35-Year-Old Sitting On $75K Cash Faces Agonizing Decision – 'What Is The Best Way To Grow $75K?' In A Year Without Gambling It?

For many investors, the goal is clear: grow their money considerably without exposing it to unnecessary risk.

Among the most popular investing vehicles, growth-focused investments, which include stocks, ETFs, and index funds, can offer higher returns, but they can be volatile. Still, for those with a short-term horizon, they are a good investment option.

One Reddit user, a 35-year-old investor with $75,000 to invest, is facing a challenge: where should he invest the sum to allow it to grow significantly, without gambling it? He planned to buy a property with the money this year but ultimately decided to postpone the purchase for the next year or two.

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The investor prefers guaranteed returns and is hesitant about stocks, even though he already has some self-managed investments, and considers exploring options beyond his high-yield savings account but wants to avoid excessive risk.

The Reddit community has started a debate in the comment section, with many suggesting low-risk options and others advocating for individual stocks since they can offer significant growth in the short term. Let's dive into the comments.

$75,000 to Invest–What Do the Commenters Recommend?

Stock Market Debate: Worth It for Short-Term Growth?

Several commenters argued that despite the investor’s short-term timeline, an allocation to stocks would boost returns. On the other hand, other Redditors advised against putting the money in stocks.

“I would say put a portion of it into a brokerage account and invest it in the total U.S. stock market. With a small bit of risk, you can do much better than 4%,” a comment reads.

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A Redditor came with a different perspective, saying that one or two years isn’t a sufficient time horizon to be invested in the stock market: “One to two years is not enough time to invest in the stock market. Over that short period, it’s essentially gambling.”

“Historically, the best way to reliably grow money has been index funds like the S&P 500. You may be thinking, "Well, America is imploding, maybe now isn't the best time to invest." And maybe that's true, but you can always find a reason not to invest, and throughout history, those reasons to not invest are destroyed by the ever-upward plodding gains in the S&P,” a Redditor advised.

Recommending the poster to invest the $75,000 in stocks, this commenter pointed out that investments sitting in a high-yield savings account are riskier than those in the stock market.

“‘No risk’ investments such as [high-yield savings account] have risk… it’s just in the form of opportunity cost. In many scenarios, stock investment is less risky than letting money just sit in a [high-yield savings account] long-term,” he wrote.

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Consider Low-Risk Alternatives to a High-Yield Savings Account

Since the investor needs the money in one or two years, many commenters suggested ultra-safe, liquid options with slightly better yields than his current high-yield savings account.

“An alternative to a [high-yield savings account] is buying [iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF SGOV] shares, which have a higher yield. SGOV buys only U.S. 3-month T-Bills so is as safe as the U.S. government. The advantage of the ETF over a raw 3-month T-Bill is that the ETF is 100% liquid. You can buy or sell any time Wall Street is open for trading. SGOV has a current yield of 5.0%. Expense Ratio, 0.07%. Since the income is from U.S. Securities, it is exempt from state and local income taxes,” a Redditor recommended.

Replying to the comment above, a Reddit user said, “SGOV's current yield is closer to 4.20%. I believe 5.0% is the yield over the last 12 months.”

“[Certificates of deposit] can give a little higher interest rate, and they are risk-free. The only downside is that you're locking in the money, which isn't a problem if you know you won't need it within the timeframe,” another commenter suggested.

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