patrick.net

The stuff is no good, send it to me.

I'm in the same boat. Awaiting erudite responses.

I would buy ETF's ... way safer than buying individual stocks.

Get a mix of large cap, small cap, international, commodity etc etc

CaptainShuddup says

The stuff is no good, send it to me.

I have a nigerian associate who will be in touch for your payment details. Stay tuned.

Do we have to do a bank to bank transfer, those things never work out for me.
I always end up with less money than I started with.

CaptainShuddup says

Do we have to do a bank to bank transfer, those things never work out for me.

I always end up with less money than I started with.

I think that was my intention. Oooops.

You can spread $50K across a pair of NCUA insured Provident Credit Union Super Checking accounts which pay 1.75% on the first $25K in savings provided you jump through their direct deposit and 10 transaction/month hoops; one with each spouse listed as the first joint account holder.

On a serious note, am I the only one that finds it ironic, that the 1%(who ever that is) is vilified for having all of the wealth, and owning all of the monopolies. In a time when both service and quality in most goods and services are subpar to what people would expect.
But time and time again, when your question comes up, the standard advice is, "invest in company" or commodity, that only makes those same usual suspects even more richer.
Then to top it off, if you do invest all of your 100K, you'll be lucky if you don't end up taking a beating at some point. Then you will feel compelled to keep you money in that stock, for the long run. Just so you can break back even. See 2007-2013. Now stocks are taking a beating again.

It wasn't that long ago, that your question was a no brainier.
(1)Buy Land
(2)Buy Real Estate
(3)Start a business(my favorite)
(4)Put in an interest baring savings account and just let it grow(no longer exists).

People were only given stocks as an advice, if they stated "they had money to play with".
The herd mentally has made DOW 1.5K and Gold 1.6K, it certainly hasn't been solid fundamentals.
NO body talks about starting a business with their money anymore. It's always using someone else money.

If I had 100K burning a hole in my pocket, I think I would start a business.

Jimbo in SF says

I would buy ETF's ... way safer than buying individual stocks.

Get a mix of large cap, small cap, international, commodity etc etc

Damn Skippy it's safe, I mean how can it not be, when you Wall street standing at the world's dinner table holding them up over family dinner. And every time I stop at the gas pump, I'm throwing a few more dollars into you ETF. Every time goods are shipped to market, they have to break you off a piece of the profits, which are passed down to the rest of us.

Safe indeed, I mean what could possibly go wrong, if that kind of growth continued unchecked for another decade? Trick question, you wont give a fuck, you'll be in Tahiti sucking down fancy umbrella drinks.

CaptainShuddup says

If I had 100K burning a hole in my pocket, I think I would start a business.

I don't disagree with this ... but doing what exactly?
Lots of businesses fail, many others are a huge time suck.

Investing in stocks is a passive way to earn a return.

CaptainShuddup says

in Tahiti sucking down fancy umbrella drinks

Isn't that everyone's goal? (or some version of that).

$100k is not life changing money ... nice to have, but you're not ready for Tahiti just yet. If I was making $100k salary and had $100k saved, I don't know that I'd quit my job and start a business.

I'm 59, and have had a side business to my Real Estate portfolio, and investing for years.

I'm always surprised that I'm good at business, but other people encourage me.

Our business is house cleaning, but I have had several businesses over the years.

At one point I had a girl friend who would buy stuff for us to sell at garage sales. My next door neighbor of 20 years made his entire living, paid off his house, put two kids through college, and had money in the bank from going to garage sales, and selling stuff out of his home, or by delivery.

It used to drive me nuts that we had all of this crap in our house until we had our first garage sale, in a nice neighborhood.

A bathroom basin with cabinet antique cabinet which was bought for $200 sold for $900, and was one of the first things to go. A chair, that didn't have wicker, was bought for $50, and sold for $200. At the end of the day our profit was well over 100%, and maybe higher, because I stopped counting, and complaining.

We all have talents that are valuable. My investment in the house cleaning business was about $30K and returns that every couple of months in profits.

I cashed out my Morgan Stanley account last week, thank God, and am thinking of buying another cleaning company. It's safe, easy, and there is more than enough labor available.

I like small business as an investment, but it does have high risks. By the grace of God I have been able to stay ahead of the curve.

Jimbo in SF says

I don't know that I'd quit my job and start a business.

No, don't quite the day job. Keep the job, and find good people. I'm amazed at the quality of labor we find, for reasonable wages.

David Losh says

Keep the job

Well to be honest: I do side work ... doing the exact same thing I do in my day job (database programming / analytics).

So I guess, I've kinda started a 'small' business.

Jimbo in SF says

CaptainShuddup says

If I had 100K burning a hole in my pocket, I think I would start a business.

I don't disagree with this ... but doing what exactly?

I was assuming that this was the hint:

CaptainShuddup says

In a time when both service and quality in most goods and services are subpar to what people would expect.

The most vilified and complained about companies today are: telecom, social networking site, airline, energy company, financial/banking, Health care provider/insurance, etc.

So, use the cash to compete with those bastards and run them out of business with your superior service and quality.

Oh yeah sure, I'll just go ahead and start FACEBOOKSUX AIRWAYS with a few hundred grand.....

Most of the places that you can invest in have risk, including the stock market. It's kind of funny that most people don't associate their 401k's with high risk, but I know bunches of older folks who are still working because their 401k's got utterly decimated a few years back.

I dabbled in day trading for a few months, until 2 of the companies I had invested in got nailed by the SEC for cooking the books. Luckily I didn't lose too much.

Put away $100k into an educational 529 plan for my kids about 5 years ago, and it's worth about the same now as it was then (0.something ROI). Going to rip it out of there and pay the penalty so I can move it into something making a more solid return. (Our states plan SUCKS and it's totally under performing the market)

Today I am in real estate (12 rentals) and roughly the same amount invested in a company that rehabs old homes in established neighborhoods. Basically I am acting as a bank and loaning money to them (secured by a note against the property). I like the latter because I don't have to do anything other than sign some papers once in awhile. Independent loans like that usually get around 12-15% depending on your area depending on the amount you loan. You pay a bit more in taxes on it though, so the rentals probably end up making a bit more in the long run, especially considering the recent appreciation factor.

I'd like to start a business and have some (I think) good ideas for doing so, but I'd have to quit my day job to be able to do it. My day job pays well enough that I probably won't quit it anytime soon. Meh, I designed a GoPro camera about 10-12 years ago after I left Kodak, but never did anything with the idea. That'll teach me.. (GoPro grossed over $500M last year).

If you have really good business ideas, go for it. The US makes it pretty darn easy for you to try a business and even if you fail, you don't really get 'penalized'.

Invest in drones.

You need my address? I love money, even if it's not worth the paper it's printed on.

Facebooksux says

Oh yeah sure, I'll just go ahead and start FACEBOOKSUX AIRWAYS with a few hundred grand.....

Sounds like just about the right amount needed to start an airline that would provide the quality and service people have grown to expect from the facebook[sux] name.

Invest some of that money in some really good memories!

Throw a whopper of a party.

Travel someplace right now that you thought you'd like to see "some day".

Visit people you've been meaning to see. Heck, take them with on your trip.