Anonymous wrote:Stick it in Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Admiral Shares.

+1

If you absolutely want to invest the money in something that is relatively safe with the chance of some growth, I would suggest you put it into a low fee index fund or ETF. There is some risk associated with that (for example, the stock market could crash, c.f. 2008), but it is far less risky than investing in an individual stock, hoping for rapid growth, and at least it will keep pace with inflation and possibly grow a bit.

I do invest in some individual stocks and various other sectors/real estate funds/bond funds, etc. just to keep my portfolio diversified and I have a few penny startups that I buy mostly as a hobby, but the bulk of my money goes into low fee index funds and ETFs.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks PP. It helps that we both believe Amazon is a company that is going to be around for a very long while. KYC (keep your cool) may also be our unofficial motto during this whole adventure. So thanks for that too.

KYM (keep your money) would be a better mantra.

I've had a lot of luck with following stock picking advice from Investor's Business Daily. You can sign up for a yearly subscription that includes some free materials and classes on how to do their technical analysis.

If you really want to increase the risk/reweard equation, trade options. Value Line is a good resource for getting steered toward the right investments. It's a good way to play in both the bear and bull markets. You may have to do some fudging on your applications with online trading sights to convince them to let you do all types of options trading.

Anonymous wrote:OP here, we're looking at a 2 year timeline so it's really only a "get rich kinda quick" scheme. (Smiley face insinuated here.) And like I said, we've socked away (and will continue to sock away) enough for a healthy down payment regardless of the outcome of these investments. And yup, we have a lot to learn but you gotta start somewhere.

For those of you who said you were not risk averse but this wasn't a good idea, what are your suggestions? Perhaps starting with less money to see how well we do or hard we flop?

I was the first person who said outright your idea is bad, and I stand by that. It's still bad. I would never plunk down 30k for an investment learning experience. If you want to start investing in individual stocks, put a teensy bit of money at a time. I have a "fun money" account that over the years has done well, but it was not money that I want to use any time soon, and some years it did not do so well. I put $50 a week into it, and I invest only in companies where I like the product and understand what the company does, and I consider it more a dumb hobby than anything. You can start investing with... $1k or 2k. Or put all the money in a highly regarded mutual fund or ETF. See how you do with that. Otherwise, be prepared to lose the 30k. Which I think would be kind of tragic and stupid.

Anonymous wrote:OP here, we're looking at a 2 year timeline so it's really only a "get rich kinda quick" scheme. (Smiley face insinuated here.) And like I said, we've socked away (and will continue to sock away) enough for a healthy down payment regardless of the outcome of these investments. And yup, we have a lot to learn but you gotta start somewhere.

For those of you who said you were not risk averse but this wasn't a good idea, what are your suggestions? Perhaps starting with less money to see how well we do or hard we flop?

I think you are approaching it from a "get-rich" pov. If you are "saving" for a down payment, save it. Don't "invest" it. Read The Motley Fool. If you really want sound investing advice, for investments (that doesn't count for anything you want to see in two years), then subscribe to their Stock Advisor. I have done well by it over the last 20 years.

The issue is whether you have a better sense of where Amazon is going than everyone else. I think it's silly to expect to hit it big on individual stocks in 2 years.

Thanks PP. It helps that we both believe Amazon is a company that is going to be around for a very long while. KYC (keep your cool) may also be our unofficial motto during this whole adventure. So thanks for that too.

Anonymous wrote:OP here, we're looking at a 2 year timeline so it's really only a "get rich kinda quick" scheme. (Smiley face insinuated here.) And like I said, we've socked away (and will continue to sock away) enough for a healthy down payment regardless of the outcome of these investments. And yup, we have a lot to learn but you gotta start somewhere.

For those of you who said you were not risk averse but this wasn't a good idea, what are your suggestions? Perhaps starting with less money to see how well we do or hard we flop?

I'm the poster who suggested Amazon. Really, if you want to do anything with 30K in 2 years, you need to invest all of it at once and accept a significant amount of risk. There's no secret to it.
I suggest you open an account at TD Ameritrade or some cheap online brokerage thing so that your transactions won't cost you too much. You don't need advice from pseudo professionals if it's not free . Just educate yourself on which stocks will likely do well in the next 2 years and go for it. Once you decide on a stock(s), refrain from changing your mind and selling and buying all the time. If there's a shutdown-type crisis during those 2 years, keep your cool and don't sell. If there's a WWIII-type crisis, we're all finished anyway so don't sell. Cash in at the end of the 2 years.

OP here, we're looking at a 2 year timeline so it's really only a "get rich kinda quick" scheme. (Smiley face insinuated here.) And like I said, we've socked away (and will continue to sock away) enough for a healthy down payment regardless of the outcome of these investments. And yup, we have a lot to learn but you gotta start somewhere.

For those of you who said you were not risk averse but this wasn't a good idea, what are your suggestions? Perhaps starting with less money to see how well we do or hard we flop?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think that this is a good idea, and I am not risk averse. Money you have a very good use for (down payment) is not money you want to be aggressive with. I would never put 30k in high risk investments before buying a house. Put that money in your "inevitable house repairs" saving account, OP.

+1 and I like to take risks too with my money.

If this is your first time hearing about the total stock market index account, keep that 30k away from stocks. You have too much to learn!

+2 Don't aggressively invest something you need in the next year. It's just a bad idea.

AMZN? At $360 a share? Yikes. Besides, it's probably a smidge too late for a real quick killing, it just went up $60 a share in the past few weeks with the new Kindle release.

(Spoken as someone who invested $5,500 in AMZN - in 2000/2001. And still holds it!)

What's the timeline? 6 months?
Hmm… plunk it all down on Amazon. It's at a 52 week high and in the next 6 months will probably go higher still.

Crazy plan. Anything that is get-rich-quick, can also flip to get-poor-quick.

OP, I'd love to just watch what you do over the next few months. You have brass ones!