New Venture Lab: Equipping Christian Entrepreneurs

Question

I am trying to realize the investing potential with the $20,000 I end up with at the end of each summer that I work between school years. Throughout the rest of the year I usually spend most of this slowly on rent, daily necessities and other costs, but I believe there should be some options available to wisely invest this money to grow.  My question is regarding current recommended investment options - for up to $20,000 - in our economic climate.  If you have any suggestions for wise investments of up to $20,000 which would bring fruit by early next year, or produce a minimal income to live on, with a greater return, I would greatly appreciate it!

Answer

I am not an investment advisor and I really am not the best qualified to direct you in how to invest in this market.  I have posted several items on New Venture Lab that may help guide your thinking, but I would caution you that the market is very uncertain at present and many investment strategies will not produce any fruit in such a short time frame.  Most investment strategies are multi-year strategies.  Most short-term investments that need to protect the capital are invested in short-term money market funds, which are currently at very low interest rates, but that is just the reality of our current market.  Very few high-return options exist for short-term investment horizons.