Investments outside of poker.

I would like to know how people use their money outside of poker.

A healthy way to build wealth is investment through other ventures. In my opinion, the best investments are through 1. real estate 2. stock market 3. owing your own company. I have plans to invest in these three. I thought it would be interesting post.

Real estate, I am still single and rent out. I am looking to save up for a couple years and buy some property to renovate and sell high. I've went to seminars, read many books and heard what Donald Trump is doing. Everyone is doing it now. Donald Trump bought a entire aparment building in the core of NYC for one million dollars from one of his negotiations. That was surprising. NYC as many people know is among the most expensive in terms of dollars per sqrt foot.

Through some of my experiences, one time I invested about $1,000 into the stock market buying nortel a while back when i was 18. At that time, I was looking for a get-rcih-quick scheme which does not exist. I got to ride the market and ended up losing $200. Immediately, I took my money out of there seeing how it screwed many others through its disasterous company history. Now, I am looking to spread money over a diversified portfolio. This will provide more of a stable ground.

Company? If I ever meet a person who doesnt want a company, I'll do a backflip. Some names that I would like to mention are Bill Gates, P. Diddy, Russel Simmons and so on .

Anything esle out there?

Comments

  • People use them every day. I own chunks of the Burlington Skyway and the Golden Gate bridge. I met a guy on the street who sold them to me really cheap.
  • Stocks (equities) are an excellent way to build long term wealth. They should be in a tax protected environment to maximize returns though. (ie: self directed rsp)

    I won't name any of my stocks here, but since the dot com meltdown, my portfolio has done very well compared to most. I had more than just tech companies though, and diversification is crucial. I've been at it about 10 years now.

    Smart investing takes time. And lots of reading. Nortel was a good example too. I try not to buy stuff that's in the news a lot. Because the hype affects the price. Value investors like Warren Buffet (the other uber rich guy besides Bill G.) tend to look for undervalued companies trading below their value, and hold them until the market notices them and prices rise. This is a long term strategy mostly. Safer than day trading in my opinion too.
  • saw an infomercial yesterday

    Optionetics George Fontanil

    anybody know anything about this dude? :confused:
  • Ok, find out where Walmart, Canadian Tire, Safeway, Staples ect. are building new stores somewhere in Canada, and buy as much property there as possible, even to rent out to just cover costs. The value of supply and demand is insane in the right circumstances. In my city, just about everyone I know who is over 22 (I'm 25) has at least 100K equity in there house.
    Basically, about 5 years ago all kinds of stores started popping up, a new Canadian Tire, a new Safeway/IGA/Superstore, then Walwart and Staples.... and so on and so on.
    People who bought then are laughing, they are all retiting years early. IE, my parents house 5 years ago was appraised at approx 105K, today it would be about $325K. I bought my place 3 years ago, and when I go to sell it in the spring, I should pocket 120K. Not bragging or anything, I was in the right place at the right time. I am taking 3 months leave of absence in the summer this year to learn how to build houses, and take the equity out of my house and start building my own houses up here (as a general contractor). Build one, rent it out for a year (rent is crazy up here), take the equity out after a year, plus the rent income, and build 2 houses the year after, and do the same thing with those. And you can see how the cycle goes.
    FREEDOM 35 !!!

    Well, thats the plan anyway.
    Just my opinion.
    *mike*
  • you are going to learn how to build houses in 3 months? you know you have to have licenses and stuff for that, or at least hire licensed contractors for portions of the work, or at least to inspect your work. I figure it'll take you longer than 3 months to learn all you would need to know, building a house seems like a pretty tall order.
  • Anyone can be the general contractor. I know people who did it to save money building their own houses. It just means organizing the sub trade workers that actually build the house, as well as ordering materials.

    But the main point is, real estate is usually a great long term investment as well.
  • Invest in lottery tickets. Sooner or later, one will hit ...

    Otherwise, you might see an investment advisor. I sound like my dad saying that, but then again, the dude's retired at 50.

    I am sticking with commodities right now. I hate tech and energy along with anything particularily risky, because I am buying a house in a few months (first mortgage - YAY).

    Definitely see an advisor, come to think of it.
  • Being your own general contractor to build your own house is not that difficult... being organized is the #1 thing to remember!! Construction knowledge is a definate advantage here not to be under estimated.

    Building your own houses to sell requires a little more red tape!! In order to build and sell you must be registered with Tarion (new name for the Ontario New Home Warranty Program). This will reqire a little (read ALOT) of red tape.

    If you build your own house (and are not a regestered contractor) you can not resell it for 1 year from the date of completion... and some buyers "may" be more wary of a purchase... as there is no "warranty".

    That said.... you can save a bundle... I did... and I plan on doing it one more time! I wore alot of hats...Gen contractor, plumber, electrician, finish carpenter, landscaper! I would estimate that I "worked" about $120 grand of equity into our current house!... and the feds missed out on all that GST on that work!!!
  • Yorkpoker wrote:
    I am sticking with commodities right now. I hate tech and energy along with anything particularily risky...
    Does anyone see anything contradictory in these two statements? Are you talking about trading in the futures markets? How can you get any higher risk than that? And you're doing this with the money you are using for your downpayment? I hope I am misunderstanding you.
  • I currently own a duplex rental property and have had nothing but success with it. I'm looking at either puchasing another rental or doing a renovate/resell with the equity out of the duplex. The great thing about doing these renos is that if you set them up properly the money made above the principal is tax free.

    Owning your own business.........Hmmm. Everyone thinks that owning your own business is a walk in the park when really its exactly the opposite. You will work twice as hard and get paid half as much(at least the start). There is also alot of risk involved financially, I can't remember the exact % but it's something like 80% of small businesses fail within the first year. So make sure that you have a niche for the market and plan it extremely well, also don't make any plans for about a year.

    Like snowslide's area, our realestate market is booming aswell. The time is now to make a profit in this market because it won't last forever.

    As far as futures there are high risk and low risk. If you know what you're doing its a great way to build your portfolio.

    Wader
  • pkrfce9 wrote:
    Yorkpoker wrote:

    I am sticking with commodities right now. I hate tech and energy along with anything particularily risky, because I am buying a house in a few months (first mortgage - YAY)..
    Does anyone see anything contradictory in these two statements? Are you talking about trading in the futures markets? How can you get any higher risk than that? And you're doing this with the money you are using for your downpayment? I hope I am misunderstanding you
    maybe he's trading pork bellies, orange juice, and cotton :confused:
  • I have a couple grand invested into rrsp's and mutual funds so far..... itll be a nice chunk of change in 7 years :)
  • Pigga wrote:
    I have a couple grand invested into rrsp's and mutual funds so far..... itll be a nice chunk of change in 7 years :)
    you're retiring in 7 years :D
  • thenewyear wrote:
    Now, I am looking to spread money over a diversified portfolio. This will provide more of a stable ground.

    Two words for you: Index Funds. These are mutual funds that (almost) mimic the behaviour of a stock index, such as the S&P 500 or the TSX. They take a much smaller management fee than regular mutual funds, and tend to do better in the long term. It's a simple and effective way to diversify.
  • Axiom_1 wrote:
    Two words for you: Index Funds. These are mutual funds that (almost) mimic the behaviour of a stock index, such as the S&P 500 or the TSX. They take a much smaller management fee than regular mutual funds, and tend to do better in the long term. It's a simple and effective way to diversify.
    how much do ya have invested?:tongue:
  • it's RRSP season :eek:
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