Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankWakefield
If you're in your 20's and have that 20k to invest, I suggest this investment. Drive out into the country and find 5 acres to buy (this won't work in desert areas, some mountainous areas, so this terrain might not be available). Buy five acres, then plant a bunch of hardwood saplings. Walnut, Cherry, some kind of hardwood trees. Get an agricultural extension agent to get you information and advice. You'll have to go tend them the first year or two; maybe water them or protect them from rabbits or deer. After a few years you can leave them to their own, they'll grow. Wait 30 to 40 years (this is why you need to me a young investor). Then hire someone to harvest the trees and get them to a mill or market. This investment will yield money enough for retirement, putting grandkids through college and/or helping with a down payment on a home... and you still have the 5 acres that you could either sell or convince a grandkid to plant some hardwood saplings.
Invest in investments, not hobbies.
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This is unusual, but great advice. I wish I had done this when I was young. The only danger, and I've heard of this happening, is that when the stand of hardwoods reaches maturity, thieves might come in and cut them down, if the land is too remote for you to keep an eye on.
I was at a bar once, about 25 years ago, and this old guy sitting next to me started telling me about a stand of mature black walnut trees he knew of, that were worth thousands of dollars. My entrepreneurial mind starts racing, and I'm thinking, maybe I could buy land like that cheap, and then harvest the trees off it. But the guy would never tell me where it was...
Anyway I agree. Buy land and plant valuable trees, or buy a rental property and build equity. Gambling on a piece of cardboard is not an investment as much as it is a gamble.
That said, early 1950s Mays, Aaron, Clemente would be my best gambles.