How should I invest $450,000?

I have $450,000 in an account that I can't touch until Sept. 2008. The bank would like to invest it for me in a diamond mine in Africa. My goal is to use some of this money in Sept. 08 to buy a house with cash, but during the next year I would like to make as much as possible through investing without losing any. What is the best way to invest this money?

I don't know where people answering get their investment advice, but don't listen to them. Where and how you invest it depends on how much you want at the end and how long you want to put the money aside. Never take advice from someone that has never put money of that sum before. Also go to people with experience. If you don't want to put the money away for decades, then put it in a high interest savings account. If you don't want to touch it until you're 65 then invest the max into roth IRA and 401k. The rest you should either put some down for a house and put the rest into the mutual funds. If you put it into stocks... do not panic when you see a downturn in the market. The only time you lose money in the stock market is when you sell your stocks.

I don't know much about that diamond investment in africa, but imagine how stable africa is and then compare it to the US or Europe. Don't think that's the way to go.

Talk to a well known investment company like Fidelity, JG edwards, or AIG etc. No small town company or even a bank.

Mutual Funds, Certificates of Deposit...

Mutual Bank has a rate of 5.6%, 5.5% Yield;

Countrywide Bank has a rate of 5.35% and 5.5% Yield

something you may consider! =]

why do you not partner in buying from a cutter (a few) rare diamonds that are ready to be sold to consumers ? It is common practice in the business, I do it on a daily basis. The product to partner in is high quality pinks and yellows and blue diamonds. The demand is larger than the offer and the offer is declining, so that prices are forced upward in any case.
Mining operations will offer you a great return if you are lucky in several years to come ! We use the output to have an immediate return. We therefore do not involve in the risks of mining operations, and we invest in goods that are immediately sellable all over the world, not in a potential over long term. In our case, the investment is pretty much safe wouldn't you think ?

the best three investments i know of and i personly have

1)is stocks with ur local power company(because have u ever herd of a power company going broke)

2)coins (US) gold,silver,and platinum,but buy them on ebay on actions only so u pay market value for them(and coin dealers in coin shops mark gold,silver,and platinum coins up 20% for resall

3)bonds with the federal goverment

here is what i'd do..

1. allocate half of that in a high interest bank (CD or money market) you should be able to find one with 5% or above easily

2. 50,000 in bond

3. 10,000 in IRA if you are young, start early, good money compounded annually by the time you can touch those money it's probably around what you have right now

3. 50% of rest in mutual fund

4. rest in stock market, this is where u need to do your homework on what suits you best.

if this recession doesn't happen as it may seem like.. THEN right now is a great buy chance to load up some stocks.

here is a list of the stocks i recommend (AAPL, GOOG, MSFT, RIMM, AMZN, C, T, VMW, EMC, ISRG, YUM, MCD, ATI, HON, WX, BIDU, CHL)

China and India is where your jackpot is

Honestly man, Sept 2008 is only 11 months away. Sure you could buy stocks, gold, energy or whatever but what's the point? Sure you could make money (if you know what you're doing and even then there's no sure bet), but what if something goes wrong? That doesn't really give you much time to recover from your losses. There goes that house you wanted to buy as well.

Let me tell you this: Don't let anyone tell you where to put your money. If you lose it, make sure it's your fault and not someone else's. Only invest in what you understand. If all you understand is High Interest Savings Accounts (ING Direct or whatever else you can find that gives you the highest interest) then just park it in there for 11 months and that's that.

Honestly, in your case, considering your time frame, that's what I'd do regardless of what your investment knowledge is.

ING's a crap investment in the long term but we're only talking about 11 months here. After that you'll be in real estate which is a great long term investment.

Oh and do yourself a favour...go pick up as many books as you can regarding investments and start reading. That way when you come across another chunk of money you want to invest you can confidently decide how you want to invest it!

Life is for living, but wisely.

Buy a nice flat to live in and as investment. Then buy a nice little car. BMW convertible? And some nice clothes.

From what is left, put $15,000 in a no notice bank D/A for income and emergencies and the rest either invest in more property, or in an index tracking mutual fund.

With either stocks, a diamond mine (anywhere), or anything in Africa, you may lose money. Not that you definitely will, but it is a possibility. If you want to be reasonably certain of not losing any, you can invest in
a) U.S. government obligations (treasury bills, etc.)
b) 5 or more separate FDIC-insured CD's, at different banks, of no more than $100,000 each
c) Money market fund
d) Insured bonds

ok here's what you can do
Take $100,000 and ladder it in short term CDs $20,000 each in 3 month, 6 month, 12 month, 18 month and 24 month, as each of them matures reinvest in the highest interest CD you can. Take $100,000 and invest in some well diversified mutual funds (look for 4-6 funds and speak with a financial expert about your needs)
Take $100,000 and again speak with your financial advisor about stocks and bonds.
You know have $150,000 left put $50,000 in a money market account, put $50,000 as a down payment towards your house, and put another $25,000 down on your first invesment proerty and keep $25,000 in checking for anything else that may come up.
This strategy will give you guaranteed funds at regular intervals (CDs), low risk medium term investments (Mutual) funds. High risk, high return opportunity (Stocks) and long term potential future income (Real Estate).
That's 4 avenues of potential income, 5 if you already have a job.

Diamond mine in Africa is one high risk bad idea, why would your bank want that anyway?

If you can, get your money away from that bank. They are giving you bad advice. The existence of artificial diamonds is going to cause a crash in the outlook for natural diamonds.

Put your money in insured one-year CDs. Yes, I know that's not a good rate of return -- but you'll get your money back.

If the bank wants you to invest in a diamond mine they're crazy. Find another bank. Don't pay cash for a house. Put down a healthy down payment and then you'll have a tax deduction. Talk to a financial advisor at someplace like Fidelity or Schwab. Don't do any get rich quick stuff or you find that you will have a get poor quick scheme you're stuck with....

First of all what bank recommends investments in diamond mines? And what's in it for them by recommending this?
The other thing is if this is where the money currently is it seems to me that this bank has a vested interest in getting you to keep your money with them. I don't like it.
Find a regular bank as soon as you are able to (BofA/Wells Fargo/ Washington Mutual etc, and put it in with them in a interest paying savings account while you figure it out.
The next thing is you don't say if you are young, medium age or old. Single /married? Working proffesional, skilled worker,
or a young fart stocking shelves at Walgreens. West coast, midwest, East. Where do you live? yes it makes a difference because a house in northern Texas costs $35,000 and the same house in Calif. costs$450,000.Costs of living are different also. The reason I mention this is that your 450 k might go a long way to making you financially independent in Georgia and comparatively wouldn't do spit in N.Y. or Calif. You also don't say what your yearly income is. Are you making100k a year? Probably not. $40k? $20k? Paper route? Unfortunately you have given too little info about yourself for such a complicated answer. Here goes anyways.
So far the only clue you have given is that you could use some of this money to buy a house with cash. I am going to assume that where you live you could buy a house for$100,000 to $200,000. and the rest is for investment. You also don't say if you are good with power tools and working with your hands or don't know the difference between a pencil and a pick-axe.You need the following :
A good banker or agent at the bank. that is ethical.
A good real etate attorney-same
A good real estate agent- that knows your area
A good accountant that can give you the pros and cons of how making money from the combination of your working wages, rental income? ,investments will affect your taxes.
Since you want to buy a house why not consider buying a 3bdrm /2bath and rent a room out every month It's always extra income. Don't want to live with anyone? How about a duplexe or a house with a studio over the garage? Rents Never go down. Theyalways go up.Ever notice how your electric bill keeps going up? And the house will always appreciate in value. One thing to remember: Always look for a ok house in a good neighborhood,never a great house in a lousy neighborhood. Consult with your tax adviser about putting 75-100k away in a long term ira or Keogh account for retirement to never be touched . After a few years you will forget abou it and if you are young(20s/30s) this amount will be huge when you are ready for retirement. The other money can go to t-bills 7-year maturity dates. You might be able to look at rental property such as a 10 unit apt bldg,but you need to take some evening college classes in property mgmt before doing so. The other thing to do is talk to 3 financial officers and get their opinions. Just bear in mind these people do have a monetary interest in helping you .Most are ethical, but some are not. They also will get a commission when you buy or sell , even if you sell at a loss.
Lastly,ask people that are successful what they would do with a$400,000 amount . Don't mention that you have it . Just say your asking for a friend. And unless you really have complete confidence in one of your successful relatives don't
ask them squat. Family alwasys seem to come up with really
stupid ideas that only seem to benefit them!
Good Luck.
P,S. With all due respect I really don't think the internet is the place to be asking this question either. Yeh. I know there is a lot of nice people on the net, but there are a hell of a lot more that are con artist ,liars and thiefs that would just jump at the chance to help you out..............(of your money).Stick to local
professionals where you live and also check them out at the BBB. And above use some common sense. If the the deal smells fishy then........

How can you invest something that you said you can't touch? And ANY answer you get off this board has a very high chance of losing you money. Some on here give advice as a joke, some on here give sound advice but NOBODY here knows a single thing about YOUR long term goals, skills, tax complications, experience or education.
If you are serious then the ONLY recomendation that makes sense is to invest in yourself. Invest in your education of HOW to invest money, manage tax issues, and calculate rates of return on investments both pre and post tax.
If you have 450K in an account that you can't touch till Sept. 2008, I would spend the next year learning to manage money and create a plan on what you are wanting that money to do for you. Most people spend their lives working for money and fail to learn how to have money work for them. THAT is your "investment goal" for the next year of learning how to have money work for you. And that will be the BEST investment you can EVER make.

change ur bank. There should be some serious banks around that would also actively manage small sums (personal wealth management is usually offered for 1mil+ but now some banks bother with "smaller" sums).

u might invest in anything if u know what ur doing. if u dont find a good bank or asset manager who does. as i said with 0.45m u should be able to find someone willing and qualified to manage it for u.

Open a brokerage account and invest in the Stock Market with the help of a Portfolio Manager with over a decade of experience in the Stock Markets like myself.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket of investments.

Wow...lucky you! Check into some stocks maybe?

I would invest it in under armer, kid are going crazy over it.

Invest $50,000 in SRI's and use the rest any way you want.

Send it to me, I'll hook ya up!

The best investment is almost always real estate--preferably some kind of commercial use. Like a 20 year ground lease with a national credit tenant on site.

Good luck.

a home and a good education!!!!

well you can put it in my 1.5% savings if you want

Buy a house fix it up and sell it the more you keep doing this you will become rich that's how Donald Trump became one of the richest men in the world

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