Money Management

You have choices when it comes to investing. Read on to see how to decide where your money should go. 

Investing your money could make it so you’re able to grow a lot of wealth over time. And when we think about investing, we often imagine opening a brokerage account and loading it with stocks.

But you don’t have to limit yourself to the stock market. If you want a safer investment, bonds may be worth a look. And if you want an investment that has the potential to be just as lucrative as stocks, you could explore real estate.

There are different ways to invest in physical real estate. You could buy homes in need of work, fix them up, and flip them at a profit. Or, you could buy properties you rent out. With the latter, your rental income might cover your costs so you can hold those properties until their value appreciates and then sell them at a profit.

Both stocks and real estate have the potential to generate a big payday. But if you’re not sure which one is the better choice for you, you’ll want to ask yourself how much work you’re willing to put in.

When you want an easier way to make money

You might assume that assembling and maintaining a portfolio of stocks takes no work. But that’s not true.

When you’re investing in individual stocks, it’s important to research each company you’re buying shares of to gauge its financial health. That can take time. You’ll then need to keep tabs on each company’s performance to make sure holding those stocks continues to make sense.

But while building a stock portfolio does require some effort, the time you put in might pale in comparison to the amount of time you’ll sink into your real estate holdings.

If you buy a home to flip, you’ll either have to do the renovation and repair work yourself, or hire contractors and keep track of their progress. You’ll also need to create a budget to make sure your repair costs don’t wipe out your potential profits.

If you buy a home to rent out, you’ll become a landlord. And there could be a ton of work involved there, from vetting tenants to overseeing maintenance to dealing with repair issues as they arise.

Granted, you could outsource some of that work to a property manager. But that’ll eat away at your profits.

So basically, if you’re not sure whether to invest in stocks versus real estate, ask yourself how much time you’re willing to put in and how much work you’re willing to do. If you’d rather put in less time, then stocks might be the better choice.

There’s risk either way

You may be wondering whether stocks are a riskier investment than real estate, and the answer is that both are risky in their own right.

With stocks, your portfolio could lose value if the businesses you invest in perform poorly. However, you can minimize that risk by loading up on a variety of stocks across a wide range of market sectors.

In fact, the S&P 500 index has delivered an average annual return of 10% over the past 50 years. So if you load up on S&P 500 ETFs, your portfolio might see a similar return over time, even if there are some years when the index sorely underperforms.

Meanwhile, with real estate, there’s always the chance that a property you own could lose value during a housing market crash. You might also struggle to find tenants, which could be a problem if you’re reliant on rental income to cover your ownership costs.

Plus, when you buy a home, you risk having to sink $10,000 into a heating system repair or $5,000 into a plumbing system repair. With stocks, you don’t pay to own them beyond the initial cost of your shares.

You should also know that flipping homes can be a particularly risky endeavor. If your repair costs end up coming in higher than expected, they could wipe out your profits completely and leave you with a loss on your hands.

Similarly, you’re not guaranteed a buyer for your listing price when you flip a home. If you can’t get your asking price, you might end up with a loss overall.

What’s the right call?

If you don’t have a ton of time to devote to your investments, then stocks might be a better choice for you than real estate. But there is a way to combine both worlds. If you invest in residential REITs, or real estate investment trusts, you get exposure to the real estate market without having to own actual properties.

Residential REITs are companies that maintain portfolios of residential properties. So if you want the benefit of earning rental income without having to be a landlord, you can get it indirectly by adding these REITs to your portfolio, since they make money on rent on a regular basis.

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We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Autumn means falling leaves, a chill breeze — and pumpkin spice. Here’s what else you’ll find at Sam’s Club this fall. 

How can you tell when autumn is almost here? It’s not the leaves on the ground, or the chill in the air. No, the first sign of fall is the deluge of pumpkin spice everything hitting the store shelves.

Even if you’re not crazy for spicy squash, there are a lot of interesting items that show up this time of year in all our favorite stores. Sam’s Club, for example, has already started rolling out some of its seasonal selections. Take a look at some of the limited-time fall items out now.

1. Member’s Mark seasonal soups

If there’s any dish that epitomizes fall flavors, it has to be soup. Sipping soup on a crisp fall evening is about as close to autumn nirvana as you can get (without literally turning into a pumpkin). These seasonal soups offer some of that fall feeling without putting your budget into hibernation:

Autumn Squash Soup (32 oz. tub, 2 pk.) | $9.98 ($0.16/oz)Member’s Mark Black Beans, Corn and Spicy Chorizo Soup (24 ounce tub, 2 pk.) | $10.48 ($0.22/oz)

2. Pumpkin spice coffees

Whole bean, ground, K-cup — doesn’t matter how you like your pumpkin spice coffee, Sam’s Club has an option for you this fall. You can find a variety of brands and styles, all at the great prices you’d expect to see:

Boyer’s Whole Bean Coffee, Pumpkin Spice (36 oz.) | $18.88 ($0.52/oz)Community Coffee Ground Coffee, Spiced Pumpkin Pecan Pie (32 oz.) | $14.42 ($0.45/oz)Copper Moon Coffee Single Serve Cups, Harvest Pack (36 ct.) | $12.98 ($0.36/ea)Dunkin’ Donuts Medium Roast K-Cups, Pumpkin Spice (54 ct.) | $29.98 ($0.56/ea)Starbucks Limited Edition K-Cup Coffee Pods, Pumpkin Spice (64 ct.) | $29.98 ($0.47/ea)

3. Fall decor

Few things will get you in that leaves-on-the-ground mood quite like some seasonal fall decor. Sam’s Club has a surprising variety of harvest-inspired decorations, from front porch pumpkins strung with twinkly lights to a set of resin turkeys for your tablescape. (There’s also a good array of indoor and outdoor Halloween decorations, too.)

Member’s Mark Harvest Door Mat (various styles) | $9.98Member’s Mark Halloween Ceramic Candy Bowl (various styles) | $19.98Member’s Mark Harvest Wreath (various styles) | $34.98 to $49.98Member’s Mark Harvest Pumpkin Set (various colors) | $54.98

4. Oktoberfest-inspired snacks

It doesn’t have as much hype in the U.S. as Thanksgiving — or even Pumpkin Spice Season — but lots of folks love to raise their tankard for Oktoberfest. These snacks both look like they’d be good washed down with a pint:

Member’s Mark Beer Cheese Flavored Popcorn (14 oz.) | $4.98 ($0.36/oz)Member’s Mark Oktoberfest Mini Pretzel Franks (18 oz.) | $11.98 ($0.67/oz)

5. Halloween candy

Halloween candy holds a special appeal for many of us, regardless of our age. What’s really cool, though, is that when you’re an adult, you can just, like, buy the stuff — no costume required. Of course, as an adult, you also need to be financially responsible. So, buy your candy from Sam’s Club in bulk. You know, for the savings.

Reese’s Halloween Pumpkins Candy Bulk Bag (39.8 oz., 65 Pieces) | $11.98 ($0.18/ea)Hershey Halloween Candy Bulk Variety Bag (53.7 oz., 105 pcs) | $18.98 ($0.18/ea)Sweetarts Halloween Ghostly Goodies Mix (59.86 oz., 175 ct.) | $19.98 ($0.11/ea)

A lot more fall to come

Let’s be honest: It’s not really autumn yet. And it certainly wasn’t autumn when all this pumpkin nonsense started weeks ago. There’s still so much actual autumn to come!

The point? Pace yourself — and your bank account.

After a long, hot summer, it can be so tempting to embrace the fall feeling, even if it does come a few weeks early. Part of that, for many folks, is drowning their summer sorrows in pumpkin spice. But all that mood-altering goodness isn’t free (or even cheap). No, it can add up faster than you think.

Before you start running up your credit cards on seasonal goodies, take the time to figure out which ones will bring you the most joy. Focus on one or two items that will really make you feel like fall is on the way, and leave the rest for other pumpkin lovers to enjoy.

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We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.Brittney Myers has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Starbucks. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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You don’t have to be married to someone to buy property with them. Learn what considerations to make before deciding to buy. 

While married couples make up the majority of people who buy homes, you don’t actually have to be married to become a homeowner. I’m planning to become one myself next year, and I’m purchasing a home solo.

But you can also take out a mortgage loan with someone else without being married to them. After all, relationships are like personal finance — personal. So here’s what you should think about if you’re hoping to buy a home with a partner you’re not married to.

What type of mortgage will you get?

There are many different types of mortgages out there, and more mortgage lenders than you can shake a stick at. So you have a veritable ton of options for home loans, including the more common types (like conventional loans and FHA loans) as well as more specialized loans.

For example, if one of you is a qualifying veteran (or surviving and non-remarried spouse of a deceased veteran), you might be able to take out a VA home loan, which comes with the excellent benefit of not requiring a down payment (although, as Rocket Mortgage notes, if one of you isn’t a veteran, you may be required to pay a down payment on part of the loan).

While you might have a wider choice of loan types, you’ll also need to focus on your financial profiles, as they will have a major impact on whether you can get a mortgage (as well as how much you’ll pay for the privilege, in the form of interest). I hate to say it, but if you’re getting a joint mortgage (regardless of your marital status), the lender will consider the lower middle credit of the two of you.

Everyone has more than one credit score, because there are three major credit bureaus. If you have credit scores of 805, 800, and 790, while your partner is sitting at 710, 700, and 690, your lender is likely to go with that 700. This is still a decent credit score to get a mortgage, but it’s in everyone’s best interest for you both to boost your credit scores ahead of applying to get the lowest interest rate possible.

What type of co-owners will you be?

Being married to someone is no guarantee of spending the rest of your life together, nor is it a guarantee they won’t severely harm your finances (financial abuse is a real thing, and divorce can also hit your finances HARD). That said, if you’re buying a piece of property with someone you’re not married to, there will be more hoops to jump through to ensure all parties are protected in the deal.

Decide whether you want to be tenants in common or a joint tenancy when you get the house. According to FindLaw, these are the two best ways to approach buying a home with someone you’re not married to. If you’re tenants in common, you can have unequal shares in the property — maybe one owns 40%, while the other owns 60%. To break the arrangement, one of you can buy out the other, you can sell the house and split proceeds accordingly, or if one of you dies, the deceased’s heir can sell their stake in the home.

With joint tenancy, the two co-owners get equal parts of the property at the same time and both of you will be on the deed. This arrangement can be broken if a co-owner decides to sell or transfer their share of the home to another person. If that happens, the agreement just becomes a tenancy in common. In a joint tenancy agreement, you get right of survivorship, meaning that if one of the partners dies, the other receives their share of the property.

How will you handle finances and home upkeep?

You must get on the same page about the money side of owning a home (which isn’t cheap, by the way). You might consider getting a lawyer involved to work up a formal agreement about who will pay for what when it comes to the mortgage loan, maintenance, property taxes, and all the other costs of homeownership.

If you don’t already live together, it might be unclear who should handle what, and a neutral third-party like a lawyer can be a big help in making these decisions and creating a document that outlines everyone’s responsibilities and rights when it comes to the property and related financial matters.

You don’t have to be married to buy a home with someone, but it’s still a good idea to start the process with clear and defined expectations. As in many aspects of life and especially relationships of all kinds, communication is key. Take the time to discuss these points carefully before you start house hunting.

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We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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