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What do you think of my current situation?

djs13

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OK, so I'm a 16 year old and my goal in life is to become a true capitalist by profiting from business, real estate and other investments. My life in two minutes is that I'm going for my license in October and I currently have $2k. My parents (who are currently in the 'E' quadrant) said Christmas would be a better time for them to help me to fund a car. So that gives me $4k for a car during Christmas, but honestly I don't want to rely on my parents all of my life and I'd like to get an action plan going.

The car I want to purchase is a used Porsche 944 Turbo from the '80s. ALOT of people tell me I can't own a Porsche - because of my age, my funding, because its a Porsche! But since I love cars almost as much as I love business, I've researched and found a way I can own the car of my dreams at 16 with some help from my parents and maybe some small earnings from my own investments.

I've written a book that I WAS going to self publish through the internet, but everyones told me that I owe it to myself and to the book to try to put it through the traditional printing process. I'm currently looking for publishers while I edit it, but I know that this is more of a tool I can use for the future - not so much about funding my car fee this Christmas.

So with that said, I think I'm going to look into a short term (three month) investment venture. Just something to help my car fund. My current thoughts are penny stock investing. I'm currently reading "Micro Cap Investing" and I'll go 100% into researching this if penny stocks are what I want to pursue, but I'd like everybody else's opinions also.

ALOT of people have told me penny stocks are a no-no, but mutual funds are not aggressive enough and I can't afford to trade on the the NYSE. I think what I really want to do is start an internet business but I have no web design experience and I'm not sure how much it would cost to get things going. Keep in mind I have $2k, I might be able to afford to lose $500 of my total sum but thats it. And even if I did get a web site up, my book may not offer that much growth potential and I may want to look at a different product/service. I'm also very interested in real estate but I'm not sure how practical that is for a 16 year old, especially with the lack of respect I would get from bankers/realtors/sellers.

What do you think?

:thankyousign:
 
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NerdSmasher

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Well, having been in the same boat as you, I can say that an internet business would be a great way to go; but it certainly would require that you learn a LOT about, essentially, how to make money on the internet.

I would recommend the stock market, though not necessarily penny stocks. I used to trade them, and, while they were fun when they went up... they go down even faster, and since I'm sure you're still in school, as I am, we can't watch the market all day and sell when a downturn starts. And, as time goes on, that just becomes incredibly irritating.

Though, the stock market is probably still your best bet; but with $2,000 you'll more likely just learn the ropes, and lose some money, than really gain anything for a while. Unless you can find a good plan, and actually abide by it (big problem for first time stock investors, usually).

Whether you go for an online business or the stock market really doesn't matter that much; either one can be extremely profitable. But, for it to be, you have to know a lot about what you're doing, and what you can do. I've tried both, and been successful in both... so it's really just a matter of preference. Personally, I love them both, but at the moment an online business isn't really in the cards for me (anymore) because I've been banned by Google Adwords...

Either way, just make sure you do your research and due diligence first; otherwise you'll likely lose money rather than make any. Best of luck to you!

Oh, and by the way, back when I tried penny stocks, I used to read another forum that is mostly about them. Some of the guys there seem to be pretty knowledgeable, and you may be able to learn something there. The site is www.stockmarketcats.com if you want to check it out. (On another note, sorry for sending people away from the forum, MJ!)
 

djs13

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Thanks for the advice. Another person suggessted that instead of creating a new business online, I should simply buy one. And if I don't have enough funds I can pull investors into my circle to help fund the company. Does this sound feasible too?

Thank you for your help!
 

John

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It's feasible, but be very careful. There are a lot of rip-off artists out there selling online businesses. You should have strong knowledge of the type of business you're buying so that you can examine it closely to make sure everything's legit. If you don't know much about the type of business you're considering buying you're probably better off staying away and doing more research first.

You mentioned that you wrote a book. Is it fiction or non-fiction? Is it the type of book that would benefit from having a companion website, forum, and/or blog for readers visit for more information?
 
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djs13

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Are there any certain web sites that list web sites for sale? And if we're talking about web sites that already have a steady profit and don't require maintenance, but I can't afford the asking price - can I bring in a partner to help me purchase the company (web site) and share ownership?

Thank you.
 

ProInvestor

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While I encourage you to go for your dreams, I would check out the insurance costs...

Also the lower your expenses and the higher money into assets = retirement faster

Rgds.
ProInvestor
 

snowbank

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What is your book about?? If it is a "how to get rich", or "how to be successful" type book, I would definitely wait until you do those things.(i don't know what yours is about though, just saying) At 16, and with only $2-$4k, I would do something do build capital quickly, forget about mutual funds. Build a web business, learn to make money playing poker, create something, etc...
 
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snowbank

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Also, I'd make yourself wait for the car. Set a goal, maybe something like, as soon as you turn your $4k into $10k, then you can reward yourself by buying the car you want. Might motivate you more.
 

1320Trader

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I say forget the 944 and get something cheap and reliable. Most of us probably went through the same thing at your age.....trying to stretch our money to get the coolest car possible. Save as much money as possible and just start learning about real estate, business, stock market, etc. (which ever one is your interest). Then when your old enough to make some moves you have some cash in the bank. Why try to buy a 944 when you can buy a 911 turbo in a few years. Mike (phxmj) is a perfect example. When he was trying to get a business off the ground he was driving a busted buick while his friends drove brand new nice cars. Now they are probably struggling to keep those cars running and Mike is buying Lambo's.
 

djs13

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Thanks for the advice guys. I am aware that the 944 will require me to maintain it and I'll have to put some money into it, but this is the cars peak and it probably won't be at this value in the future. It's slowy becoming a classic.

Here is my questions:

1.) Should I risk my bank account ($2k) that I need for a car on a venture? If not, how much should I risk if any?

2.) What business avenue should I look into? I don't mean like "marketing firm" or "T-shirt site," but like stocks, real estate, web ventures using google ads, e-commerce, etc.? And if I choose to go down the small business web site route, should I look into building or buying a company?

EDIT: My book is not a get rich scheme. It's my opinion on the current happenings in the auto racing industry and how my marketing ideas can improve the sport. I love this book, but my dad who is helping me on it really just wants me to publish it so I become an author, while I really want something that can create profits. I'm not sure this can because the auto racing industry is only so large.

Thank you!
 
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Rawr

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Anyone have more experiences trading penny stocks? One of my friends wants to go nuts over them and I don't know enough to tell him why its a yay or nay.
 

CRBFL

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I'm not sure this can because the auto racing industry is only so large.

Thank you!

Just keep in mind-
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Formula One is a global industry generating over $4 billion per year.

[/FONT]NASCAR announced an eight-year, $4.48-billion television deal Wednesday that will pay the racing organization 40% more per year, beginning in 2007

NHRA’s 2006 total revenue ($93M)

That being said, I think there is enough revenue in popular racing circles to get your feet wet.
 

Z5 FILMS

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I don't know about the investments, but I DO know about the car situation. Been there done that as I'm sure most here have.

DON'T DO IT.

When I turned 16 I was in love with this Camero Z28. The back end was jacked up, it had big tires, primer paint job, traction bars and Craigar mag rims and was loud. I thought it was the cat's a$$. In truth it was a total unreliable piece of junk, but I did not care. I wanted it SOOOO bad. My mom finally talked me out of it and I bought a 1979 Monte Carlo. It was not "cool", but it had low miles, never broke down and got me to work every day. In hindsight, so TOTALLY glad I did not get the Camero. It would of been a nightmare.

I know at your age you don't understand, and probably won't listen at all and think you know what you're talking about more than I do. Understandable, but you would be totally wrong. I guarantee that Porsche will eat up every dime of that $4,000 and then some. Then you will be broke, have no transportation and no business. Spending all your money on an unreliable car gains you nothing. In fact, it will just set you back.

Buy a new model Japanese car. It will be more reliable, cost the same to buy and be cheaper to maintain and better gas milage. Get a reliable jap car, get a job and save some money and start whatever business you want to start.

If you have no plans to get a regualr job and decide to gamble your money on a 25 year old Porsche, you're gonna crap out. A 944 is not collector, and the values are going to go nowhere but down.

Don't waste you money on a junky car.



EDIT: I just noticed that the Camero I was talking about was just like the one in your avatar, only it had no paint, just primer. :)
 
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Rawr

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To original poster - I want to buy a new car almost every other week (because my current one is a POS) But the truth is - it still gets me from A to B, and I like having options.

What are options?

Options such as:

being able to afford this clothes
or this other car
or this new videogame
or dinner at a restaurant.


If I drop the money on the car my savings are back to 0 - my options gone. That's a feeling I don't want to have ever again.

(Note I didn't say buy all those things, but the OPTION to be able to buy them is what counts)
 

djs13

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I have in fact dropped the Porsche 944 idea. I have researched that it is very unreliable and will eat up all my current funds and all of my future money. I totally agree Rawr, I love doing those things too and spending all of my money on a Porsche was not a good call.

The camaro in my avater is a '79 Z28 and they sell on ebay for anything from $2k to $7k. The good thing about the camaro is that everything is dirt cheap. A clutch for a 944 is $1,000 - while the camaro is $200. My dad is an excellent mechanic and I've almost found that upkeeping a camaro would be a cool activity and a learning experience.

But I have found that the 944 is not a good call and that there are still cool cars out there that are cheap and even appreciating in value!
 

lucas

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I would think carefully before investing money you can't afford to lose. At your age, I think the best investment you can make would be investing in your own education. I'm not talking about school.
 
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michael515

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My advice...

Don't spend your money on a Porsche. The biggest mistake I see us young folk make is when they have a little money they spend it on stuff they don't need. Wait as long as you can and buy the cheapest RELIABLE car that you can. Buying expensive stuff early just keeps you stuck in the rat race. Make the money before you spend it.

Remember this too. Statistically less that 1% of people are rich. If you want to be wealthy don't do what the 99% do. Do just the opposite.

Publishing. I have a little experience with this as I've written a book. Self publish if you want to make money. Go mainstream through a traditional publisher if you want to the credibility of being published. It's a pretty tough process going the trade route - be prepared. Also, most traditionally published books make no money and the company do little if any marketing for you. I did print on demand and it was very effective and you couldn't tell the difference in quality.

Penny stocks - mutual funds? I used to have a Series 6 and sold MF's. Now I'm not so much a fan anymore. Too many are much too diversified to get real gains. Maybe an International Fund with a small amount of companies with high growth potential - but that's still a bit longer term.

I see most MF's throwing a bunch of mud at the wall and some will stick - doesn't take much rocket science to do that. If I recall most S&P 500 indexes actually beat most MF's. Or the Beardstown Ladies - that's great stuff on a group of older women who beat the S&P on their own with a 23.4% overall return from 1983 to 1994. That's very solid.

Penny stocks are high risk because most are junk. I've researched and it seems too much like gambling.
 

michael515

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Also, I commend you exploring this at your age. I think if I would have been on the internet at 16 I would have had a much faster learning curve.

If you're looking to invest your money in a venture - be very shrewd. Since you like the auto-racing industry I'd do something with that. That's a very passionate market if you're talking Nascar. What about a blog for enthusiasts? You could promote your book as a back end product of the blog. Interview drivers and sell the recordings as part of your service. Create a newsletter.

Test small and then build on your results. Learn basic web design.

Only spot I trust for good, smaller budget sites for sale is sitepoint.com in their marketplace forums.
 

DustinS

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Dude don't buy a car man. When I was 16 I managed to make 10k selling stuff in virtual games such as Everquest and Diablo 2. Had I been smart at the time I would've capitalized on that and made millions like Yantis and IGE, however I took all that money and bought a 2000 Eclipse GT which I promptly sold 6 months later to buy a 3000GT Twin Turbo (after I had made more money). I then hit a bush with the TT and sold it at a net loss for 3 k, then I took that money and bought a 500 hp extremely modified stealth TT and drove it till I could no longer afford to maintain it and sold it for a 2k loss. Then I pissed away the money from the Stealth on eating out and building a new computer and all sorts of stuff not to mention the cost of insurance that I had to pay my dad back for and the terrible fuel efficiency...

Moral of the story, the cars didn't make me any more or less cool in high school and they certainly didn't benefit my future in any way. Had I simply taken that money and put it into a slow lane mutual fund as you say I would have near 40k today..... On the note of penny stocks, don't do it, they're penny stocks for a reason! Half of them are highly manipulated and the other half go no where or down.... You can make quite a bit more buying regular stocks in the 15-300$ range as long as you make sure they have good fundamentals and their earnings increase by a good amount each quarter (compares this years quarter to the previous years, not the last quarter).
If you want to get into stocks I highly suggest "One up on wall street" by Peter Lynch and "How to make money in stocks" by William J Oneil.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Dude don't buy a car man. When I was 16 I managed to make 10k selling stuff in virtual games such as Everquest and Diablo 2. Had I been smart at the time I would've capitalized on that and made millions like Yantis and IGE, however I took all that money and bought a 2000 Eclipse GT which I promptly sold 6 months later to buy a 3000GT Twin Turbo (after I had made more money). I then hit a bush with the TT and sold it at a net loss for 3 k, then I took that money and bought a 500 hp extremely modified stealth TT and drove it till I could no longer afford to maintain it and sold it for a 2k loss. Then I pissed away the money from the Stealth on eating out and building a new computer and all sorts of stuff not to mention the cost of insurance that I had to pay my dad back for and the terrible fuel efficiency...

Moral of the story, the cars didn't make me any more or less cool in high school and they certainly didn't benefit my future in any way. Had I simply taken that money and put it into a slow lane mutual fund as you say I would have near 40k today..... On the note of penny stocks, don't do it, they're penny stocks for a reason! Half of them are highly manipulated and the other half go no where or down.... You can make quite a bit more buying regular stocks in the 15-300$ range as long as you make sure they have good fundamentals and their earnings increase by a good amount each quarter (compares this years quarter to the previous years, not the last quarter).
If you want to get into stocks I highly suggest "One up on wall street" by Peter Lynch and "How to make money in stocks" by William J Oneil.

Great comments about the perils of cars as well as book recommendations ... speed++
 

china

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You're so cute! I didn't read all the posts but I did catch the one where your dad is helping you with the e-book. If your dad says not to publish it as an e-book -- don't do it! You can make more money selling a regular book.

16 seems to be so incredibly young to be doing all these things! The biggest thing you have to worry about is 1) burning out young; 2) giving away all your good ideas while you are young. Great ideas can be harder to come by as you get older because you start realizing all the limitations to everything.

I was incredibly creative when I was young, and everyone thought I would be rolling in dough before I hit my 30s. Unfortunately, no one told me that I needed to live in New York City to do that (because my chosen profession was headquartered there). Now I am much older and I am only starting to realize that I can still be brilliant if I do it on the internet. The internet has no limitations.

Anyway, don't publish an e-book unless it really is e-book material (basically, if it's worth nothing and no one is going to pay for it, it's e-book material).
 

WheelsRCool

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Yeah man, buy a good, reliable, cheap car!

In the book Richistan, I read about this guy, who is a huge inspiration for me, in the chapter about wealthy kids:

Quoting the book:
"Kyle Circle marks the other extreme--the rich kid whose single obsession is to outdo his father.
At 21, he's launched two companies and hatched plans for several more. He works 16-hour days, drives the same used Ford pickup he bought in high school and saves half of his meager income in hopes of buying a house with his wife.
Circle's father is worth an estimated $300 million to $500 millon, after building a strawberry-growing empire and selling out to a competitor. Kyle's grandfather also attained a level of fame in California produce circles: He created the baby carrot. Yet Kyle hasn't asked his family for money since he left home at age 19."
 
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