I have 70,000$..what is the best investment idea?.?

The answer to this depends on what you will need the money for, and when you'll need it. If it's anything over 10 years (ie retirement, kids' college education, saving for that vacation home, etc), equities-based investments are the way to go. Long term, they've average an 11% return, compared to 6.8% for real estate, 5% for bonds, and 2.5% for cash investments. Of course, stocks are a lot more volatile than most other kinds of investments (excepting commodities, of course), so short-term, a mostly-stock portfolio is a no-go.

Individual stocks are usually way too risky to even bother with, to be even more forthcoming. In 2000, you could have invested in the #1 energy company in the U.S., or the #2 phone company. What could have been more stable than a couple of leading utilities? Ask the shareholders of Enron and Worldcom, respectively. No, a far smarter, and safer, way to get that needed equity exposure is through high-quality mutual funds. I'm not talking the junky tech-bombs that exploded on the scene the late 90's. I'm talking about quality funds that own quality stocks, and have a quality track record to back it up.

No matter what route you go with, the most important thing is to DIVERSIFY. Diversify, diversify, diversify. I can't say it enough. A good rule of thumb for most people is that your age should be the percentage you are in fixed income investments, like bonds, CDs, and cash. Thus, the older you get, the more conservative you'll become. Of course, your individual risk tolerance will vary.

Assuming you are 25, a sample portfolio like the following will be sufficient:

20% Large-cap stocks
20% Mid/small cap stocks
20% International stocks
5% Real Estate Investments
5% Commodities
5% Precious Metals
10% Government bonds
10% Corporate Bonds
5% International bonds

As daunting as that may or may not look, it can be achieved very easily through just a few mutual funds. Consult a financial advisor, or do the research yourself if you have the time, tools, and talent. Oh, and the discipline. That's probably the #1 reason people go to financial advisors: they realize they don't have the discipline to stick with a plan on their own.

A portfolio like the one above should average 8-10% annually, or better. They key is that all the different asset calsses behave differently when the same economic event happens, like, say, interest rates risiin, or a war starting in Bulgaria. Stocks behave differently than bonds, which behave differently than commodities, which behave differently tha real estate, etc.

This sort of portfolio should average 8-12% per year, so just split the difference and say 10%. Will it do 10% EVERY year? Of course not. I'd be surprised if it ever did EXACTLY 10%. That's an annual average. Using the "Rule of 72", where you divide the number 72 by your return % to see how often your money will double, we see that if this portfolio is earning 10%, it will double every 7.2 years. Compare that to a money market earning 2%, which will double every 36 years!

So, in 7 years you should have about $140,000
in 14 years you should have about $280,000
in 21 years you should have about $560,000
in 28 years you should have about $1,120,000
in 35 years you should have about $2,240,000
in 42 years you should have about $4,480,000
in 49 years you should have about $8,960,000
in 56 years you should have about $17,920,000
and on and on and on....

Of course, if you keep adding money in, say $100 a month, you'll become a millionaire MUCH sooner. The key is discipline, and sticking in when markets are up OR down. Don't try to time the market--you'll NEVER get it right.

Hope this helps!
--J.