Should I invest?

Question

So I’m 18 years old and I have been saving all of my money but not investing or wanting to invest in stocks or anything because I am just saving up for a property, should I stay liquid or invest most of it in the stock market?

Aaron Schrader · Answer

It's good advice to at least go talk to a lender!  Then you'll know what options you have.  At your stage of life, if you qualified for a real estate purchase, the advice of purchasing a duplex is sound counsel.  Or go into a single family that you can rent rooms out to some roommates.  Read books, listen to podcasts, talk to people ahead of you in your journey.  But know that if you talk to 100 people on what to do with your cash right now, you'll probably get 100 different answers.  Don't chase down what tickles your ears, but evaluate options against your goals and what reality is at the moment for you.   If stocks are of interest to you, maybe don't invest all of it, but just a portion of what you have saved.

Daniel Murphy · Answer

Well, here's a thought.  The stock market is down so your short term "risk" of losing more money is minimized.  If you, for example, invested your savings right now into a S&P 500 ETF in a taxable account, you could "ride the wave" up when the market does return.  This would be a good use of your money that's sitting aside.

While that happens, like others have mentioned you can get your other ducks in a row for financing.  Job experience, co signer etc.  Since you're young & presumably in a pretty low tax bracket, whenever you sell your stocks to buy your first property, all of the gains could potentially be tax free.

Eliott Elias · Answer

You're asking real estate investors wether you should invest in the stock market or real estate. You know the answer.

Brian G. · Answer

@Jace Perez the best use of your time is to focus on increasing your income and stack them Benjamins! Read the book Set for Life by Scott Trench. Study & execute a house hack strategy. Best way to begin especially in this season of life. You will need a good income to qualify. If you are hard working and a young man of character, perhaps a family member will co-sign and help you get in the game. Good luck!

Taylor Dasch · Answer

You can get a co signer, or you can ask a lender what you will need. When I bought my first house, I only had one year of tax returns.

Jace Perez · Answer

I want to retire early as well but I don’t think I would get approved for any type of loan as of now I don’t have much credit and not even close to 2 years in tax returns. Would the best option be to get a co signer? And if I were to get a co-signer would I be able to take the risk off of them?

Taylor Dasch · Answer

If you want to take action right now, save 3.5% and put it as a down payment on a duplex.

For your question, it all depends on your goals. The reason investing in Real Estate is appealing to me is so that I can retire early and know that I am young enough to make a few large mistakes and still be okay in the long run.

If you dont want to take any risks and are okay with working for 20-25 years to get retirement and let your stocks appreciate, then investing in stocks may be the way to go for you.

Jack Faysash · Answer

I'd highly encourage investing what you have and start working as much as you can to be able to have a stable source of income to qualify for a loan. I bonds are a very safe investment and are at a historically high rate. If you want to take some more risk, I'd suggest diversifying through mutual funds and historically well performing stocks. I use fidelity for purchasing mutual funds and stocks, but there are other options out there.

Should I invest?

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