Making your money work for you

[scrappy62]

Recently I payed off all remaining balances on both my undergraduate and graduate student loans, payed off all credit card debt, bought both my wife's car and my car with cash. Besides our mortgage and basic living expenses we are otherwise debt free. Having a baby on the way really helped me buckle down and get my priorities straight. I am now looking for ways to make my money work for me. I've been working my ass off full-time for the past 15 years, and am hoping to find investments that work in today's economy. There have been many ups and downs along the way. Any advice or reading material that may be helpful would be greatly appreciated. What has worked for you guys? Someone recently pointed me to http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/index.php Besides a couple of 401K's and some simple stock trading, this is new to me. I'm thinking of getting a second job.

[blue70beetle]

Follow Dave Ramsey's investment advice regarding mutual funds...I think there are those in this forum who take what he says with a grain of salt, but he doesn't own a single stock. His website and books will tell you what types of funds he invests in (he won't tell you which funds he personally invests in), and he will tell you that this investment is for the long term. He claims to have earned 12% annually by carefully selecting mutual funds with a long, strong track record, and not jumping in and out all the time.

This is after you put away enough in savings to cover 3-6 months of living expenses...

I'm working to get to exactly where you are, and it's great to hear what you've accomplished!

[dunhamjr]

Recently I payed off all remaining balances on both my undergraduate and graduate student loans, payed off all credit card debt, bought both my wife's car and my car with cash. Besides our mortgage and basic living expenses we are otherwise debt free.

I'm thinking of getting a second job.

if you have done all of the first paragraph on your current income... why would you get another job?

you getting another job is exactly the opposite of making your money work for you.

you are supposed to be finding ways to work less but still make the same or more money.

[jnm2.0t]

you are supposed to be finding ways to work less but still make the same or more money.

Sounds like a government job if you ask me. I kid. Sorta. Anyhow if he is happy to work more why wouldn't he?

[dunhamjr]

Sounds like a government job if you ask me. I kid. Sorta. Anyhow if he is happy to work more why wouldn't he?

work smarter, not harder so to speak.


and he might. but he mentioned working his ass off full time for 15 yrs and wanting to find investments to make his money work for him...

that to me is the definition of really not wanting a 2nd job.

[scrappy62]

Follow Dave Ramsey's investment advice regarding mutual funds...I think there are those in this forum who take what he says with a grain of salt, but he doesn't own a single stock. His website and books will tell you what types of funds he invests in (he won't tell you which funds he personally invests in), and he will tell you that this investment is for the long term. He claims to have earned 12% annually by carefully selecting mutual funds with a long, strong track record, and not jumping in and out all the time.

This is after you put away enough in savings to cover 3-6 months of living expenses...

I'm working to get to exactly where you are, and it's great to hear what you've accomplished!

Thanks. I am looking for a 2nd job to make some extra dough that I can invest. After paying off the debt, I have no coin for vacations, no car mods, etc. Only the essentials. Time to start saving those 3-6 months of living expenses as an emergency fund before I can invest. A new roof may be in the future as well. It never ends. That 2nd job looks more and more appealing the more I think about it.