I'm 19 and I have $10,000 worth of savings. I won't need the money anytime soon as I still live with my parents, have a reliable job and I'm beginning my second year of university. I feel like something more constructive could be done with the money, like investing it in stocks or putting the money into a term deposit.
So I pose this question to OzBargain, what would you do if you were young and had $10,000? How would you maximise this money?
Any and all responses or experiences with similar scenarios are appreciated.
First off, I would urge you to spend some of your money travelling either during your extended uni breaks or better for a year or so after you graduate.
I really think this is the best way to gain experience and maturity as a younger person, and I wish I had done more.
Secondly, I urge you not to spend any more money on cars than you absolutely have too. They suck so much money in running costs, but especially in depreciation if you buy anything but an older second hand model.
Thirdly, I would get a plan for real estate. I believe it is essential to own a place you are prepared to live in when you are old, so you are not at the mercy of rent increases when you are retired on a fixed income. I recognise the real estate market is insane in most of Australia, but there are still ways (e.g. buy an investment in a growing regional city or a flat near a train line in the outer metro).
A Plan might mean thinking about buying in a decade, but it helps to just rough draft these ideas.
Fourthly, make sure you are doing some things to enjoy your time at uni beside just working and studying. It will literally be a time you look back on very fondly if you spend your time well. It is also likely the last time you have substantial time to burn, so if you want to be in a rock band, or learn to program, or whatever you find exciting and interesting now. You have the privilege to fail and rebuild that you lose as life goes on. Better to know you took the chance than regret it.
Fifthly, don't hold back from fear. If you want to do something, seize the chance now. If you aspire to own your own business, the hardest thing to is start, if you want to live in Prague, just get a visa and go. There is plenty of time to make sensible choices later, but when you are young you can do things that won't be an option later.
And finally, if you are already doing these things, fantastic! By all means consider investing your nest egg in the stock market (an index based ETF is a cheap and good way to invest in the stock market, for example) but don't let indecision rule you. Make a call and live with it, but make living your life in a valuable way your priority.
And remember to make a plan to routinely give of yourself to others - by joining community groups, or doing things that help the wider society, these things help others but also expose you to opportunities for yourself, and not doing them robs you of both the satisfaction of the doing, and to opportunities too.
Good luck!