Your Best Investments??

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2003
Your Best Investments??
8
Tue, 12-07-2004 - 2:32pm
What are some of the best investments you have made? The other night, I was flipping through the channels and came to the Home Shopping Network, where they were selling collectible coins. It got me thinking...I bought silver proof sets for the years my daughters were born. I looked on Ebay, and one was selling for over six times what i paid for it. (Of course I'm not selling now, but hey...) So I went and bought the 2004 set, too, figuring hey, you never know... And of course there is always the stock that I bought and sold at double the price I put in, only to wantch it go up another $40/share. Right now, we are not really doing anything, but I am thinking about it....just wondering what everyone else has done..... gheather
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-18-2004
Tue, 12-07-2004 - 4:38pm

No one wants me investing. Every time I buy a really good stock, it bottoms out. One time I invested in a company at $21/share only to be bought out 7 years later for $0.34/share. My mother looks at stocks for me and they immediately drop. I don't know what it is, but I won't invest (unless it is in Mutual Funds) any time soon.

Kellie

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-19-2004
Wed, 12-08-2004 - 9:47am
We invest in DH's 401k at work. I feel safest there because they spread the money out to different funds, so if one does bad- you don't lose much. We did have mutual funds through Primerica, but we cashed them in in since they totally bombed. I don't feel safe with that company as I posted all about it awhile back. I'm scared to go back into the market again through a financial advisor other than his work.
I also have some savings bonds for the kids and a few coins. Nothing much other than that.
Nicki :)
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 12-08-2004 - 10:13am

Well, this is a different sort of investment, but here are some of the best ones we've made:

A freezer--I buy meats and other freezable goods at rock-bottom sale prices and stock up on them. The freezer, which we bought used for $135, has already paid for itself in a matter of months, and will continue to reap dividends until the day it croaks (hopefully not for a long time).

An education--my husband's salary is much higher because of his college education and our loans are paid (after many years). Because of my training and college experience and some time teaching as a graduate student, I am able to do some freelance work for exponentially higher returns than the same amount of time spent at a part-time job.

A home--although our payments are $400 higher than our rent was, we are building equity. Meanwhile, every penny we put into the house is ours--we can invest in improvements, and enjoy the material rewards of those improvements while awaiting the financial return at the time of sale. At the same time, our children have a back yard (saves gasoline--no daily trips to the park and frequent trips to distant friends' houses just because I hated to be in our apartment), we have much more space (saves our marriage--dh can watch football in one room while I knit or sew in another--and you know how expensive divorce is! LOL), and our quality of life is so much higher in so many ways (no shopping sprees to ward off the sense of weariness we often felt in environments that we didn't love).

A SSN--Okay, most people get this when they are born at the hospital, but because our children were born at home, we had to go out of our way to obtain one. We waited nearly a year for our first, on principle, and it was amazing the things we couldn't do for him without it--investments in his name, etc. Not to mention, of course, the tax break for us once we had that precious number. And while we're on the topic, our home births were an investment too, but that's a whole other topic. Suffice to say--home midwives are cheaper than doctors, complications are fewer, and babies are healthier.

A sewing machine--I made all our children's diapers except a few that were gifts; I make home decor; I make baby gifts; I make all kinds of gifts for friends and cute things for our kids; I made a hammock last summer; and all of this is almost entirely out of salvaged and scrap materials and a few things I pick up at yard sales. Polyester fleece is one exception--hard to find other than buying new. Still, I buy it at WalMart and/or on sale. :)

I'm sure there are others. We look at everything we buy these days as an investment. We decide whether its returns are actually worth the upfront cost before we even consider sinking a dime in it (yes, even candy and sodas get evaluated on a bang-for-buck basis).

As for the more traditional investments--the first thing anyone should do (after getting bills up to date and debt under control) is invest in a company-matched 401k if it's available. The company match is free money and far more per dollar than any interest rate you could get on stocks or whatever. We have that, and we invest regularly in mutual funds. For most people, until they have a certain level of net worth, individual stocks and collector's items etc. are just too risky to be viewed as a straight investment. Of course, if there is some other value in purchasing something--such as for a keepsake, or because you enjoy it--then do it. But otherwise it's just gambling.

Now I do collect--I collect signed books by authors I admire. But I do it for fun, not for investment. Some day probably my heirs will auction my collection and some of them may be worth quite a bit, since by that time many of the authors will be dead, but in my lifetime they're unlikely to appreciate enough to be much of an investment. And besides, I wouldn't sell them for any amount of money (okay, there are a few I might sell because I just happened to meet an author that I don't have any particular attachment to but I got the signed book just because I could--but those are the exception). I do it because I'm a writer and I love writers and books.

Great thread. I look forward to reading more responses!

Heather

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-20-2004
Tue, 12-28-2004 - 10:06am

A 1987 Crx Si bought new for $10,400
when I got back from the army.
It carried me through college (I still
worked and commuted about 30 miles
for 5 years), the first gulf war, a
first entry level suckie job, waited
for me while i was working overseas on
a good job, another suckie job, a really
really suckie job, and finally now
a good one :) A workworse that has
served me well my whole life now.
It's amzing how well you can do financially
if you don't chase new cars. And I admit
that happened by accident - I went to trade it
in in late 1991/early 1992, and the sticker at the
honda dealer said "$5000 dealer availability charge".
That was $5k MORE. I decided then just to keep
what I have. It still looks new except for the seats
(I painted it last year), which I'll have fixed comming up.
I don't even make that much (53k, but i hope to be doing
some engineer consulting this year part time) but I think next year
I'll be able to buy a 2 year old Boxster just from interest, or close
to it anyway not wanting to use "my" money so to speak.
Keeping that car made all the difference in my whole life.
Old Reliable.

I have had a stock pay just over 300% in 5 months.
Which didn't make up for a mutual fund I ened up cancelling
because it lost 20% over about a year (and that was way
before bubbles popping).

I have had a chic I went out with say to my face "YOUR CAR S*CKS",
which kinda hurt my feelings. Actually 2 now that I think about it.
I don't date much so that's like 2 for 3, a fairly high percentage.
But I can't worry about it cause I have bigger plans for myself
than joining the trendy car of the month club, every 2 years.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Tue, 12-28-2004 - 10:15am

And any chick that doesn't appreciate your frugal ways isn't worth your time anyway. ;)

The couple who bought our dryer about seven years ago, super nice folks, carried that thing up the basement stairs and down our long back yard to their pick-up and lifted it in, by themselves without stopping. When I marveled at her strength, the guy grinned and said, "some men marry sleek little corvettes and mustangs; I married a Chevy half-ton workhorse." His beautiful wife smiled demurely. I thought it was a sweet thing to say, and a smart thing to do. :) Not to mention, a good investment! LOL

So forget the girls who don't appreciate your car. Find someone who would rather build wealth than drive a silly new car.

Heather

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-22-2003
Tue, 12-28-2004 - 10:56am

My condo - it's gone up nearly $50,000 since I bought it a year and a half ago. Great investment and to all the naysayers who told me not to buy it, I'm glad I did. I also just changed my mutual fund group to another. It's already making money, whereas I kept losing before.

My other best investment was in my education. Without it, I wouldn't have the opportunites or the experiences I have had in life.

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-26-2003
Tue, 12-28-2004 - 11:27am

My best investment was my copy of Dave Ramsey's new book, the Total Money Makeover. I can't sell it and it doesn't appreciate in value, but it has given me a new perspective on money. Because of his teachings, we've decided to become debt-free and will have paid off $10,000 in debt. How's that for return on a $25 book?

Elizabeth
Only 24 days until we're debt-free

 
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-30-2003
Thu, 12-30-2004 - 6:29pm

We don't really have investments like that, but there are things that we've spent money on that I consider 'investments'.

For sure, one of the top 3 was getting that Financial Peace University kit last Christmas, and going to all the classes. Wow-I can't even tell you how that shifted my thinking about all the financial stuff!

Another is my education. (When I'm knee-deep in the middle of the term wondering WHY I did it to myself, remind me of this, LOL). Without that piece of paper that says I'm smart enough to run a small library, I wouldn't even be considered for the job. I want that job-so I'm investing in my education. Same with DH's schooling.

It's funny how some small action that we take leads to bigger and better things sometimes, isn't it?

Lisa