Smartest thing that someone can do with their money?

[Nebulous]

What is the smartest thing that someone can do with their money?

 

[Oblivion Knight]

So far as I can tell, the smartest thing to do is still to invest in property.

Sure, you run the risk of bad tenants and potentially high maintenance costs depending on the age of the property... but I've seen people essentially make a living from pure rental income without having to work.

 

[Uncrowned Guard]

Investing for sure, but with a big asterisk. A lot of people talk about investing like it's some magic button, when in reality it works best once you already have a solid financial foundation. Property is a great example: owning rentals, hiring a property manager, and letting the income roll in sounds amazing, but that's usually a game for people who already have money to work with. Someone fresh out of school making $8 an hour isn't grabbing an apartment complex anytime soon.

That said, there are realistic starting points. Buying a modest starter home instead of renting, living in it for a few years, and then renting it out when you upgrade is a perfectly valid way to get your foot in the door. There are also newer group‑investment options for real estate, I'm not sure how good they are long‑term, but they exist.

And of course there's the stock market, index funds, and even crypto if you're comfortable with volatility. The key is having a mix: some safe assets, some medium‑risk, and a small slice of high‑risk if you want to swing for the fences. People use all sorts of splits like 60% safe, 20% risky, 20% high‑risk/startup, etc.

But honestly, the biggest "smart money move" isn't investing at all, it's paying off debt. No investment is going to outpace credit card interest or constant fees. Get debt‑free first, build stability, and then invest the extra. That's the part most people skip, and it's the part that makes everything else actually work.