So you have $10,000 available and don’t know what to do with them? Whether you amassed that amount with a superior saving discipline or earned them with a lottery ticket, you must be wise in managing such a sum of money. It may not be millions,but it is a decent base to make a significant improvement in your financial future. However, the question remains, where to invest $10,000?
Why to invest?
Investing is a way to put a determined amount of money to work to bring up some profits after a specific period of time. Keeping in mind that there is no such thing as a totally safe investment, it is important to keep in mind that by investing you expose your money to certain risks in exchange of the potential benefits, something you need to be careful when we’re talking about $10,000.
If instead of investing you decide to just keep laying around $10,000, you’ll have that money stuck in your savings account. Overtime, it will lose its value due to inflation and most importantly, you’ll be blocking its earning potential.
On the other hand, if you use your $10,000 to invest, you’ll get them back sooner than later and gain a steady income through dividends or interests (given that you make wise decisions).
For instance, if you attain 10% per year during 30 years, thanks to compound interest your $10,000 could turn into $174,000 without you having to put a single penny into it any more.
In order to have success with your investments and avoid losses, ask yourself a couple of questions before considering putting your hard earned money on the line.
Ask yourself this before investing
Do you have any pending debt?
Before investing your $10,000 consider paying off any pending debt. This will help reduce your interest payments and pay less money in the long run. If you’re paying an interest of 15% or more, chances are you may not find an investment that out-earns that. That’s why it will be easier to invest your $10,000 once your debt is paid off completely.
Can you handle losses?
Take a deep look at your economic situation before investing. Be honest with yourself, knowing that if you don’t have a steady source of income you can trust to provide yourself with, maybe risking your money may not be the wisest option.
On the other hand, if you’re sure you are able to handle the loss of all your invested capital, you’re good to go ahead.
What is your risk tolerance?
By this point you should know that every investment involves a certain level of risk. Just like in the previous question, take a look at your finances and see the level of risk you’re able to take. Keep in mind that your investment could gain or lose value. Knowing your risk tolerance is key to choosing the right investments for you.
What are your investing goals?
Before investing, every investor should have a goal in mind. Get clear on what you want to achieve with your investments. Are you looking for a safe way to store your money? Do you want to make your money grow? Generate income? Every investment has its own set of benefits, risks, and purpose.
Once you wrap your mind around these questions, everything that’s left is to choose the investment that fits you best. Here are some suggestions.
Dividend stocks
Dividend stocks are exactly what their name suggests: stocks from companies that pay dividends to their shareholders. You can think of dividends as monetary benefits the company gives to the investors that trust it with their money.
Paying dividends is not required for any company, which is why not all of them pay dividends. However, big companies with steady dividends could provide a level of protection against the volatility and uncertainty of the market.
Within the FlexInvest platform, you can look for dividend paying companies and buy their shares in the safest and easiest way possible.
ETFs
ETF stands for “Exchange-Traded Funds”. These are financial instruments similar to a mix between investment funds and company stocks because they share features of each.
You can think of ETFs as a basket of different securities traded in the market. By investing in ETFs, you can become the owner of different stocks with only one transaction. If you’re looking for where to invest $10,000, ETFs can provide you with a very important benefit: diversification.
Just as with single stocks, you can buy and sell ETFs whenever you want. You can invest in ETFs shares with FlexInvest. Better than picking several stocks one by one, invest in different companies with just one transaction by investing in ETFs.
Bonds
Still not sure where to invest $10,000? Bonds could be a good option. By investing in bonds, you’re basically lending your money to a company or government during a specific period.
Because of this, you will earn interest periodically until the time comes for the money of your initial investment to be given back to you.
Sounds awesome, but not everything is a bed of roses. There may be cases in which the issuer of the bond goes through financial struggles and is not able to fulfill the interest payments. As in every single investment, there is some level of risk involved.
If it happens that you need to exchange your bond for quick cash, you can always sell it in the market. In this case, you may have to sell the bond for a smaller price than what you paid for it.
Real estate
The real estate market is always attractive to investors. However, in some cases, $10,000 may not represent an amount big enough to pay for the property you’re looking for. However, this doesn’t mean you are not able to invest in this field.
For individual investors looking to get in the real estate sector there are real estate investment trusts, also known as REITs. These are companies that own or manage income-generating properties. Shares of REITs have a high level of liquidity because, in order to be considered as investment funds, these companies must distribute at least 90% of their taxable income to shareholders.
Usually real estate properties involve long acquisition processes and relatively more complicated methods to manage them. Nevertheless, by investing in REITs it is easier to acquire shares and sell them if you need to get your cash back.
Some more options
Individual Retirement Account (IRA)
An IRA is a long-term savings account that people with a steady income can use to secure their future while they also enjoy some tax advantages. When you open an IRA, you can choose to invest between several financial instruments as stocks, bonds, ETFs, and investment funds, depending on the type of your retirement account.
Start a business
Another way to make use of your $10,000 is to start a business. This one may seem as the most difficult option, but it may be one of the most profitable in the long run.
To start your business, think about something you enjoy and the products or services you could offer in that field. Success may not come overnight, but even huge companies started as a small startup.
Consider crypto
Not long ago, cryptocurrency was an investment option that everyone was looking into. Chances are you may have considered investing a portion of your money after seeing the insane profits that investors earned in some exceptional cases.
Nowadays, the scenario is completely different. Due to the market’s volatility, cryptocurrencies have suffered some serious drops. If you’re looking where to invest $10,000, crypto may not be the best option.
However, if you decide to get into the crypto market, make sure to do so only with the amount of money you’re willing to lose. Risks are too high currently so it is suggested that cryptocurrency doesn’t represent more than 5% of your investment portfolio.
How to start investing?
As you may have noticed, there are several ways in which you can invest your $10,000. Even though at the end of the day the final decision depends exclusively on you, if you’re open to suggestions, make sure to consider dividend stocks and ETFs, as they are some of the most popular options out there.
FlexInvest makes it easy for you to invest in ETFs and dividend stocks of the most important companies in the world. The best part is that you don’t need all your $10,000; you can start with only $5!
As we mentioned before, make sure to check on your financial situation before investing so you can pick an instrument that suits your needs. To get more information and get better prepared for successful investments, take a look at the rest of articles in our library so you can get a head start on your journey.
