vania-janet/multiturn-rag-retrieval-data huggingface dataset:
Unfortunately, in this market environment your goal is not very realistic. At the moment real interest rates are negative (and have been for some time). This means if you invest in something that will pay out for sure, you can expect to earn less than you lose through inflation. In other words, if you save your $50K, when you withdraw it in a few years you will be able to buy less with it then than you can now. You can invest in risky securities like stocks or mutual funds. These assets can easily generate 10% per year, but they can (and do) also generate negative returns. This means you can and likely will lose money after investing in them. There's an even better chance that you will make money, but that varies year by year. If you invest in something that expects to make 10% per year (meaning it makes that much on average), it will be extremely risky and many years it will lose money, perhaps a lot of it. That's the way risk is. Are you comfortable taking on large amounts of risk (good chances of losing a lot of your money)? You could make some kind of real investment. $50K is a little small to buy real estate, but you may be able to find something like real estate that can generate income, especially if you use it as a down payment to borrow from the bank. There is risk in being a landlord as well, of course, and a lot of work. But real investments like that are a reasonable alternative to financial markets for some people. Another possibility is to just keep it in your bank account or something else with no risk and take $5000 out per year. It will only last you 10 years that way, but if you are not too young, that will be a significant portion of your life. If you are young, you can work and add to it. Unfortunately, financial markets don't magically make people rich. If you make a lot of money in the market, it's because you took a risk and got lucky. If you make a comfortable amount with no risk, it means you invested in a market environment very different from what we see today.
Here would be the general steps to my mind for creating such a plan: Write out the final desired outcome. Is it $x in y years to fund your retirement? Is it $a in b years to put as a house down payment? This is the first step in defining how much money you want at what point in time. Consider what is your risk tolerance and how much time do you plan on spending in this plan. Is it rebalancing once a quarter and that's it or do you plan on doing monthly research and making tweaks all the time? This is slightly different from the first where one has to be mindful of how much volatility would one handle and what time commitment does one have for an investing strategy. Also, how much money would you be adding to the investments on what kind of time table would also be worth noting here. Construct the asset allocation based on the previous two steps along with historical returns averaged out to be a first draft of what you are buying in general. Is it US stocks? Is it a short-term bond fund? There are more than a few choices here that may make sense and it is worth considering based on the first couple of responses that determine what this will look like. Retirement in 40 years may be quite different than a house down payment in 2 years for example. Determine what brokerages or fund companies would offer such funds along with what types of accounts you'd want to have as in some countries there may be tax-advantaged accounts that may be useful to use here. This is where you're almost ready to start by doing the homework of figuring out how will things work. This may vary depending on one's jurisdiction. Get the applications from whatever institutions you'll be using and run with the desired asset allocation across various funds and accounts. Note that in the first few steps there were points of being aware of how much would you have, how aggressive are you investing and so forth. This is where you actually send in the money and get things rolling. Run with the plan and make tweaks as needed to achieve result, hopefully desired or better.
"You're making $100k together per year: you're not in the donut hole, you're in the top 25% of all households, and the top 10% of non-family households (as yours would be). To be blunt, you're not in the ""rely on assistance"" area: you're in the ""save up for your downpayment"" sector. My suggestion would be to figure out a way to save more than $200-$400 a month for now. $100k gross income means you have about $8k net income per month; $2k for rent and other necessities means you have $6k per month that you can potentially save. Even half of that - $3k per month - means you have $24000 saved by the end of this year, and $36000 on an annual basis. As far as marriage or domestic partnership - I wouldn't get into one based on whether it helps you afford a home. It might be a good idea because it helps you handle some of the details arising when you have joint property, perhaps, but not solely for the financial aspect. And as far as how much home is realistic? $250k is certainly realistic if you can save up enough for a good down payment. Try to get to the 20-25% range. If you're already halfway there, another year of renting won't kill you, and it will mean no PMI and much better rates. Also consider a 15 year mortgage; we're in the same general income category as you and manage a 15 year on a $250k range house quite nicely. It doesn't add all that much to your monthly payment amount, compared to what you'd expect - particularly since the monthly payment includes property taxes which won't increase based on the length of the mortgage. Now that we have actual numbers from the OP: So, without cutting anything, you have $2k yourself you can be saving. (This assumes your rent number of $1345 is your portion of rent, and not the 100% amount.) That's $24000 per year, just by yourself.
As I see it, there are 2 potential solutions - Joining with another person or 2, and buying a house with multiple bedrooms. I am in the US, and I've seen immigrants living in tight accommodations that would seem unacceptable to most of us. But, with the combined incomes, they were able to buy the house and quickly pay for it, and then buy another.  $800/mo is about $5/hr. Below US minimum wage. Use your skills to take on additional work on line. A virtual assistant position can increase your income quite a bit.  Keep in mind, as someone on the other side of the world, my advice may not be practical for you, these are just my thoughts.
After looking at your profile, I see your age...28.  Still a baby.  At your age, and given your profession, there really is no need to build investment income.  You are still working and should be working for many years.  If I was you, I'd be looking to do a few different things: Eliminating debt reduces risk, and also reduces the need for future income.   Saving for, and purchasing a home essentially freezes rent increases.  If home prices double in your area, in theory, so should rent prices.  If you own a home you might see some increases in taxes and insurance rates, but they are minor in comparison.  This also reduces the need for future income. Owning real estate is a great way to build residual income, however, there is a lot of risk and even if you employ a management company there is a lot more hands on work and risk. Easier then that you can build an after tax investment portfolio.  You can start off with mutual funds for diversification purposes and only after you have built a sizable portfolio should (if ever) make the transition to individual stocks. Some people might suggest DRIPs, but given the rate at which you are investing I would suggest the pain of such accounts is more hassle then it is worth.
"Do some homework to determine what is really a fair price for the house.  Zillow helps.  County tax records help, including last sale price and mortgage, if any (yes, it's public).  Start at the low end of fair. Don't rely on the Realtor.  He gets paid only if a sale occurs, and he's already coaxing you closer to a paycheck.  He might be right with the numbers, though, so check for yourself. When you get within a thousand or two of acceptance, ""shut up"".  I don't mean that in a rude way.  A negotiating class I took taught me how effective silence can be, at the right time.  The other side knows you're close and the highest you've offered.  If they would be willing to find a way to come down to that, this is the time.  The awkward silence is surprisingly effective."
"To be completely honest, I think that a target of 10-15% is very high and if there were an easy way to attain it, everyone would do it. If you want to have such a high return, you'll always have the risk of losing the same amount of money. Option 1 I personally think that you can make the highest return if you invest in real estate, and actively manage your property(s). If you do this well with short term rental and/or Airbnb I think you can make healthy returns BUT it will cost a lot of time and effort which may diminish its appeal. Think about talking to your estate agent to find renters, or always ensuring your AirBnB place is in good nick so you get a high rating and keep getting good customers. If you're looking for ""passive"" income, I don't think this is a good choice. Also make sure you take note of karancan's point of costs. No matter what you plan for, your costs will always be higher than you think. Think about water damage, a tenant that breaks things/doesn't take care of stuff etc. Option 2 I think taking a loan is unnecessarily risky if you're in good financial shape (as it seems), unless you're gonna buy a house with a mortgage and live in it. Option 3 I think your best option is to buy bonds and shares. You can follow karancan's 100 minus your age rule, which seems very reasonable (personally I invest all my money in shares because that's how my father brought me up, but it's really a matter of taste. Both can be risky though bonds are usually safer). I think I should note that you cannot expect a return of 10% or more because, as everyone always says, if there were a way to guarantee it, everyone would do it. You say you don't have any idea how this works so I'd go to my bank and ask them. You probably have access to private banking so that should mean someone will be able to sit you down and talk you through. Also look at other banks that have better rates and/or pretend you're leaving your bank to negotiate a better deal.
"I'm still recommending that you go to a professional. However, I'm going to talk about what you should probably expect the professional to be telling you. These are generalities. It sounds like you're going to keep working for a while. (If nothing else, it'll stave off boredom.) If that's the case, and you don't touch that $1.4 million otherwise, you're pretty much set for retirement and never need to save another penny, and you can afford to treat your girl to a nice dinner on the rest of your income.  If you're going to buy expensive things, though - like California real estate and boats and fancy cars and college educations and small businesses - you can dip into that money but things will get trickier. If not, then it's a question of ""how do I structure my savings?"". A typical structure: Anywho. If you can research general principles in advance, you'll be better prepared."
I'd say figure out if you want to be in corporate finance or investment finance- do you want to work front office or back office? I knew a lot of people that want to be financial analysts in the investment industry, but depending on where you live those jobs may be few and far in between. Financial services/ sales can be one of he more lucrative areas, but you need to have the right skill set/desire for that. I highly recommend getting an internship, this will build experience and also help you figure out what interests you the most
Be very careful about buying property because it has been going up quickly in recent years.  There are some fundamental factors that limit the amount real-estate can appreciate over time.  In a nutshell, the general real-estate market growth is supported by the entry-level property market.  That is, when values are appreciating, people can sell and use the capital gains to buy more valuable property.  This drives up the prices in higher value properties whose owners can use that to purchase more expensive properties and so on and so forth. At some point in a rising market, the entry-level properties start to become hard for entry-level buyers to afford.  The machine of rising prices throughout the market starts grinding to a halt.  This price-level can be calculated by looking at average incomes in an area.  At some percentage of income, people cannot buy into the market without crazy loans and if those become popular, watch out because things can get really ugly.  If you want an example, just look back to the US in 2007-2009 and the nearly apocalyptic financial crisis that ensued. As with most investing, you want to buy low and sell high.  Buying into a hot market is generally not very profitable.  Buying when the market is abnormally low tends to be a more effective strategy.
"If you are dead set in being an analyst, just pic a sector you are interested in, read a bunch of quarterly and annual reports and do some financial analysis on their financial statements.  When you send in your resume, state quite clearly that you have no official experience in being an analyst ( in your cover letter ), but also attach your findings/work.  Even if it is amateur, you will gain some experience in a certain sector and you will up to scruff, even if they don't care about the sector you picked out, they will see that you have done some work besides just showing up with a degree.  It will help differentiate you from the rest of the pack.    If you have leisure time and not studying for your CFA, look into the book ""Confessions of a Wallstreet Analyst"".  It talks about the author going to work in Wallstreet during the telecom boom on the late 1990s.  It's interesting and you get a sense of what kind of work he actually did.  That sort of insight will help you out and hopefully get your on your path to success.  Hope this helped!"
Buy a ticket to a special country/conference/symposium/exchange program, meet people related to your aspirations, get a mentor. I like the previous answer, but in my experience it is much more rewarding to grow career-wise to earn more than it is to save more money.
I just switched careers from IT to investing and my first step was to sign up for the CFA and started studying to learn the field.  When I talked about it during my interview, I could tell they were impressed I was doing it on my own and fully believe it helped me get the job.  The position is entry level but still.  Also, I got a scholarship through the local CFA society and borrowed Schweser books from a friend.  So yes its tough and expensive but if you can do it now, definately do it.
That said, dollar-cost-averaging is not a suicide pact, and bonds are ugly right now (for reason Suze Orman describes) and real estate seems really bubbly right now... so I'd back out of those for now. I'd aim to draw about $60k/year out of it or 5%, and on average, in the very long term, the capital should grow. I would adjust it downward somewhat if the next few years are a hard recession, to avoid taking too much out of the capital... and resist the urge to take more out in boom years, because that is your hedge against the next recession. Over 7% is not prudent per the law (absent very reasonable reasons). UPMIFA doesn't apply to you, but I'd act as if it did. A very reasonable reason to take more than 7% would be to shift investment into a house for living in. I would aim for a duplex/triplex to also have income from the property, if the numbers made sense, which they often don't in California, but that's another question. At your financial level -- never, never, never give cash to a charity. You will get marked as a ""soft target"" and every commercial fundraiser on earth will stalk you for the rest of your life. At your level, you open a Donor Advised Fund, and let the Fund do your giving for you. Once you've funded it (which is tax deductible) you later tell them which charities to fund when. They screen out fake charities and protect your identity. I discuss DAFs at length here. Now when ""charities"" harass you for an immediate handout, just tell them that's not how you support charities."
Plain and simple, go into business.  I was in the exact same boat as you 5 years ago. Was going to school to become a Pharmacist while working in a Dominick's pharmacy as a tech. Absolutely hated it and did not see myself standing behind that counter for the rest of my life. Not to mention that a pharmacists job will be one of the firsts in the medical field to be automated.   Left pharmacy school to start my business degree. Got a couple of sales jobs for the experience while completing my bachelors. Now I'm working in Chicago as a commercial real estate broker. The plan is to work in this for the foreseeable future, and then parlay this career into my own business ventures and real estate investing and build from there!
I work in finance and I think the biggest mistake you are making at 15 years old is saying that you specifically want to be a financial advisor.  I'm not trying to say the job is awful...but most people who are interested in finance would not at all want this job. You will spend 90% of your time trying to find clients. Most of the time it will be through cold-calling people on the phone through some leads you either get through your agency or you paid for online. Or, you have to start annoying friends and family (never do this). For most people, the job is not about finance and it sucks. Once you finally get a client, now you have a conflict of interest in that you want to sell them the high-commission products so that you get paid, but its often not the best product for them. Its actually very easy to become a financial planner, extremely hard to become a successful one.   Instead, what I would do, is consider the wider field of finance. There is so much more to finance than being a financial planner. Do you want to become an expert on stocks? Consider equity research. Do you want to help companies fix strategic problems and make a ton of money? Consider consulting. Do you want to help companies raise money by going public? Consider investment banking. You can google the different types of careers online.
If you feel the house will appreciate, I'd say go for it.  I'm not familiar with the Denver market but real estate can be a great way to build wealth.   Besides, it seems like at this point you would lose your earnest money deposit if you back out. I do agree with people here though about the potential risk.  The only way to make money is if the property appreciates. In Seattle, properties have appreciated like crazy in the past 5 years.  Some have even gone up by 3x or 4x of what it was before.   If you are right about appreciation in your market, this could be a gold mine. With all investments, there is risk involved. If you do plan to move forward, here are some suggestions: Best of luck!
Most big commercial brokerage houses are always hiring and more often than not you will be able to at least score an interview to work in their research/marketing department. Once in the door, it would be much easier to network from the inside as you get to know brokers and their teams. Companies like CBRE, HFF, Marcus &amp; Millichap, JLL, Berkadia, &amp; Cushman &amp; Wakefield would all be good places to look. The fact you have some hospitality management experience is a plus. These company's are hungry for talent that show initiative and interest in the field. Lead with your strengths.
"The golden rule is ""Pay yourself first."" This means that you should have some form of savings plan set up, preferably a monthly automatic withdrawal that comes out the day after your pay is deposited. 10% is a reasonable number to start with. You are in a wonderful situation because you are thinking about this 10-15 years before most of us do.  Use this to your advantage. You are also in a good situation if you can defer the purchase of the house (assuming prices don't rise drastically in the next few years -- which they might.)  If your home situation is acceptable, then sit down with the parents and present a plan.  Something along the lines of:  I'd like to move out and start my   life.  However, it would be   advantageous to stay here for a few   years to build up a down payment and   reserve.  I'm happy to help out with   expenses, but do need a couple years   of rent-free support to get started. Then go into monk mode for one year.  It's doable, and you can save a lot of cash. Then you're on the road to freedom."
Ask them what is their net worth - have they ever hired a broker over the phone (qualify them) or get hung up on. Anything short of them threatening to call the SEC and cursing you before hanging up means you will be sure to call them again (a prospect actually picking up the phone is about a 1 in 20 dial event) People just slamming the phones on you? - Call them back for fun because you ""got disconnected"". If you ever manage to get a client, you will be charging them enormous percentages and fees to do simple trades. But dont worry, you probably wont get a client in the first 2 months, and even if you manage to get clients it will be maybe one or two a month. Think about the sheer volume of calls you have to make - 300 - 400 calls a day is probably a normal pace. You will meet the most insane people. People will go down for lunch or coffee and never return to the office. Most of the people there you wonder how they ever passed a series 7. There are people that fail the 7 3 times and quit. There will be a guy that opens 10 accounts a month and actually will be talking with two phones up to his ears at once. This is the definition of a high pressure sales job."
Check out research: equities, credit, fixed income, quant, ECM. Typically research analysts need the 7/63/86/87, strong financial modeling skills (VBA, other kinds of coding help here), and the necessary financial background to perform valuations. Like the other commenter suggested, starting on your Level One CFA is a good start.
"How will 45K-60K ""end up in your pocket""?  Are you selling your home?  Where are you going to live?  You talk about moving to Arizona, what is so magical about that place? Congratulations on making a wise purchase.  Some people with new found money use it to correct past mistakes.  However, if they do not change their behavior they end up in the same situation just less them money they once had. While 50K income is respectable at your age, it is below the national average for households.  One factor in having a college education is those with them tend to experience shorter and fewer periods of unemployment especially for males.  Nothing will ever replace hustle, however.  I'd ask you to have a plan to raise your income.  Can you double it in 5 years?   You need to get rid of the revolving debt.  Do that out of current income.  No need to touch the house proceeds for something so small.  Shoot for 9 months. Then you need to get rid of the speeding fines and the vehicle loan.  That is a lot of vehicle for your income.  Again, I would do that out of current income or by selling the vehicle and moving to something more inline with your income.   As far as to moving or flipping foreclosures that is more of a question that has to do with your hopes and dreams.  Do you want to move your children every 3 years?  What if you move to Arizona and it turns out to be quite horrible?  You and your wife need to sit down and discuss what is best for your family."