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From: mom@sfmag.UUCP (M.Modig)
Newsgroups: net.invest
Subject: A Question
Message-ID: <882@sfmag.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 17-Mar-86 13:21:10 EST
Article-I.D.: sfmag.882
Posted: Mon Mar 17 13:21:10 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 18-Mar-86 08:36:30 EST
Organization: AT&T Information Systems, Summit, NJ
Lines: 30

A question.  I am a fairly young man (25).  My wife and I both work.
We are in a fairly high tax bracket.  We are starting to save up for
a house.  By cutting out a lot of frills (not so many nights out,
brown bagging it, being careful on major purchases) we are trying to
save $1000 per month towards the house. We could probably manage a
bit more than this if we really pinched, but we need money for
regular savings as well, so this is a good compromise, certainly a
reachable goal.  We estimate it will take
about two years or so to save up enough for a good-sized
downpayment.

The question comes in when we consider what to do with the money
now.  I had thought about putting the money that will be held for at
least a year into a mutual fund, either a low-risk growth fund or
some sort of bond fund (tax-free?).  However, several of the books I
have looked at on the subject have been at pains to emphasize that
mutual funds are strictly long-term investments, and have suggested
other things, such as money market funds or CDs.  Any opinions about
what alternatives I should look at and factors to consider?  At this
point I am extremely confused.  I want something that will be
reasonably safe, yet will grow some to offset at least some of the
growth in housing prices I feel is inevitable as we try to
accumulate enough for a down payment.

Please respond by mail-- I will post if there is enough response.

Thank you.

Mark Modig
..{ihnp4,ulysses,allegra,bellcore,attunix}!sfmag!mom