I have £5k to spare and want to make 5 separate investments, VC-like, such that even if 4 fail, one grows 10x over 5 years. What should those investments be?
Ask HN: Which 5 investments of £1k each should I make?
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Re: Ask HN: Which 5 investments of £1k each should I make?
#2If it were me I would take that money and invest in myself. 5k can go a long way in self improvement and growth. If that’s not necessary or appealing, idk, I dont have any experience or knowledge of investing other than the stock market.
Another thought is to give it to a friend or acquaintance who would benefit enormously from it, such as someone who’s not making much money but could use a few thousand for self improvement that would double their income soon.
Re: Ask HN: Which 5 investments of £1k each should I make?
#3With your risk tolerance as described I feel like I need to be the (ir)responsible one and suggest at least 1k into Bitcoin.
Re: Ask HN: Which 5 investments of £1k each should I make?
#4Whatever answer you get, make sure you can use your losses to cover some of your tax burden from your wins, otherwise even in the scenario you describe you lose a third or half to the government (depending on how the income is declared and what else you did in those 5 years) and barely come out ahead.
Re: Ask HN: Which 5 investments of £1k each should I make?
#5With your risk tolerance as described I feel like I need to be the (ir)responsible one and suggest at least 1k into Bitcoin.
Username checks out.
Personally I think Bitcoin is going to go huge soon, perhaps not as big as it originally was, but it's definitely going to go up a bit - bear in mind I'm no crypto expert, merely a CS student.
Re: Ask HN: Which 5 investments of £1k each should I make?
#6Invest in 500 things by purchasing a low cost S&P 500 index like the ETF VTI and call it a day. 5k is too low of an amount to purchase 5 separate investments after you consider fees.
Re: Ask HN: Which 5 investments of £1k each should I make?
#7Spend it for something nice which makes you happy and you’ll remember forever.
Re: Ask HN: Which 5 investments of £1k each should I make?
#8With your risk tolerance as described I feel like I need to be the (ir)responsible one and suggest at least 1k into Bitcoin.
Username checks out. Personally I think Bitcoin is going to go huge soon, perhaps not as big as it originally was, but it's definitely going to go up a bit - bear in mind I'm no crypto expert, merely a CS student.
Any more info on your thinking? Not looking for a fight, just wondering what makes you say this against a backdrop of near universal negativity. (I say this as someone who has 10 BTC and has pretty much give up on it (I bought it in 2013, IIRC, so I'm still up)).
Re: Ask HN: Which 5 investments of £1k each should I make?
#9VCs with infinite capital, networks, business knowledge, and 100% focus are shooting for 1-in-10 investments to get a 10x return. It's rather optimistic to expect a success rate twice as good as their teams get.
You're trying to get an annual return of 15%. Investments into US index funds over the last 5 years returned ~10% p.a. with minimal risk of a major loss.
Re: Ask HN: Which 5 investments of £1k each should I make?
#10If 4 fail and one grows by 10X you will have 10K. It seems that your goal should be turning 5K into 10K over 5 years which seems doable. Since the amount of money you're dealing with is fairly small, I would suggest putting your energy into a single project instead of multiple ideas. Splitting your focus seems like a mistake when dealing with so little capital. Start a side hustle if you want or spend it on teaching yourself a skill that will translate into a higher income. Investing in yourself is generally the best thing you can do with that kind of money.
If you work 40 hours a week, 50 weeks of the year for five years that equals 10,000 hours. So if you can learn a skill that increases your hourly wage by $1 you will have met your goal.
If you are looking to begin saving for retirement, put it in a Vanguard total stock market etf and let it sit for 50 years.