re: General Investing/Saving for a beginner

quote:

---

have about 10K of cash that's just sitting around that I'd like to put to work for me. Any recommendations on investments with high returns or way in which to find them? I've looked around on Vanguard which is where I have my roth IRA at various stocks/bonds but just don't really know where to start. I've put money in CDs before when I was younger but those were pretty low-yield. Thanks!

---

I assume this is money you don't need for an emergency fund or anything.

I do all my investing for retirement at this point for the most part. Any money that doesn't go there and isn't in my emergency fund, I spend.

I don't have much taxed investments so I'm not much help on this specific question. The only dabbling I do in this realm is I put some very small amounts in P2P loans to help people avoid the big banks. I like to "gamble" on 13%+ interest rate loans on lendingclub.com for some entertainment. I'm averaging just over 13% returns there for now but I have only been doing it a couple years.

For specific investments it all depends on your risk tolerance. The best advice would be to find a pro, discuss your situation and goals and develop a plan together, especially if you want to keep throwing side cash in there. If you havent maxed out your Roth IRA you might want to start there because you can always pull that principle back out penalty free. If you are looking at funds, I'm personally a fan of Schwab ETFs. I personally invest in their SCHA, SCHE, SCHF, SCHH, SCHM, SCHX and SCHZ.