Is there an organization that...

[cycleman77]

... I can give money to to invest and I can come back at the end of the year and hopefully have a positive return on investment?

I am in the process of buying my first house and I'm deciding what to do with the $8k tax credit. One option is to invest, but after a weekend of reading about the stock market, I find myself completely overwhelmed. From what I gather so far, normal dividends from stocks (AT&T, Verizon, Coca-Cola, etc) would take 10 to 15 years before they returned my initial investment. That's a bit too long for me. I want something more short term. The only way I saw to get 10 to 15 years worth of dividends in 4 to 5 years, would be active trading (buying/selling). I can't do that. I am not anywhere near proficient enough in the stock market to actively trade and I certainly don't have the time.

I looked at e-Trade, Ameritrade, Scottrade, etc, etc, but it looks like I would still need to be the one to buy, sell, buy, sell....

I want someone else to do it for me. Granted, it will probably cost me more than a $7 trade, but for someone like me, I think it would be worth it.

So does anyone know of such a place? Somewhere I can fork over $8,000 and have someone buy/sell for me?

-Thanks

 

[Brainonska511]

What about Vanguard? Buy into index funds and such and just hold. Vanguard has low costs and you get diversification by the fact that the fund is invested in lots of companies.

 

[minendo]

There is this guy in Nigeria I know that can do exactly what you are looking for.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

no, can't say that I've ever heard of such an establishment. You should start one.

 

[vi edit]

The only way you'll get a "guaranteed" return is a CD from your local bank or a low paying treasury bill. That locks the money in at a specified (relativley low) interest rate for a specified amount of time.

Outside of that, there isn't a legal/regulated investment group that can guarantee you a positive return on your money. It just doesn't work that way.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Isn't that what a broker does?

 

[cycleman77]

What about Vanguard? Buy into index funds and such and just hold. Vanguard has low costs and you get diversification by the fact that the fund is invested in lots of companies.

Vanguard looks promising...

 

[Red Squirrel]

My parents took a huge load (100kish I think), and invest it. After so many years, they'll have made lot of money off the interest, then they'll pay off the loan. I don't know exactly how it works, they have a financial guy who does all the work for them. The basic is the loan interest is lower then the savings interest, and the payments are low.

It sounds scary, but it's pretty safe from what I heard.

 

[DaveSimmons]

> a certain, positive, return on investment?

Not if you want a return higher than ~2% from high interest savings or a CD.

If you want a >10% return you need to accept risk of the value going up or down in any particular period.

 

[MJinZ]

A savings account?

 

[FleshLight]

Bonds, CDs, Savings

 

[cycleman77]

> a certain, positive, return on investment?

Not if you want a return higher than ~2% from high interest savings or a CD.

If you want a >10% return you need to accept risk of the value going up or down in any particular period.

Right; high return = high risk. I guess the 'positive' was a little too much wishful thinking. I'll edit the original post.

 

[Kreon]

My parents have Vanguard.

Except when everything went down the crapper when the housing bubble burst (and earlier when the .com bubble burst to), it's always increased at least a little bit, sometimes a lot bit

 

[cycleman77]

Savings accounts and bonds are too "slow".
CDs didn't seem worth it either. $8k for 5 years at 3% only nets ~$1,300. That's approximately $260/year. It's better than savings, but it doesn't even cover an average monthly bill.

 

[cycleman77]

Isn't that what a broker does?

Unfortunately, not from what I have read. Brokers just seem to do what they are told. I say buy, they buy. I say sell, they sell.

I'd like to just say "Ok, here is a few thousand, I'll be back in 12 months, go make me some more money..."

 

[Aluvus]

Unfortunately, not from what I have read. Brokers just seem to do what they are told. I say buy, they buy. I say sell, they sell.

I'd like to just say "Ok, here is a few thousand, I'll be back in 12 months, go make me some more money..."

You are describing a mutual fund.