| where to begin/post - a plethora of advice needed....... |
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cyrillsneer
New Member
Cash: $ 0.90
Posts: 4
Joined: 01 Apr 2006
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| where to begin/post - a plethora of advice needed....... |
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I dont really know where to begin or where to post this......
A little about myself:
English
26 yr old guy
Mechanical Eng Degree with Honours from the UK
Striaght out of college i had no idea what i wanted to do, and coming from a comfortable family there was no rush to get a job so i took my time. I could find nothing i wanted to do and ended up spending a lot of time being show around property by agents.
I didn't have any particular magic formula, i just looked at a lot of properties in a single area and got to know what things were worth. One day i stumbled across a VERY undervalued high end property that needed a bunch of work doing to it. I put together a budget and design ideas and started trying to find investment. I found money from various private investors and bought the place with some spare to do it up.
My parents had nagged me enough at this point and so i finally got a sales job for an IT firm in London.
I designed and managed the installation of a new kitchen three new bathrooms etc etc, anyway to cut a long story short i made a bunch of money from it. About the same time i sold the property i lost my sales job, after 6 months.
This all happened about 18 months ago. I spent a further 4 months bumming around going to job interviews that i had no interest in, got accepted into a post grad course in real estate, and then deffered it for a year.
Then i met a lovely american girl who was visiting london, we fell in love and i followed her back to california, where we got married so i could stay in the country.
So here i am now:
4 weeks till i get my social security number
$700000 in the bank
A good degree
**** all work experience - 6 months since being out of uni for 3 years.
Just a little bit more background and then the questions will begin;
Without a social i have not been able to get car, work, or basically anything else....but i have been able to setup LLC's....so while i was waiting for a social this is what i did.
Met some nice people........
1) With two others i setup a web produciton company, stumping up $25,000 while the other two guys put in their online t-shirt company that makes about $4k a month profit (not bad considering how badly run it is, with few designs and advertising). We have a bunch of cool concepts and new sites that they will be implementing and getting onto the web. I am president of the LLC and worry about money, advertising, PR etc.
2) With a very good friends mother i have setup a Real Estate investment LLC, stumping up $50,000, she has 25 years real estate experience, and her brief is to find properties that we can buy with 100% mortgages that the rent covers completely - (she appears to have found some in texas) and to find bank foreclosure properties that we can fix up and flip. Later i would like us to move into mixed use, commercial and building. I am confident in her ability and trust her explilictly considering the operating agreement states that we split all negatives, and my lack of credit means the mortgages are being used against her credit.
3) I am meeting another guy today to talk about setting up a web site investment company, basically just finding sites that make a decent profit and buying them and adding them to a portfolio and slowly building them for longterm profit. Again i am going to stump up 25 - 30k and i will share 50% of the company with this guy in return for him running each of the sites....on the agreement that a certain percentage is retained for advertising and buying new sites.
Right i know its a lot of waffle and it might sound like an ego trip but its not, i genuinely dont know what to do...... i have a few problems!!!!
A) I kinda feel like i am bumming around and with the degree i could go out and get a high paying job etc, but i am now getting to the point where i am really worried about my lack of work experience. My dad is like yeah son they are good hobbies but find yourself a career and do them at the weekend.
What should i do;
Concentrate on the above
Establish them for 6 months and then get a job - i would love to become a film producer, intern at Scott Rudins office etc.
Could i get a business manager to run in the future...??
ARRRRR i dont know!!!!!
B) I have huge amount of cash just sitting in the bank, which i know is not cool!!!!
I would really appreciate some advice about how to invest it, so far i have bought about $8K worth of Iraq dinar
I would also like to invest in some mutual funds, specifically:
Index in china and india
stock in china and india
But i have no idea how to.......or which fund are good ones to get.
I would love to learn how to trade the forex, any good books people could recommend or websites that have dummy acounts etc.
It would also be cool to learn how to buy stocks, would be cool just to spend an hour each morning looking for undervalued stocks etc and buying them to keep longterm. How do i find a good broker that i can use online.
My father made a lot of money by starting a company and being a very good salesman and a genius of an engineer, but he has no idea about making money work for him. he hates accountants, stock market finacial advisors etc so he is no help with any of this and so i dont really know where else to ask.
Would it be a good idea to find a finacial advisor, if so why and how the hell do i find one.
Also moving across the pond has left me with a bunch of other problems. I am with bank of america becuase they are across the street, but would i be better with another bank? should i put in money in a CD and 401k??? i dont even know what that is.
What i do know is that i want to be VERY rich, and i want to make this money work as hard as possible for me, not lose it all and make the most of every opportunity i come across.
I know its a lot i am just starting to feel a little overwhelmed, any advice would so gratefully appreciate.
With thanks!
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Sat Apr 01, 2006 11:51 pm |
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TeenInvestor
Full Member
Cash: $ 16.40
Posts: 77
Joined: 06 Jul 2005
Location: Minnesota
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Yes I would talk to a financial advisor as you do have a lot of money in the bank. Since your young your investment portfolio should lean heavy towards stocks. Personally I would put a large chunk in aggressive growth mutual funds which you can find on www.Morningstar.com or other stock websites. As far as picking individual stocks its up to you, I would start small and go from there.
Some good books on stocks are:
1.The Intelligent Investor by Ben Graham
2.One up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch
3. Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits & Other Writings by Phillip Fisher
As far as your job, like Coaster said it seems you are doing what you love so I would stick with that. I would try to keep from spreading myself to thin, which is sometimes hard to do but necessary. Its better to have a small number of businesses/projects that do well than a large number that dont.
Other than that sounds like you are doing pretty well so far, so do what you like as long as your able to provide for yourself and others. You are getting plenty of work experience and I am sure that an interviewer would look favorably on successful business ventures in your past.
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Sun Apr 02, 2006 1:13 am |
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cyrillsneer
New Member
Cash: $ 0.90
Posts: 4
Joined: 01 Apr 2006
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Thank you for the replies man, its weird even writing all that stuff made me feel better about sticking with it, i cant wait to turn my first profit, still all in the starting phase maybe that is why i am freaking out so much.
Your answers have helped me specify something further.
I live in los angeles, how would i go about getting a VERY good finacial advisor? I have no idea how to even start.
I have bought the books you recommended and will read them.
I have also decided to move $5000 into a scott trade account and learn the hardway.
My intended first buys are:
5 shares of ING RUSSIA FUND CLASS A
5 share of PHLX GOLD AND SILVER SECTOR IND (^XAU)
Now i think i will learn the hardway and would rather get in the position that i was buying stocks to keep for good, but it seems silly not to buy some gold and silver right now.
Now my biggest question is HOW the hell do i go about buying shares in a mutual fund like so:
Index in china and india
stock in china and india
Or should i get an ETF, not that i really know the difference.
Thank again for all the help, its so reassuring speaking to other people who are interested in this stuff. All my family are artists, musicians or engineers.
I kinda wish i had studied econometrics at university now.
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Tue Apr 04, 2006 12:38 am |
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Rolo
Yo' Daddy
Cash: $ 309.70
Posts: 1551
Joined: 13 Mar 2005
Location: Colorado/Florida
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quote:
Originally posted by TeenInvestor
Some good books on stocks are:
1.The Intelligent Investor by Ben Graham
2.One up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch
3. Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits & Other Writings by Phillip Fisher
Must reads, all of them.
Pick quality mutual funds instead of ETFs.
"Expect me when you see me."
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Tue Apr 04, 2006 3:18 am |
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cyrillsneer
New Member
Cash: $ 0.90
Posts: 4
Joined: 01 Apr 2006
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Thanks again guys.
Scottrade seem to be able to do what i would like.
I am having real trouble finding a finacial advisor i hate having to just phone a random one.
Thats the pain of just moving to a city.
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Wed Apr 05, 2006 6:14 pm |
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anthonygodsen
Contributing Member
Cash: $ 3.65
Posts: 33
Joined: 15 Apr 2006
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you might be too concerned about finding a financial advisor. you don't have to get one if you know exactly what you want.
now your situation is you have handsome cash in bank. you have a family. you are still young. you want to be VERY rich.
what are your real needs?
1. paying day-to-day expenses? set aside the amount. so easy to work out.
2. nice living standard? depends on your expectations. cars, holidays, etc. plan it with your wife. its fun.
3. retirement? plan it now and work towards it. remember taking into account the inflation when you calculate how much you need to keep your existing/expected living standard.
4. insurance? must. medication, education, housing, accident, etc.
after working out the cashflow in 20,30,40 years down the road, you will know how much is actually you need to support your family.
then you can decide how much you can use for investment, being your business or trading stocks or other type of investment.
a good start is to visit www.wealthplanting.com which tells some good concepts of money management and risk management.
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Sat Apr 22, 2006 5:12 am |
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