k into my ROTH IRA... it promptly tanked because of 9/11 way to go for investing =)

[digdeep]

Toby,

Invest in your youth. Take the $1500 and do something that you would like to do! You are only young once, take a trip, play poker, have fun. If you don't want to do any of these, invest in yourself. There is no better investment than you. Furthermore, if you want to start investing in the market, learn about investing. Don't trust some two-bit broker who is trying to make money off of you, learn about investing and invest. If you are even moderately intelligent, you can find investment opportunities with much greater potential than any salesman trying to make commission. A place to start is reading "The Essential Buffett," and excellent introduction to value investing, which is an excellent investment approach for those that don't like to trade the market. One thought is to invest in something you know well. What are you studying in school, what are your hobbies and interests? Find something that you know very well, and look to invest in something related to this. For instance, if you know technology well, consider what products on the market are revolutionary, and consider investing in a company that you think can and will revolutionize the future.

[laserboy]

$1500 is enough for a hot girl? /images/graemlins/laugh.gif Don't think so!

[laserboy]

My understanding is that you do need to have income in order to open a Roth. Poker winnings do qualify as earnings. You ARE declaring your poker winnings, right? /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[Senor Choppy]

You can find them cheap on the internet, if you don't mind a lack of self-esteem or anything useful to say.

[bob2007]

I am also in college, I had about 3k I invested in stocks long term. In hindsight it was not a good idea, the stock isn't doing much, down 5%. Not that it makes a difference whether it is up or down. I would've been doing a lot better if I used that for a higher bankroll for poker.

My 3k is pretty much pennies in the grand scheme of things with commission charges of like $25 a trade. You do the math with 1500, you've lost like around 4% buying and selling a stock.

Stocks is not the way to go unless you have more money to invest.

[TM1212]

Bob I have to strongly disagree with you.

You can be a successful active trader with a small amount of money. Yes fees and taxes do add up, but with sound investing things can be looking up in no time. A friend of mine started buying stocks with 3,000, he purchase sirus and some memory chip company stocks, both shot up and he was up to around 7,000 in just a few months. Hes doing very well.
He started about 2 years ago during his freshman year and has made some nice profits. Ill have him post in detail what he did next time i talk to him.

-----
Poker on the other hand....

With 1,500 dollars, lots of skill and understanding of the game, about a thousand hours of actual table play, you could probably start playin $3-$6 at you local cardroom.

If your good youll make about $6 an hour grinding it out,if you play online 2 tables at once maybe just under $12. Its not easy and there are many ups and downs. you could lose as much as $600 or more in one session with bad cards and some bad plays.

If your willing to put in the time pokers a good choice, plus you could quickly build a nice bankroll and start playin some $5-10 or hirer and make some real money. But remeber the skill level increases as the limit increases.

[toby]

I had the same feeling as Bob which is why I posted originally. I think your friend, though successful, might be a little lucky too to have his investments double up like that. With only $1500, I feel like it would be harder to diversify and it sounds a little risky to put it all in one company.

Is there any specific field or company(s) you think I should look into?

[bob2007]

I've taken an interest in this company called ERF, 10% dividend annually, its Canadian, oil / gas royalty trust, dividend paid monthly. I haven't really researched it fully yet however. I think you can also invest in the company directly (without commission fees).

As far as diversifying, that shouldn't be a huge concern. To truly diversify you need like 20 stocks from what I've read. Most books have preached against diversification the way brokers try to make it sound safer and the professional way of investing.

[B8w]

How can you invest in a company without commission fees?

[bob2007]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but there are some companies that make transactions of stock on their own companies.

[HajiShirazu]

Go bonus whore at online casinos with your 1500 and you'll have 5 grand in a month-ask again then.

[thecoldvein]

I've been trading and/or investing for a long time, and the current stock market is pretty volatile -- you won't be seeing the same kind of gains that your friend made for a while. I'm guessing that he started before last year, when a ton of gains were made. It wasn't hard at the time, but right now it's a low of one step forward, two steps back. Don't bet on the 90%+ gains or whatever that were happening last year.

[GuyOnTilt]

This might seem like small change for you high rollers, but what would you recommend doing with about $1500 as a college student (not tuition money, it's extra).

Hey Toby,

Stake me!

GoT

[lostinthought]

[ QUOTE ]

Poker on the other hand....

With 1,500 dollars, lots of skill and understanding of the game, about a thousand hours of actual table play, you could probably start playin $3-$6 at you local cardroom.

If your good youll make about $6 an hour grinding it out,if you play online 2 tables at once maybe just under $12. Its not easy and there are many ups and downs. you could lose as much as $600 or more in one session with bad cards and some bad plays.

If your willing to put in the time pokers a good choice, plus you could quickly build a nice bankroll and start playin some $5-10 or hirer and make some real money. But remeber the skill level increases as the limit increases.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is this guy smoking crack? Anybody who is reading here and seriously applies themselves can be up to the mid limits in cardrooms in 1000 hours.

3/6 in a cardroom after 1000 hours of play is like playing slots, except you don't get a jackpot. the rake is too high.

[toby]

You can make that much off bonuses? What places are good for bonus whoring? I have one account with PP now and that's it. I play 1/2 and 2/4 and some PL25 and show a profit usually.

[midas]

Toby:

Save the money until you graduate from college then go to Spain or Greece and party on the beach for a month or two with the European crowd. You'll have stories that will last a lifetime and most grads these days from good schools pull down $40K+ to start - so $1500 is chump change in the long run.