24 months till a new truck? Well depending on how savvy you are with investments if you have say 10 grand you can get in there and make some coin off it. But it's going to take more than just getting into a mutual fund and your tolerance to risk is going to have to be high... As to where if you make a loss you can shrug it off and be able to buy your truck anyway.

Otherwise i'd get into a 12 month CD at around 5.5% or something along those lines... That way you'll know it's there when you need it in a year.. Then get into a money market and start looking for deals on new trucks.

 

Link to that rate please.

Overnight averages for that term were 4.65 (and falling). He would need to have 10g's to get anything over 5 even at this point.

 

THe ING thing is very interesting I dont see a downside??? I too am interested to see what advice you guys give to Randy. I dont understand near as much as I should about $$$$$

 

I was quoted on one about a month ago at sterling bank for right over 5% 10 grand or 25 grand minimum I think (can't remember now).

At any length, if he's looking 24 months out he should jump into a CD or try to invest it, i thought he was thinking he was going to start looking for deals which when I do takes me anywhere from immediately to a year to find what I want... In this case I'd say get into a money market account.

 

If you plan on taking out the money in less than 5 years, do not go with a mutual fund. It takes at least that long for you to be making a decent return on it, according to Dave Ramsey or John Commuta, I cannot remember.

 

another fund i own that has returned 50% this year alone

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=FHKCX

 

Also check out ticker: FLATX. YTD Return 36%

Now, these funds are kinda risky, but are are investing in ALL the public companies of that region so it is somewhat safe.

It does NOT take 5 years to get a return/good return on a mutual fund.

 

That's nice WreedCTD.

 

4star/5star Morningstar funds are also what i try to look for.

check out www.morningstar.com

 

Less than 2 years yes, is why Im asking for something like a CD that I can add to. If theres not one, Ill just put it in savings and for each thousand open a CD or something. Sure Im not gonna earn much, but I will definitely earn more on a CD in 2 years than I will with it sitting in a savings account at 1/2 a percent.

 

a CD is always a good place to start. Im just saying you can make more money in the same amount of time with a mutual fund with about the same risk maybe a little more. let me put it this way. i started with 10k 5 years ago and i know have 100k from successful investing in mutual funds.

 

I know you said you didn't want the electronic banking hassle, but I got a Capital One Money Market Account. It pays around 4.8% interest. You get checks and a debit card, so you can get money if needed or you can transfer electronically between your current checking. You can scheduled deposits every month or every two weeks if you want. It has worked well for me so far. I am just starting to have some extra money to save, but I spent most of the extra when I bought some land to build on in a few years when my wife graduates nursing school.

Good luck and thanks to everyone for the advice.

 

That is true, you have the potential to earn much more with a mutual fund than with a CD, however, if he is going to be doing this short term and taking the money out of the fund, he is going to take a hit on his earnings by paying penalties and fees. One way to avoid paying these is to either leave the money there for longer term, or move the money to different funds. Neither of which it seems he wants to do since he is planning on using the money for a purchase. That is why CDs and Money Markets seem to be a better fit in his situation.

 

Re-read (and open the link) in my last post. 4.3 is substantially different than .5%

 

Amtrustdirect is still offering 5.23% with the first 3 months locked at 5.36% on their e-savings accounts and 4.93% on their e-money markets. But he also stated that he doesn't want the hassles of electronic banking. So a CD might be what would fit best for him.