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Sold my dipshit company for $5m, where to invest?

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Re: Sold my dipshit company for $5m, where to invest?

#51

Post by brudgers »

To understand real-estate and its development, I recommend the Urban Land Institute [www.uli.org].

With "only" $5 million, you probably don't have enough to make a big enough impression on the commercial side to get preferential treatment. Real estate is similar to startup investing in that there are relatively tight communities of investors who do deals together. In my opinion, there is little reason to seek a real-estate license if your goal is to invest - commissions are just a line in your pro forma. What is valuable is insight into the market - not the conventional wisdom which floats around among agents.

Re: Sold my dipshit company for $5m, where to invest?

#53

Post by mmk »

hi there, a couple tips/ideas - almost all brokers are not investors, they get a commission when they sell you investment products - keep that in mind. - probably invest 80% in stuff that retains value/grows steadily and 20% in high risk/return stuff. - real estate is probably a good investment now. I would aim for places where a large amount of cash and ability to close quickly gives you a pricing advantage (ie vs a lot of small deals where other people bid up the price) - within real estate, restaurants are poor credit risks (being hit driven), commercial real estate is down right now, and residential is down except in select areas like SF. - residential real estate is counter cyclical, ie in a boom, its bid up, in a bust, people turn to renting, so it is a solid investment (assuming the surround location is a stable economy) - US stock market in aggregate is going to be flat, due to a structural issues. - areas of growth include tech, so buy what you know or emerging markets, so buy a multinational with solid exposure there. - other possibilities include ETFs (like mutual funds) are more liquid, but be careful not all ETFs follow the intended basket of investments that closely.

good luck, max, mba

Re: Sold my dipshit company for $5m, where to invest?

#56

Post by gw666 »

I couldn't find the book that I really wanted to recommend in my earlier post. But now I've found it: "The Only Guide to a Winning Investment Strategy You'll Ever Need," by Larry Swedroe. It's the book I used to base my investing strategy on. Its ideas are backed by a simulation of using the strategy against 35 years of historical data--with long-term results of 9-11%/year. Highly recommended!

Re: Sold my dipshit company for $5m, where to invest?

#57

Post by jsarch »

gte910h wrote: post #37
JSig wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your note on diversification reminds me of a video I recently saw from Eric Sprott. In it he said the following. "I focus in on things. I get deep into things that I like. I dont worry about diversification. I think it was Warren Buffet who coined the term 'diworsification'. I dont belive in diversification. For example on the long side of our funds we are well through 70% into precious metals. For me, I am probably…

Depends on life goals. If your primary goal is to amass further wealth, large bets on single items/industries can pay off very well. However, if your goal is to not lose wealth, then diversification is a very good strategy. The OP is in the latter school with these particular investments. Additionally, I find it ironic you bring up Buffett: Berkshire is diversifying out of insurance :D http://www.financialexpress.com…

Expanding on your advice: when diversifying it helps to not throw darts. It may be best to not have investments only in tech, auto, health, etc., but it's quite another to randomly choose a company or two in different sectors.

Unsolicited advice ;-):

* Tech: ARMH over MSFT over FB (phones/tablets need to be low, low power and P/E of FB seems egregious)

* Auto: VLKAY over F over GM (100MPG TDI trumps "made in USA" trumps bankruptcy)

* Health: ILMN (NGS is the next $100BB market http://bit.ly/fYehBI )

(OP: I'd be more than happy to be a "trial run" for your angel investing. ha! ;-)

Re: Sold my dipshit company for $5m, where to invest?

#59

Post by rbranson »

dstein wrote: post #50
rbranson wrote: post #20

Until you figure it out, immediately dump half of it into a Vanguard 500 Index fund (VFINX). Vanguard's management fees are tiny (one quarter of one percent-ish). No other risk investment will do you better than the S&P 500 as it's compound annual growth rate has been 8.92% since 1897. Also, getting in and out of the fund can be done in $100 increments and there are no fees for it, so your money stays in a pretty liq…

With this much money you obviously don't want to be dropping the whole lot into the market at one point. If this were 2009 it would've been a great decision, but after a 2-year bull run that looks like it's petering out I'd probably opt to keep most of it in cash/bonds/money market until you have a better plan for the money.

Perhaps over a 3-year span. However, over 10-20 years, you can't beat the market. Even if you try to predict the ups and downs, the odds are pretty stacked against you. The only funds that have been able to beat the market over a non-trivial span of time have been pyramid schemes.

Re: Sold my dipshit company for $5m, where to invest?

#60

Post by RyanHolliday »

DanI-S wrote: post #11

This dawned on me the other day: Invest in ski resorts in China. They've got a rapidly growing middle class, flush with money to spend, and there's nothing more middle class than skiing.

I don't know that I'd assume there's nothing more middle class _in China_ than skiing.
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