[Syler]

I was recently talking with a friend about this hypothetical situation. If you had $3000 to spend as an investment, be it travel, education, or business, what would you do?

My tentative answer was putting it in a savings account for college tuition, but later, after thinking further about it, I think I'd probably spend half the money on a train trip around Europe.

WWINTJfD?

[ArtistTyrant]

i'd spend it to move to an area with better economic conditions, and buy new clothes ($2000+ for the move, under $1000 for the clothes/accessories)

but if it HAD to be travel, business, or investment, i'd put it towards college that i'm theoretically going to go to this fall

[Causa Mortis]

3k isn't going to get you anywhere. A solo trip to Europe maybe?

Tuck it away for a rainy day IMO

[GrnEyz]

Develop a business plan to start a wireless internet provider, get some prospective customers lined up, go to the bank with your $3k, get a loan for $30K, buy the radios, servers, and routers, hook it all up, start providing service, and bill your customers.

[ArtistTyrant]

lol GrnEyz, i doubt you could get a loan for 10x the amount of your capital without already having some sort of track record or business done with that bank

[paleoeco]

I'd spend the $3k on a small vacation (San Juan, PR is my next one) and then a deck in my backyard.

[Four]

Move as far away as possible, live in my car for a bit, rig it, join the ymca to shower(if you're poor they prorate), find work, finally find a place, before all this spend most of my time at the library, find a p.o. box or fake address for bills, that sort of thing. The beach on the west coast would be ideal. I could surf all day if I could learn how to. .

[JohnDoe]

	Originally Posted by ArtistTyrant To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	lol GrnEyz, i doubt you could get a loan for 10x the amount of your capital without already having some sort of track record or business done with that bank

I bet it could be done. You could easily get 30k in credit cards. You very well might be able to lever up 10x with a good solid plan. If you had anything whatsoever to pledge as collateral, it could definitely be done, although you may have to use a credit union.

[ArtistTyrant]

idk, i don't see it as possible right now, but i could be wrong...maybe before 2008 lol

[JohnDoe]

	Originally Posted by ArtistTyrant To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	idk, i don't see it as possible right now, but i could be wrong...maybe before 2008 lol

Depends on your credit rating. Banks are still trying to throw money at their "high quality" customers.

[Episteme]

I'd save up another two grand, get a Roth IRA, and not touch it until I retire.

Then do it all over again.

	"If a 25-year-old contributes $5,000 each year until she retires and makes an average annual return of 8% on her investment, she'll have $1.4 million saved by the time she retires at age 65. And the money is all hers -- she won't have to give the IRS a cent of it if she waits until retirement to withdraw the money."

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[ArtistTyrant]

	Originally Posted by JohnDoe To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Depends on your credit rating. Banks are still trying to throw money at their "high quality" customers.

ah, i guess i didn't see it as possible, because i didn't see it as possible for me...lol ;/

[Night Runner]

	Originally Posted by Syler To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	My tentative answer was putting it in a savings account for college tuition, but later, after thinking further about it, I think I'd probably spend half the money on a train trip around Europe.

Savings accounts are a mediocre option. Even with the best account, your money's growth would barely match the inflation. Besides, tuition's growth rate would outpace both the inflation and your savings account's interest.
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Spending money on traveling, though, seems like one of the worse options. It's not investing - just throwing it away. Europe will always be there. If you're looking for new experiences, go hitchhiking across the US. Or head to the bad part of your town late at night - I'm sure you'll get plenty of thrills and excitement.
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As for my advice... $3,000 won't get you anywhere if you want to invest in stock market or such. (Unless you're very very very lucky.) You'd need another $22,000 if you want to start day-trading. I'd say the best way to spend that money before inflation gobbles it up is to buy things that would last you a lifetime. A couple of good suits (assuming your body has already stopped growing and your size won't change), a good pair of boots, an old-school razor blade for shaving (more efficient and cheaper in the long run than all the fancy crap they release every other month), etc. The trick is telling the difference between a useful lifetime-warranty item and a useless gadget.

[JanusthePhoenix]

	Originally Posted by Syler To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	My tentative answer was putting it in a savings account for college tuition

My degree cost me $6,131.29, including books, tuition, all fees, basically everything except my rent. So my answer is take the 3 grand to the black jack table, double up, then start testing out of a bachelors.
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[Syler]

Originally Posted by Night Runner To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Spending money on traveling, though, seems like one of the worse options. It's not investing - just throwing it away. Europe will always be there. If you're looking for new experiences, go hitchhiking across the US. Or head to the bad part of your town late at night - I'm sure you'll get plenty of thrills and excitement. To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Actually, since I currently reside in Europe, traveling around the neighboring countries would be cheaper for me than heading to the US. (I used a figure in $ instead of € because I assumed most of the forum-goers hail from the States) I must also say that traveling can potentially be an investment - for example, you can go to a foreign country (albeit for a slightly longer period, say 2-3 months) and polish your foreign language skills, instead of paying for expensive language courses in your home country - assuming you already know the basics of the language.

Originally Posted by Night Runner To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

I'd say the best way to spend that money before inflation gobbles it up is to buy things that would last you a lifetime. A couple of good suits (assuming your body has already stopped growing and your size won't change), a good pair of boots, an old-school razor blade for shaving (more efficient and cheaper in the long run than all the fancy crap they release every other month), etc. The trick is telling the difference between a useful lifetime-warranty item and a useless gadget.

I hadn't thought of this at all. Good stuff!

	Originally Posted by JanusthePhoenix
	My degree cost me $6,131.29, including books, tuition, all fees, basically everything except my rent. So my answer is take the 3 grand to the black jack table, double up, then start testing out of a bachelors.

If one isn't proficient in card counting, wouldn't poker be a better option?

[Night Runner]

Ah, my bad - I had assumed you were from the States. Eh, in the end, it's your money to do with as you wish. Still, though - I'd strongly recommend not to gamble with it. Unless you're a professional gambler, you'll likely lose the cash, since the odds are never in your favor.

[JohnDoe]

	Originally Posted by Episteme To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	I'd save up another two grand, get a Roth IRA, and not touch it until I retire. Then do it all over again. To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

You need not have 5000 to put it in a roth IRA, you can contribute UP TO $5k. It is not necessary to contribute the entire 5k. I agree. Put it in a roth IRA.

[RedIrish]

Since you are going to spend $6000 a year for tuition & books in Canada, $5000 for a couple weeks in Europe, and $50,000+ to start a business...

I would probably stick it in the bank until I saved up a little more.

[sage33]

Travel, hands down.

My goal in life is to see much of the world before my time comes.

[Episteme]

	Originally Posted by JohnDoe To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	You need not have 5000 to put it in a roth IRA, you can contribute UP TO $5k. It is not necessary to contribute the entire 5k. I agree. Put it in a roth IRA.

I think the 5k is just the yearly limit, no? I always try to go for the max.
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Too bad, that million or so won't seem like nearly as much by the time I retire.

[rain]

	Originally Posted by GrnEyz To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Develop a business plan to start a wireless internet provider, get some prospective customers lined up, go to the bank with your $3k, get a loan for $30K, buy the radios, servers, and routers, hook it all up, start providing service, and bill your customers.

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Aha- borrowing and debt is the American way of thinking.

	Originally Posted by JanusthePhoenix To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	My degree cost me $6,131.29, including books, tuition, all fees, basically everything except my rent. So my answer is take the 3 grand to the black jack table, double up, then start testing out of a bachelors. To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

You must've gone to public universities in the 70s or 80s. I'm afraid US institutions have become a rapid business post Reagan era.

$3000. I'd commission an unknown painter to make a portrait of me; an artist in which I'm certain will become iconic in about 50 years despite the fact that he may be living in poverty now.

Then I'll watch as the original painting becomes 10000X worth more than what I originally paid for, and then pass it down to my grandchildren when I'm old and grey.

[JohnDoe]

	Originally Posted by rain To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Aha- borrowing and debt is the American way of thinking.

There is nothing wrong with using assets to lever up to acquire more assets if the assets will bring positive cash flow. I would suggest that if the op had an business they wanted to try, he should use this opportunity to do so.

[JanusthePhoenix]

	Originally Posted by rain To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	You must've gone to public universities in the 70s or 80s. I'm afraid US institutions have become a rapid business post Reagan era.

I wasn't alive in the 70's or early 80's.
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CLEP and DSST tests are about 70 bucks a pop and worth 3 to 6 credits. Most colleges put a 30 credit limit on these; mine did not. 12 months, 124 credits, 6 thousand clams. My degree gets conferred next month.
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And yes, it is regionally accredited like any other college.

[eagleseven]

I'm actually going to be spending $3k this fall for a professional certification, which should net me a $15-20k bump in starting pay.

So education.

[daydreamer]

if i were you i'd send it to me
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