Thursday, November 4, 2010

Alternative Investing Opportunity

Ah, the wacky world of investing! For anyone in the Winnipeg/Manitoba area who has an extra $5000 or more kicking around with nothing to do and you'd like to earn 24% annual interest on it, I know of an opportunity that you might be interested in learning about. It's an alternative investment in a company that is expanding its operations and is looking for some capital. Your money is locked in for one year but you get interest cheques every three months. Essentially you are loaning them your money for a year and they are agreeing to repay it every three months (so 4 times per year). The interest they pay is 2% a month, so you would get cheque for 6% of your principal once a quarter. Some examples:

$5000 investment = $100 per month (or $1200 after 365 days)
$10000 investment = $200 per month (or $2400 after 365 days)
$50000 investment = $1000 per month (or $12000 after $365 days)

Like most alternative investments it's a limited time offer and the broker I use expects it to be filled up by the end of the year so if you'd like me to get you more info then leave your email in the comments or if you know my email you can contact me directly.

Alternative investments are one of several great places to park your "pay yourself first" money. Investing such saved monies is crucial to a) avoid spending it when your will power gets low & b) letting it grow exponentially to serve yourself/others. Of course there is risk in any kind of investing but I would argue that there is more risk in not investing as you will someday need that money. You can't afford not to take some risks! I used to be quite closed to investing in anything but real estate but now I'm open to much more. Stay tuned for an update at the end of the year on my stock investing experiment.

8 comments:

Tammy said...

tammyisblessed at gmail dot com would be interested in more info.

Mark said...

Hi Tammy, I emailed you!

Kenton D said...

OK, the accountant in me is sceptical. Can you forward the info on to me?

Thanks!

Mark said...

Hey Kenton, I sent you some info, let me know if you have any questions. I've heard that only about 5% of all investors will have alternative investments in their portfolio and I'm guessing there aren't many accountants in that 5% (accountants are not known for high risk taking in investing)!

Marc said...

I still say that it's sketchy. I'm not an accountant or any sort of money person, but 24%?

There may be a few lucky times it works, but a guaranteed 24%?

My prediction? The $5,000 invested is lost.

Mark said...

Hey Marc thanks for commenting.

Hmmm . . . I don't believe I used the term "guaranteed." The agreement as part of the investment is that they will pay you 2% monthly but it is definitely not guaranteed. There are very few investments that are willing (or legally able) to say they are guaranteed and they are all have low returns. Of course even in these examples no one can truly guarantee the return - it is simply highly likely and the illusion that it is truly "guaranteed" makes us feel better about investing in them.

I hear your skepticism and I respect it. But skepticism without inquiry is mere opinion. It sounds like you are skeptical not because you know the details of the investment but because you have the belief that any return above a certain amount seems "too good to be true" and is thus impossible. I once had that view - but over the years I've attempted to test it. It is true - many investments don't pan out how you think they will (stocks, mutual funds, real estate, businesses, etc). But by due diligence and managing risk, high returns are quite possible. I'm curious though, at what percentage of return do you think it becomes sketchy? My guess is that this number would be quite different for everyone (I'd also be curious to hear what other peoples percentages are as well).

Marc said...

My comment came across a little stronger than I intended. Apologies.

Keep us posted on how things go.

Mark said...

No worries Marc, I think my response came across stronger then intended as well! I will keep you posted.