Invest money or spend it?

College Majors Business Major
1

<p>Generally, it is better to invest if you can. But here is the situation. I have been saving up money for a bit working an off the books job. I want to set up an account w/ an online discount broker in one of my parents name because I am certain I can get a better return on it then sticking it in a CD or savings.</p>

<p>The problems this brings however is:
More tax on parent(will this even be worthwhile?)
More assets for FAFSA/CSS Profile(may hurt my chances at receiving more financial aid?) </p>

<p>What do you recommend I do?
I could either
1) Invest what I have (around 5k) and commute to school.
2) Buy a used car to commute to school(useful, but lots of money gone.)</p>

<p>any recommendations here? I may be jepoardizing financial aid if I invest this though, so I may ultimately be losing out on money in the end by investing.</p>

2

<p>Unless you invest it in some truly remarkable stocks the amount of money you make is not going to effect your parents taxes or financial aid by much unless they are very close to the next tax bracket. Have you looked into investing it in a UGMA account (Uniform Gifts to Minors also sometimes called UTMA's)? - check it out.</p>

3

<p>daviban, what are the tax brackets for financial aid? im relatively clueless about taxation on income.</p>

4

<p>You're not ready to invest if you're saying you're "certain" you can beat CDs and savings accounts.</p>

5

<p>well most CDs have about a 3% in my area and savings account are 1%. </p>

<p>i mean throwing darts while picking stocks on NASDAQ could probably yield >4% interest.</p>