What's a good short-term investment for me?

[DJorBUST]

I am hoping to buy a 2008 mercedes c300 in about a year or so. Right now I have $5000 in the bank. I am hoping that if I save about $6000-7000 more in the next year and trade in my current car in a year for about $5000 that I'll have about $16000-$17000 as a down payment and I can finance the rest. What is a good investment to throw this $5000 into now that I can withdraw in a year without significant penalties and would provide the best appreciation to risk ratio?

 

[joekerr31]

no offense, but unless you're making 200k a year, your dumb to be buying such an expensive car.

invest your money and make 6k a year in interest.

get your savings up to 200k, and then use the 20k a year in interest to lease the car of your dreams if you want.

your financial goal should be to get enough money banked that the interest you are making is like having a second job (or as i like to say, its like havig a slave who goes to work for you every day, asks for nothing in return, and gives you all the money they make).

 

[Mr. Wolf]

Blah blah blah, you're cool, me an my girlfriend blah blhah, **** that.... Blah blah, yuo're the sheit, I love you and ****,, A+++++++++++++++.

 

[DJorBUST]

no offense, but unless you're making 200k a year, your dumb to be buying such an expensive car.

invest your money and make 6k a year in interest.

get your savings up to 200k, and then use the 20k a year in interest to lease the car of your dreams if you want.

your financial goal should be to get enough money banked that the interest you are making is like having a second job (or as i like to say, its like havig a slave who goes to work for you every day, asks for nothing in return, and gives you all the money they make).

I'll be making at least 200K in about 3 years, so I don't intend to wait forever to start living comfortably. We're talking about a 28000 dollar car, not a freaking ferrari.

 

[Monster]

Why don't you just lease it now and then in three years when you're making more money return it and get something else.

 

[st_99]

Forget about the C class benz, they look too much like a poor mans mercedes (although the 08's have imrpoved greatly)..

Unless you have the change for top of line forget about it. C class is Gay.

I'm talking CL or S class.

Friend of mine has the CLS, It drives like a monster, its a beast, you push the gas and you go. Amazing, but its also like 80K.
Don't really care for the look of it though.


Anyway, if you want entry level luxury go for the BMW 3 series, or maybe get a Saab 9-3.

 

[WesCottII]

Investments, generally, arn't "short term". Hence the connotations of "investing".

You might try an aggressive mutual fund, but you'd be lucky to make money off it.

Remember, if investing was that easy, we'd all be doing it.

 

[st_99]

Investments, generally, arn't "short term". Hence the connotations of "investing".

You might try an aggressive mutual fund, but you'd be lucky to make money off it.

Remember, if investing was that easy, we'd all be doing it.

not bad for a 19 yo...

 

[azanon]

A smart one-year investment? A money market mutual fund.

If you're interested in gambling, go with a small cap growth fund from Vanguard.

 

[Master Bates]

you could play one of those stock markety things i always hear about.

 

[Wiesman44]

Problem is, a 1 year time line is too short to get any good equity like return without exposing yourself to too much volatility in returns. Extend that timeline to 10 years, and I'll tell you how to have a very high probability of sitting on a TON of money. Like enough to buy a legitimately sick car in cash.

lol, the c-series Mercedes are a total waste of money.
I LOVE nice cars, and in the future, a nice car will be one thing I'm willing to blow cash on. But keep in mind the time value of money and the power of compound returns-the opportunity cost of blowing that money on a car now is HUGE because your giving up a ton of future compound interest. Only buy luxury items if you can save...the ealier you start, the more you get back w/less invested principal.

Anyhow, if you dead set on this, just put the money into a money market fund...you should get ~4.5-5%

Is there a reason that you need to prove to everybody that you study finance in school ?

We get it, you study finance. Just keep it simple. As follows:


Tip: TRE.TO (toronto exchange). When, why, where ? do your own research, and watch it pop to $30. Hedge funds loading up.

 

[Kev07]

gambling is about as short term as you'll go

 

[Ken785]

no offense, but unless you're making 200k a year, your dumb to be buying such an expensive car.

invest your money and make 6k a year in interest.

get your savings up to 200k, and then use the 20k a year in interest to lease the car of your dreams if you want.

your financial goal should be to get enough money banked that the interest you are making is like having a second job (or as i like to say, its like havig a slave who goes to work for you every day, asks for nothing in return, and gives you all the money they make).

Actually the Mercedes C-class is only about 30-35k

 

[CGE333]

I would take a look at the redesigned 2009 Audi A4
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/sedans/112_0801_2009_audi_a4

I have an A4 Quattro Convertible that is 6 months old and it is a good car.

 

[azanon]

Actually the Mercedes C-class is only about 30-35k

Ken.... that's expensive. People that don't think 30-35K dollar automobiles are expensive are either very wealthy (think over 200K/year consistent income) OR have a distorted view of money (and likely near 0 or negative net worth).

My auto cost me 16,700 new (that I bought last year); and I paid cash.

 

[DJorBUST]

No offense, but it really depends on where you live. If you're living where I am (in Southern California) a 16K car NEW is kind of a piece of crap. There are BMW 3-series cars, MBs, Audis everywhere. I am going to need to replace my current car in the next two years anyways. Either I get another crappy car and keep it for several more years or I start to live with a mild degree of luxury and start enjoying life. That's what it comes down to for me.

 

[Wiesman44]

If you really love cars, maybe a $35k car is right for you.

If you don't care about cars, don't buy a car just to fit in. The only one your fooling is yourself.