Need Investment Advice

[Ryan Beasley]

Hi guys, I need some investment advice. I've been on BP for about 6 months now and I'm looking to invest in Real Estate within the next 2 years. I don't have the money right now, so I've decided to save 50% of my income for the next 2 years and place it in safe investments so it can accrue some interest. Then I plan on taking it out and investing it in a commercial property. However, I need some advice on where would be a safe place to invest my money over the course of the next 2 years. I was thinking a commission free Vanguard REIT ETF but I'm not too sure where the market is heading on a whole. Thanks!

[Trevor Ewen]

@Ryan Beasley

The main thing I like about foreign funds is that they are comparatively affordable right now. Foreign large-cap is dominated by Europe, which is slow, but probably underestimated. Foreign emerging-market is dominated by countries with great growth potential, still. This is given a buy & hold strategy, but US equities look very similar to US REITs right now. Up, up, up for the last five years. My assumption is most of the party is over. 

Foreign funds have already hit the dump, again, and they pay decent dividends. I think they have the potential for outsize growth in five years. But this is a very simple assessment of regression to the mean. 

I think self-storage is a great investment vehicle, and there is a really good BP podcast on that here.

I would talk to Michael Rogers about the specifics. It does come across as very hands-on. Not sure on you availability, free-time, or career goals. As much as I like hands-on investments like that. I can't manage it unless I go it with a partner.