How would you invest $10k?

[ltdan]

Hi All,

I'm pretty new to this, and am finally starting to dip my toes into the world of investing.  Just put $3k into an index fund with Vanguard.  I have another $10k to 'play with'.  I am in this for the long haul.  Should I attempt to time the market and buy stock in a single company when the market starts to sour?  Put the rest into the index fund at Vanguard?  Put it in a few mason jars and bury them in the back yard?
Thoughts? 

[Deleted]

read the "long term investor" thread over on IBB

wxyz has put together a great portfolio for the average investor to follow

it is simple to do, easy to understand, and he answers a lot of questions in the thread

[justme]

I think the resounding answer you'll get from YM is that you cannot time the market and you shouldn't have a large portion of your investments in one spot ($10k of $13K in a single stock). Even if you have more invested in a 401k/whatever I'm assuming most here wouldn't vote for the individual stock unless that $10k was at least less than 10% of your total money in the market. Maybe even closer to 1% unless it's one of the few companies that have been around forever and aren't going away anytime soon.

I'd probably do an index fund. Whether it's the same as the $3k or a different fund depends on whether these are your only investments in the market or not.

[2kids10horses]

For now stick with VFINX.  That's the Vanguard SP500 Index fund.

When you have about $25,000 invested, you can start to split it up across several funds.

[Otto the Orange]

Although I am against market timing, I would recommend waiting until Sep 30th and see what the a$$hats in congress do

I suspect there will be a good buying opportunity after that, if not, no harm just invest anyways in early Oct

Then I would put it in an index fund and pretty much forget it.  If you aren't too comfortable balancing your funds I would recommend a Vanguard Target Fund and select an age 10 years later than what you actually plan to retire (that target fund is a little bit TOO cautious in the later years if you ask me) 

[clarkrl2]

You might want to allocate some in Vanguards midcap index fund as well. VIMSX

[Deleted]

SDIV or KBWD on a D.R.I.P. (Dividend Reinvestment Plan) for $7,000
KBWY on a D.R.I.P. (Dividend Reinvestment Plan) for $3,000

Let them be, but monitor for the next couple of years. Make regular deposits to your brokerage account as you can for an amount you can.

[bimetalaupt]

Sept 22, 2013 14:14:35 GMT -5 @di said:

SDIV or KBWD on a D.R.I.P. (Dividend Reinvestment Plan) for $7,000
KBWY on a D.R.I.P. (Dividend Reinvestment Plan) for $3,000

Let them be, but monitor for the next couple of years. Make regular deposits to your brokerage account as you can for an amount you can.

Itdan,
Three quick points to add to others..You do not have to invest money play the stock pick game.. Remember we have had a bull market for five years..Valuations are stretched. We could see a 15%to 18% drop in the DJIA if interest rates clime back to 2007 area..IE 10 year t-note back to or above 5%.

Also over the years small cap have a better record then large caps did.Watch your beta and sharpe index .Add Alpha to the grid as this will give you some idea of the upside.Try to keep cost low and many houses have cut cost because most funds have underperformed the stock market.

I wish you asked me in March 2009 as we posted a strong buy then...not now...I know several posted i HAD BALLS OF GOLD.  You may want to check with Charles Schwab for low cost systems.  Always keep cash for market declines.  You are there..remember this is long term investing not day trading and not to play the FUTURE MARKET...FORGET THE HYPE!!!!!!

Just a thought,
BiMetalAuPt