$1000, is it enough to start making some successful investments?

[Captain Save]

And get arrested (or at least cited and made to go home) for not having a vendor's permit.

Nope. I'm sure down the line , they can decide to enforce these rules, but as of now this happens every year .. cops patrolling the streets and all.

[Gailete]

with $1000?? What's the purpose of this investment?

For me the only reason I would invest one single payment of $1000 in securities is to get used to the process, and learn how to cope with the ups and downs etc.. but not for a real tangible monetary benefit. It's just too small on investment.

Sorry, but I beg to differ with you greatly. Apparently you have so much money that $1000 is chicken feed to you. To those of us with smaller amounts of money to invest, if we don't start investing when we have a little bit, we will never be able to invest. Not all investments only earn 7%, one of my first investments is up 70% after a few years. I would rather use my first couple of thousands dollars learning how investments work and earning money. You will learn, you should also be studying about how to invest as investing is also a continuing process.

I don't say you shouldn't find a way to make more money as well. I shoe stringed myself up to a nice business that gives me some money each month to invest. That money has now grown to $11K. So I'm glad I did what I am doing. I would never discourage someone from investing $1000. although before they do, they need to be doing research both before and after AND making a commitment to not move the money for a set number of years, otherwise it is way to easy if the stock market goes down to try to sell when actually you should hope you have some money to buy stocks that are currently on 'sale'.

[disneysteve]

For me the only reason I would invest one single payment of $1000 in securities is to get used to the process, and learn how to cope with the ups and downs etc.. but not for a real tangible monetary benefit. It's just too small on investment.

Too small for what? There are many, many people out there for whom $1,000 represents a significant amount of money to have free to invest. Maybe it isn't significant to you but it might be for the OP.

Sorry, but I beg to differ with you greatly. Apparently you have so much money that $1000 is chicken feed to you. To those of us with smaller amounts of money to invest, if we don't start investing when we have a little bit, we will never be able to invest.

Agreed. As I said, we opened our first mutual fund account with $50. Not $5,000. Not $500. $50. At the time, all we could afford was $50/month. It was nearly 2 years before we even got to $1,000 in that account.

If you've got $1,000 to invest, good for you. Invest it wisely and keep adding to it as you are able.

I had my daughter open a Roth when she was 17. She had a little over $1,000 from babysitting and a summer job. She put it in a Vanguard Target fund and added to it a couple of times after that. She hasn't been able to contribute since starting college as she has no earned income but once she graduates next year, she'll be able to start funding it again and has enjoyed 5 years of growth with that money.

[Nutria]

There are many, many people out there for whom $1,000 represents a significant amount of money to have free to invest.

A philosophical question: if your e-fund has 3-4 months of expenses (that's at least $7,500, and which you should have before you start risking money), is $1,000 (12% of $8,500) still considered "a significant amount of money to have free to invest"?

[disneysteve]

A philosophical question: if your e-fund has 3-4 months of expenses (that's at least $7,500, and which you should have before you start risking money), is $1,000 (12% of $8,500) still considered "a significant amount of money to have free to invest"?

I think everyone's definition of "significant" will differ. For someone who is just starting out and has managed to set aside a 4-month EF plus another $1,000, I'd venture to say that's significant for them.

[Nutria]

I think everyone's definition of "significant" will differ. For someone who is just starting out and has managed to set aside a 4-month EF plus another $1,000, I'd venture to say that's significant for them.

It's certainly nothing to piss away!!

[Gailete]

A philosophical question: if your e-fund has 3-4 months of expenses (that's at least $7,500, and which you should have before you start risking money), is $1,000 (12% of $8,500) still considered "a significant amount of money to have free to invest"?

To get to the point of $7500 in an E-fund, that means a bit over $200 per month for 36 months of savings. An amount that is way too much for some of us to put aside monthly. It might take us 10+ years to save up that much.

For me risking my money would be putting it into an account that is earning 1% or less. Maybe I could find something that pays a bit more but it wouldn't be keeping up with inflation so each year it is worth less and less. That is a risk. So, I invested my EF funds in to stocks to have greater growth, because of starting so late in the game. Same with a Roth IRA. Once I have money set aside for something, I hate taking any of it out, which means I put my thinking cap on when something comes up where I need money for an 'emergency'. Like today the brakes failed on our car and it didn't pass inspection. Estimated total repair cost $800 plus or minus.

It is all in what one's needs are long and short term. Better to have somehing stashed away than not.

[Nutria]

To get to the point of $7500 in an E-fund, that means a bit over $200 per month for 36 months of savings. An amount that is way too much for some of us to put aside monthly. It might take us 10+ years to save up that much.

For me risking my money would be putting it into an account that is earning 1% or less. Maybe I could find something that pays a bit more but it wouldn't be keeping up with inflation so each year it is worth less and less. That is a risk. So, I invested my EF funds in to stocks to have greater growth, because of starting so late in the game.

Interesting points. Have you thought about putting that money into "high yield" bonds? They're less volatile than stocks, but still provide a good return.

[TexasHusker]

We do what we can... My monthly investments are radically smaller than those of DisneySteve, SinGuy and TexasHusker, but that doesn't stop me from plugging away.

I'm actually embarrassed to admit that many months I don't save a dime.

[TexasHusker]

with $1000?? What's the purpose of this investment?

For me the only reason I would invest one single payment of $1000 in securities is to get used to the process, and learn how to cope with the ups and downs etc.. but not for a real tangible monetary benefit. It's just too small on investment. I would rather try to invest it in a passive small business idea.. preferably something that's all cash. Think ebay transaction that's predictable or something more creative ..

There's a carribean carnival in my city around this time every year. You can literally just stand on the street and sell cold water bottles to folks walking around. $250 gets you 6000 water bottles .. let's say you only sell a quarter of that, you still make $1500 on a $250 investment. What's the IRR on that?

Not all opportunities are that profitable .. probably not even close.. but watching $1000 earning 7-8% every year is just not worth it IMO.

I would hazard that most people don't have a $1000 lying around. It's a chunk. And big chunks don't come along often.

[Gailete]

Interesting points. Have you thought about putting that money into "high yield" bonds? They're less volatile than stocks, but still provide a good return.

Nope. I was willing to go high risk with stocks than deal with bonds that don't particularly understand nor have I ever read much about them that they would get me to where I needed to go. I had particular requirements of the stocks that I bought, so I read what I could, and watched them and decided which to buy. Please note that I do not recommend that people do what I did! I just knew that the only place I could earn enough to make a difference to our retirement was via the stock market.

I have read many articles that say to start to move out of stocks as you get closer to 65 as if your money has no need to grow after that, which I think is funny weird not funny haha. Many people are living 20+ years after retirement and I would worry more about finances in my 80's and what kind of money I will need then compared to what I need now since I still manage to run my on-line store now which brings in income, I don't want to have be doing that when I'm 80. I'm already on SSD and when I hit 65 I believe the number is, it will simply convert to regular SS but no additional money. This means I am already living on what we will get with that and I pretty much know how much extra I need yearly now and that amount will most likely grow over the years. So, I still invest for growth for at least 10 or more years. My husband is 9 years younger so he is looking forward to potentially much longer time frame.

[Captain Save]

Too small for what? There are many, many people out there for whom $1,000 represents a significant amount of money to have free to invest. Maybe it isn't significant to you but it might be for the OP.


.

The quote that you quoted said $1000 of a single payment which I believe that's what the OP had asked about. much different than your periodic payment of $50 ... so no a $1000 is not a small amount of money if we're talking periodic payments but if that's his lump sum? I don't think it does much .. it would be better serve jumpstarting a career , a small business, or a "side hustle" IMO

..and once that takes off .. he'll have plenty to invest hopefully periodically.

[Captain Save]

Sorry, but I beg to differ with you greatly. Apparently you have so much money that $1000 is chicken feed to you. To those of us with smaller amounts of money to invest, if we don't start investing when we have a little bit, we will never be able to invest. Not all investments only earn 7%, one of my first investments is up 70% after a few years. I would rather use my first couple of thousands dollars learning how investments work and earning money. You will learn, you should also be studying about how to invest as investing is also a continuing process.

I don't say you shouldn't find a way to make more money as well. I shoe stringed myself up to a nice business that gives me some money each month to invest. That money has now grown to $11K. So I'm glad I did what I am doing. I would never discourage someone from investing $1000. although before they do, they need to be doing research both before and after AND making a commitment to not move the money for a set number of years, otherwise it is way to easy if the stock market goes down to try to sell when actually you should hope you have some money to buy stocks that are currently on 'sale'.

We're most likely going to disagree on how to invest a lump sum of $1000 but to quote what I said again .. if your intention is to learn.. investing a $1000 is fine to learn the process.. I said as much in the post you quoted.

[Gailete]

Before anyone invest anything, they should have done some learning ahead of time and then once the $1k is invested they will keep learning the reality of investing in the stock market. There are just some things that you can't learn without taking that first step. Then as they go they can keep investing more and if they bought stock, see how the dividends pay out, etc. I got the feeling that they had been saving for a while to get to the point of having that much and once they have made the initial investment, they can keep adding to it.

Just like Disney Steve, if I hadn't put small amounts into my account, I wouldn't have anything at all in it. My initial investment that I have added to as possible has grown 22.65%. That is a better return than anything else I could do especially since I am disabled and have limited strength and energy. To tell the OP that $1000 isn’t worth investing except by doing things like selling bottle of water or other small business, is sad. One of the harder things that we poorer people run into is that financial advisors don’t want us. Many mutual funds don’t want you unless you have a great deal of money and if you can get into them the additional investments are huge amounts again. So, finding ways to invest a $1000 can be tricky if you want to start investing in the stock market, but that one investment can get your foot in the door.

In the current issue of Money magazine there is an interesting article about someone that many of us know about (Shark Tank) and that is Mark Cuban, a self-made millionaire (maybe billionaire can’t remember which) and how he went from being poor to being fantastically rich. And it wasn’t by listing to naysayers that he didn’t have enough money to do certain things, like invest in the stock market.

[disneysteve]

To tell the OP that $1000 isn’t worth investing except by doing things like selling bottle of water or other small business, is sad.

Actually, suggesting ways to use that $1,000 to make more money is fine. I don't have a problem with that. Many, many businesses have been started with small initial investments.

I could take $1,000, hit a bunch of thrift shops, and get a nice little ebay business going if that was my goal.

I just didn't get the impression that the OP was asking for startup advice but rather investing advice.