How to Invest $80,000 Dollars – And Grow it to More!

Having $80,000 to invest gives you a great opportunity to watch your money grow.

The problem most people run in to is that, when you invest on your own, the number of options seems overwhelming.

Ways to Invest $80,000

Savings Account

A savings account is not a fast way to make money investing. Even with the high-interest accounts we list below, you are not going to get a great return.

What you will get is safety for your money until you are ready to make your investing choices. Think of the following savings accounts as a way to make a little interest until you are fully prepared to invest:

Betterment

Betterment is an excellent option for anyone that wants to avoid dealing with the regular upkeep of investments.

It is a robo-advisor that does all the investing for you. Instead of working with a person, the sign-up process includes a section where you answer a series of easy investing questions.

These questions determine how much risk you are willing to take in your portfolio. From there on out, Betterment takes care of the rest, even keeping you away from taxes.

Fundrise

Fundrise allows you to invest in real estate without doing the research, repairs, and everything else that goes into owning property.

Instead, you put your money into one of the REITs (real estate investment trust). The trust managers do all the investing for you, and you get a nice return on your Fundrise investment.

ETFs

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) allow you to make a single purchase of shares from the stock market but get the benefit of investing in hundreds or thousands of stocks.

These funds do all the diversification for you while making it easy to buy and sell all of the funds at one time.

Brokerages, like Ally Invest, will even allow you to make the trade with no fees. You can research the ETFs available, see which ones have a good track record, and make the trade all from your Ally Invest account.

Worthy Bonds

Worthy Bonds makes it easy to get into buying corporate debt for profit. Instead of having to research the companies, you deposit money into your Worthy account in $10 increments.

Worth takes the money and gives out secured loans (loans that have a physical item backing them). The companies pay the loans back, and you get a steady 5% interest rate.

If a company ever defaults, Worth will foreclose on the physical item(s) backing them, sell it, and recoup yours and their money.

Mutual Funds

Mutual funds are one of the most tried and tested ways to invest. Instead of picking stocks or other investments yourself, you place your money into a mutual fund.

The fund manager takes the money from all the different investors and invests for them. So the investors are “mutually funding” all the investments being made.

Many mutual funds have decades of history to see how they have done in good times and in bad.

Individual Stocks

Stocks present some of the most rewarding and risky investments you can make. With stocks, understanding the companies you are investing in is how you are going to reduce your risk while maximizing gain.

Ally Invest allows you to invest in stocks with no fees and has easy to use tools to help you research to your heart’s content.

If you are willing to put in the time to study your investments and be ready to jump when the time is right, you can make significant profits on your $80,000 in stock investing.

Bonds

Bonds are an investment in debt. The debt can either be from government institutions or businesses.

The most trusted bonds tend to come from governments, but many corporate bonds are worth investigating. Like stocks, learning to invest in bonds that are not from the government takes some time but can be beneficial.

Business Ideas

If you have a business idea or already have a side hustle that is ready to take the next step, then investing part of your $80k into that idea can reap great short and long term rewards.

For many entrepreneurs, business is the best way they can leverage their investments to create more wealth.

Give to Charity

Charitable giving, for those who do not do it regularly, does not feel like an investment. However, for my family, giving to our local church and other charities that we believe in strongly is an investment in our children and our world.

While you will not receive a financial return on charitable giving, it is an investment that has a positive impact on your soul.

Education

Whether you need to improve your skillset or have children that will be going off to college someday, investing in educational needs is an excellent option.

For yourself, you can look at college classes, online courses, certifications, or many other educational opportunities.

If you are saving for your children’s education, then a 529 college savings plan will give you tax benefits while the money grows in investments inside the plan.

Real Estate

In many markets across the country, you can buy an entire house with an investment of $80,000.

Whether you are looking to do a flip or purchase a home for rental income, real estate can make your investment grow quickly. As with all investments, be sure you know your market and what you can get for the property so that you don’t end up with a dud.

Retirement

Using your 80k dollars to sure up your retirement can be highly beneficial. Retirement accounts all have tax-advantaged benefits that make it easier for your money to grow.

You may have a retirement account from your employer or look to individual retirement accounts that you manage.

Cryptocurrencies

Investing in crypto makes many people feel uneasy. The reality is there is money to be made in crypto, and if you know what you are doing, that can be substantial.

Take this one with a big caution that you need to spend time in cryptocurrency learning what it is and how you can make money by trading different coins.

How I Would Invest $80k

Investing a sum of $80,000 should take a decent amount of time. To help you with making decisions on your investments, here is how I would diversify my $80k:

Charity ($8,000)

Giving to our local church is a major part of our belief system. For that reason, before Amy and I get into investing any of the rest of our $80,000, 10% goes to our church.

Betterment ($20,000)

Hands-off investing is very appealing to me at this stage of my life. Betterment allows me to diversify into a large number of stocks without having to worry about tax-loss harvesting or rebalancing my portfolio.

Deciding to invest $20,000 in Betterment is a natural choice for 25% of my portfolio.

Retirement ($15,000)

Retirement accounts make up the bulk of my investing each month. With an investment of $15,000, we can max out both of our Roth IRAs and put some toward tax-deferred investment.

Fundrise ($10,000)

Fundrise allows us to diversify outside of stocks while still maintaining a hands-off approach. $10k invested into real estate, without having to manage the real estate, makes Fundrise an excellent diversification play.

Worth Bonds ($15,000)

Worthy Bonds allows me to have money on hand that is ready for when I find an investment that is super low cost and still get a decent return on that money. 5% return on an investment that is secured with property is a solid way to go.

If Worthy scares you, then I would put this money in a savings account that gets higher interest than the bricks and mortar banks.

Stocks ($7,000)

I have been slowly dipping my toe into investing in individual stocks. Adding $7,000 invested to my learning curve will help me progress in being able to trade stocks for profit competently.

Education ($3,000)

There are a ton of online courses and ways for me to be a better business owner. Investing $3,000 of my $80k investment into myself is only going to yield greater returns.

Crypto ($2,000)

I find the technology that backs cryptocurrency fascinating. It is a revolutionary technology and could change the way we track and pay for items in the future.

For that reason, I am willing to make a $2,000 investment into learning more about how the exchanges work.

Final Thoughts on How to Invest $80,000

The ability to invest an amount as large as $80k is a significant accomplishment. Don’t mess up that accomplishment by being hasty about where you put your money.

All investments we make should be from a place of understanding. If you do not understand the investment or the platform, you are placing money, take a step back, and start learning.

Once you are comfortable with each piece of your portfolio, move forward and grow your $80,000 into a $200,000 investment or more.