Ask HN: How to double your money quickly?

[allman]

I did a lot of freelancing this year and find myself in possession of an extra 30k that I don't need for at least a year. What would currently be the best way to make the most of that money lets say after a year?

Invest in Bitcoin (although its pretty high already)? Invest in stock (any particular)? Fly down to Venezuela and invest in a nice beach condo? Or something more conservative - just let it sit in a bank? What would you do?

Its a serious question - so please no "fly to Vegas and put it all on red" answers :)

[byoung2]

Obviously there are no 100% guaranteed ways to double your money in a year, otherwise everybody would just do that instead of working for a living. I wouldn't recommend putting all your eggs in one basket, so you should invest in several areas to spread out the risk. I'd also recommend looking at investment as a long-term commitment (e.g. 3-5 years or more). I invest in the stock market, specifically dividend stocks. The most reliable stocks (e.g. Dogs of the Dow) pay 3-5%, and some of the more risky ones pay 5-12%, and up to 15-20% for REITs. For the last 2 years I have been leaning toward the REITs, since the real estate market is in recovery and should continue to improve over the next 3-5 years. With a good mix of dividend stocks you can spread out your risk and still get a healthy return of 8% or more.

[allman]

You're right of course - I know there are no guaranteed ways to double your money.

Have been considering stocks - its definitely a real option. Or possibly investing into a managed fund. I did play with the stock market a few years earlier and did have a nice return on it.

But was thinking about possibly more creative/risky ways to try. Stocks are fine - my only problem with that was - it takes time/research to do properly (if I'm doing it blindly its a bit like Vegas then). And obviously 8% on a 30k is not as profitable as spending my time doing more freelancing.

So if I'm spending that time - I was thinking I need higher returns. I've also been looking into FOREX for a while, but I have mixed feelings if any amount of research/time could predict the volatile jumps over there :)

[byoung2]

That's definitely something to consider. I spend an hour or two per month researching stocks. Research is easier for long term investments (since you can look at how the stock has performed over the last few years, rather than constantly looking each day). My returns have been closer to 12% since 2011. If I wanted to be more hands on (e.g. day trading, forex, etc), it would take more time, and of course time is money. If you spend 40 hours a week for a year to double that 30k or even quadruple it, you'd be better off freelancing.

[shiftpgdn]

Why is taking to Vegas not an allowable answer? It's how the founder of FedEx kept the company from going bankrupt. Besides any other chance of doubling your money is just as likely a gamble.

[davidkrug]

I would invest 33% of it building affiliate websites online. I would invest 33% of it in Ashford Hospitality Trust Series E preferred stock. I would invest 33% of it in the highest yield savings account.

By years end I imagined you'd be up atleast 3% on the savings account, 9% on the stocks, and a 10k investment into a few solid affiliate websites could easily reap up 20k. You wouldn't quite double your money but you might do even better.

[makerops]

It's funny because "fly to vegas and put it all on red" is probably a better bet than putting it all in bitcoin.

[Avalaxy]

Because the chance that Bitcoin will go down from here and will never become worth more than it's worth now is 50%? Sorry, but your comment is just bullcrap.

[argonaut]

No, because the chance that Bitcoin one year from now will be double what it is know is (probably less than) 50%.

Not to mention that your argument is semantically false because 1 million years from now I can guarantee you that Bitcoin won't be around.

[makerops]

That wasn't my claim, as others have already stated. It's really way off base from what I actually did say. FWIW, I do think though, there is a better than 50% chance that in one year from now BTC will be worth less than todays price.

[yen223]

People used to think that real estate prices can only go up too you know.

[staunch]

Fly to Vegas and put it all on an apartment.

http://needwant.com/p/buying-apartment-airbnb/

[ChikkaChiChi]

Put it in a savings account. In under 100 years you will have doubled your money.

On the scale of human history, this can still be considered "quickly"

[allman]

Yeah thats fine - although not going to do much for my MTV-style lifestyle - MTV will probably be gone by then :)

[japhyr]

Do you have a high risk/ low risk breakdown?

ie, "I'm willing to play with 10k of it, but I'd like to be pretty conservative with 20k."

[allman]

I'm actually fine with risky investments (which does not translate to stupid investments) - am potentially willing to risk it all for possible better returns.

Was in this situation a few times before and ended up just spending it all on crap that I don't really need anyway.

[kohanz]

So what would be the end-game for the doubled amount? Double it again? Spend it?

[allman]

There is an an end-game? :) Maybe. Who knows. Does it matter?

[gembird]

You should buy saas business or profitable website from auction sites like www.flippa.com....

[memracom]

That's a good answer. The only reasonable way to double your money is to buy something that you can resell in the short term for a profit of 20% or more. Do that two-three times and your money is doubled.

Alternatively, invest in something where you can act to increase the value in the short term and recoup your investment in a few months. Similar to buy and sell but you only invest in part of an existing business.

Examples. Buying web businesses that are sad because the builder was cheap and hired an incompetent. You buy it cheap, fix all the problems and sell a shiny new bulletproof site to a promoter/marketing person who knows that they can use it to earn ongoing revenue. Idea guy botched the job by outsourcing, you the tech guy fix the tech problems (and maybe some design UI UX stuff) then sell to the sales/marketing business guy who has a long term plan.

Another example. A waitress quits her job and invests her savings at a grimy sad restaurant across town. She also takes a waitressing job at minimum wage there. Every night after closing time she cleans and decorates. And working in the daytime she wears flirty clothes, keeps up her best smile and cheerful manner. Word gets out and new customers come to see what's happening. Business doubles and triples. After 4 months, the owner pays her back her investment plus 40% and gives her a regular job as manager/waitress at a normal wage. She works there for another year, keeps building the business and hires the right replacements. Then on the basis of this transformation she gets a job as catering manager at a small regional motel chain and gets into renewing their restaurants. With the money she saves up, she quits after two years and buys a small restaurant. After a year she sells it for double what she paid and goes on to the next. People actually do this kind of thing. It works, but it requires guts, intelligence and hard work.

[davidkrug]

I did this buying and flipping websites a few years back. Turned 30k into 100k. Stressful as fuck. Not hard work. Just takes intelligence, balls, and knowing when to sell.

[allman]

Thats a really interesting suggestion actually. I have previously sold a few domains I acquired a while ago and that is something I was considering getting into again.

But to buy a domain together with a profitable website hmm... have you done something like this before?

[ninja2789]

I feel like the quality of sites aren't too great on flippa. Additionally, it generally takes quite a bit of time to manage and upkeep a business. What you're looking for is a passive income generator and stocks/REITs are probably going to be the most accessible form.

[dsschnau]

401k? Not doubling but it would help you out in the long run.