skitlets
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2004
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Well, Head-Fi has been the most knowledgeable online community I've ever been apart of, so I suspect quite a few of you have experience in investing. I've spent the majority of my day looking over how to begin an initial investment with a low minimum. I'm still a college kid but this summer, for the first time, I'll actually be able to save up a little bit of cash, perhaps $1,000 to $1,500. The rest I'll keep in a relatively high savings account (3.25%) should unexpected school expenses arise.
Now, I've learned only a bit about investing after scouring the internet. From the information I've gleaned, I want to put my money into something with liquidity since I'll never know what might happen during my school years, so something I'll see returns on in the next 2-5 years.
Bonds are out of the question since they incur penalties for early redemption.
Stocks are out, since I don't have the time to follow the market closely. (I've to prep for the LSATs and if all goes well, I'll be in law school in two years; I predict law school to eat up most of my time)
So, I figure mutual funds might be the best bet since they are managed and are usually diversified, but do I choose actively managed mutual funds or index funds? I've read only good things about index funds and how they beat out the majority of other mutual funds but is highly determinant of the market since they attempt to mirror it. Is now a good time to try to index the market? Almost all 5 Vanguard funds listed on their main site are down for the short term, though up for 5 and 10. If index funds are a solid route to follow, which ones? Vanguard funds require about $3,000 minimums which are twice as much as I'd have to start with. I haven't done much reading on indexes outside of Vanguard.
I'm calling on economists and other pros to help me out! Are any of my initial understandings flawed? Should I build up more capital and dump them into safer CODS and savings accounts before I take any risks? Help please!
Now, I've learned only a bit about investing after scouring the internet. From the information I've gleaned, I want to put my money into something with liquidity since I'll never know what might happen during my school years, so something I'll see returns on in the next 2-5 years.
Bonds are out of the question since they incur penalties for early redemption.
Stocks are out, since I don't have the time to follow the market closely. (I've to prep for the LSATs and if all goes well, I'll be in law school in two years; I predict law school to eat up most of my time)
So, I figure mutual funds might be the best bet since they are managed and are usually diversified, but do I choose actively managed mutual funds or index funds? I've read only good things about index funds and how they beat out the majority of other mutual funds but is highly determinant of the market since they attempt to mirror it. Is now a good time to try to index the market? Almost all 5 Vanguard funds listed on their main site are down for the short term, though up for 5 and 10. If index funds are a solid route to follow, which ones? Vanguard funds require about $3,000 minimums which are twice as much as I'd have to start with. I haven't done much reading on indexes outside of Vanguard.
I'm calling on economists and other pros to help me out! Are any of my initial understandings flawed? Should I build up more capital and dump them into safer CODS and savings accounts before I take any risks? Help please!