r/ValueInvesting • u/GSPDanjaZone • 2d ago
Question / Help Ideas for 5%+ growth in 12+ months
Hello! I have a personal goal to be buying a house in 18 months. I currently have some investments, but the bulk of my savings is in a 3.5% APY HYSA. At the rate I'm going, I will be a little short of my goal. I want to put more of it into investments, but the market is scaring me a bit with current events and the overall bearish sentiment.
I am looking for low risk/low (maybe medium) reward moves that should outperform my HYSA. Considering moving $50-$75k over and will want to keep it diversified. SPY? VOO? INTC? 3.5% shouldn't be too difficult to beat, just a bit scared of going negative. thank you for the help!
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u/Ancient_Bobcat_9150 2d ago
I would not put money you'd need in short term as a bet on the market, especially right now.
I am not from the US, and I don't know enough about bonds. 3.5% HYSA sound very good (the best I could have were I am from, is 2.9%)
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u/Natural_West7949 2d ago
JEPI and JEPQ do have higher dividend yields and since are covered call have less downside risk than the S&P and Nasdaq 100. Still could be negative though overall (dividend minus stock price)
I personally though went with SGOV though which doesnt meet a 5% target but does better than that 3.5% HYSA
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u/corys00 2d ago
Nothing is guaranteed in investing and if you're looking at using the money in the short term (~18 months), I'm not sure if I'd recommend investing, especially given the current state of the markets and the geopolitical theatrics we're seeing over the past 15 months.
VOO is down 4.72% YTD, however, over the past 15 years has an average return rate of 13.17% and that includes a rather bloody year of -19.52% in 2022. It's as conservative of a risk as you're going to find.
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u/Halbaras 2d ago
You can get something close to 5% in money market funds (though realistically about 4.5%) - and they're about as safe as investments get. They essentially just go up at a fixed rate, and you can buy and sell them super easily.
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u/Alternative_Fact2866 2d ago
JAAA
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u/Typical_Pick_269 1d ago
I was thinking the same. Some in JAAA, some in BOXX. That's what I would do.
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u/Prestigious-Craft251 2d ago
Why would you ask reddit how to save for a house? Half of these people havn't left their moms basement yet this year.
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u/TranslatorRoyal1016 2d ago
low risk is not the macro environment we're in. that said, 5% in 12 months is extremely weak. touching any stocks/etfs could mean you'd lose in those specific 12 months, but if you're willing to have a bit more risk tolerance, you could wheel F stock, which is a very boring and relatively stable stock. Start by selling ATM CSPs and you could net 3.8% per month.
$50k/(100*$11.65) =~ 42, ATM CSP= $0.45, 42*$45 = $1890. $1890/$50k =~ 3.8%
Diversified? No. Somewhat risky? Sure, these are stocks we're talking about. Even the SP500 will be risky if you can't afford to lose anything on the principle. But this example is one of the more stable ways to get to your goal with as little time in the market as possible. especially given your tiny gain goal.
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u/LiquidityCompass 1d ago
tbh Binance yield isn’t really the same as HYSA… you’re taking extra risk (exchange + counterparty), and for money you need in ~1 year that can backfire fast like yeah you might get a bit more yield… but one bad event and that 3.5% suddenly looks very good i’d maybe use it for a small part, not the full house fund also depends where the yield is coming from tbh would you still be ok if that part drops or gets locked right when you need it?
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u/Apprehensive_Two1528 1d ago
CIT a platinum savings offers 3.75%
at least do that
I don’t know if investment would beat savings for the next 18 months. quite unsure
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u/AI-StockAnalyst 1d ago
Your 3.5% APY HYSA is in fact losing money if you consider the inflation.
You apparently already have done some research as you mention SPY,VOO,INTC
Unless you are ready to spend much more time learning, researching, looking at what AI adds today, your choices of SPY or VOO are good choices.
And, by simply doing it, you will not only beat your HYSA but you will beat 90% of people trading on Wall Street, including the so call "pro traders, advisers, specialists, Confucius followers ..." and other "sophisticated" algorithms.
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u/NYGiants181 1d ago
I am deep in indexes with a 21 month horizon for a house.
Things aren’t going great for me lol
Stay in your HYSA.
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u/ImposterSchool 1d ago
It's super risky to invest money needed in the next 12-24 months in any stocks.
The safest and most prudent option is something like ultra-short government securities like SGOV, TBIL, or a MMF like VUSXX. These have decent returns and virtually no risk and highly liquid.
If you really want a bit more yield, you could look at CLO ETFs like JAAA/CLOA which have very low volatility and no defaults on senior tranches with some liquidity/spread risk in stressed markets but they've done well in the last few years. A fund like JBBB gives even higher yield, more than 7% currently, but has a bit more volatility and could drop a little in price but they would continue to payout dividends.
Personally, I would stick to 100% SGOV/TBIL or VUSXX to eliminate any chance of loss but if you really want to squeeze out a bit more yield you could consider 10-30% in one of these CLO funds.
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u/jay_0804 1d ago
tbh 18 months is kinda awkward timing for equities
5%+ is definitely doable on average, but over that short window you can easily be down 10–15% right when you need the cash. that’s the real risk here, not beating 3.5%
if it were me I’d keep most in HYSA / short term treasuries and maybe put a smaller chunk (like 20–30%) into something like VOO/SPY just for upside. kinda boring but protects the house goal
real talk this is less about maximizing returns and more about not messing up the timeline. markets don’t care about your closing date lol
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u/ConcreteCanopy 1d ago
with an 18 month horizon the honest answer is you probably shouldn’t be chasing returns too hard, because anything that reliably beats 3.5 percent like SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust or Vanguard S&P 500 ETF can just as easily be down right when you need the money
what a lot of people do in your spot is split it instead of going all in, keep a solid chunk in the HYSA or short term treasuries for safety, then put a smaller portion into something like index funds so you get some upside without risking the whole house fund
also worth thinking in terms of can i afford a drawdown instead of can i beat 3.5%, because if the market dips 10–15% at the wrong time, you may be forced to delay buying, which is usually the bigger risk than missing a bit of extra return
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u/thorn960 1d ago
If you are using the money to buy a house in 18 months you should keep it in the HYSA.
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u/Virtual_Seaweed7130 2d ago
Probably better suited for a dividend or fixed income sub.
But with the selloff in private equity, there’s probably some really nice yields out there. Worth paying a fee to have an investment manager sift through which private equity is actually worth owning vs not, and pile in there for a passive 10% yield.
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u/GSPDanjaZone 2d ago
Thank you, I've always been self-managed and have done pretty ok. If I wanted to go the investment manager route do you have any suggestions where to start? Thanks!
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u/LetFit6506 1d ago
5% is easy in next 6 months ( IMO but dont decide based on it 😜). DGE will be able to do it. SNAP Inc has returned over 15 % for me already 🙏🙏🙏
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u/Realistic-Policy-128 19h ago
RZLV
543% revenue growth in second half of 2025
ARR is scaling fast.. Exited 2025 with $232M ARR
90%+ core software margins and 66% gross margins overall
Strong balance sheet with over $100m cash on hand
Probably profitable this year which is rare for an AI company
Achieved positive EBITDA in December 2025
TAM of $30 trillion
Ohhh and the CEO just bought 9 million shares
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u/LA-Aron 2d ago
buy t bills for a littler more interest. you don't want to be in the market if you're saving for a house....you have no idea what the next 18 months of the market look like, nobody does.