Making fortune if you were immortal

A lot of films feature a bunch if immortal people that have somehow become rich because they have lived a very long time.

Say you had about 800 years to do it in- You don't die in 800 years, you need to be rich in 800 years. Not just anyone can do this. You have to have some natural skill, and a hefty amount of luck. An immortal could well try his hand at this for a few years, and even be successful, but the point is that an immortal can get to be massively wealthy WITHOUT any business acumen whatsoever.

Assuming I was born in 1200AD, I'd work to get a ship. Then buy and sell my way to fortune uncharted waters style. Once I had my fortune I would buy land. Probably would have to set up a deal with the Swiss banks to take care of my money, they are the only ones I would expect wouldn't try to screw me over and steal my money.

If you're immortal then its probably safe to stay to basics seeing as you have the time. I would get a loan, use it to start a business in whatever is doing well. Work and expand it over the decades. Eventually, if I had enough capital, I would try and diversify into trading. Personally I would try and have my hand in every type of resource trade around; oil, lumber etc. It seems befitting to an immortal, the influence over politics and the world would be astounding.

• Buy items that you believe will accrue value over time; cars, war relics, etc. Sell them when you feel the time is right to cash in. Probably keep some old stuff intact and sell it when it becomes of antique value, particularly art related things. Save money into an account under the facade of a family business or something, and let the interest build up. Maybe loot the chambers of dead rich people.
• If possible, I could 'invent' a life-boosting supplement by using some of my immortal essence/ genes, patent it, and sell it for a ridiculous price.
• Go to school, learn a valuable trade, work for 20 years, live frugally, invest all the money, move to country with favorable exchange rate, fuck around for 780 years, except realize 2 years in I'm bored, work on/off every few years for a few centuries, go insane, try to take over world, die horribly/be imprisoned forever (depending on flavor of immortality in question).
• Experiencing historical figures best I could after accumulating massive amounts of money and changing identities several times, crating a thesis about the nature of humanity. then, towards the end of my life, I would reveal my life to the world and publish a book.

If you've got 800 years there's really no incentive not to abuse the hell out of very long-term securities. Long term fixed interest deposits- why the fuck not? I also suggest committing a single high-volume crime (like a serious heist on a shipment of cocaine from Columbia), then plowing the money into real estate or a conservative stock portfolio. Make a career as a criminal, move up the ladder until I'm either a smuggler, a drug kingpin, or an arms dealer. No one would be able to have me assassinated, so I'm good there, and I won't die and leave my riches to my heir. Everyone will be wondering what the fuck is going on, but I can have them killed if they get nosy. Or I can make a big spectacle about it and shoot myself in the head to prove my immortality, so everyone will fear me.

I always get sad the contemplating immortality, everything you love withers away and you just keep going. I sigh enough at "kids these days" as of now and I'm only 20. I think I'd stop giving a fuck about money after about year 300 or so. I'd be an immortal Hobo. I can't think of anything worse than being immortal. You would just become progressivly more jaded, bitter, and apathetic. I don't know many happy, positive 90 year olds... I don't imagine being 900 or 9000 would improve their moods. It always young people that say life is too short. The elderly know this isn't true.

I always wished we lived that long, so you could learn lots of shit without dying before you can use it. But it's kind of sad how careful you'd have to be about taking risks with a life that long, not dying, not getting put in prison for life. That's how it was in Caves of Steel. Those Outworlders were beta as fuck. Sure would suck getting caught with a crime and getting like 150 years like Madoff.

Buying now in most of America is not a good idea.

Do you realize how expensive most cities are now, especially on the Midwestern and Northeast coasts? I cannot fucking understand huge cities like New York, Chicago, etc., that's just unthinkable to me.

Buying is nice, make no mistake about it. But it must be at the right price and under the right circumstances. The current devastation in the U.S. economy is due, in part, to not taking price and situation into account. What's wrong with just renting for life, especially if you're in a city where owning is absurdly costly and out of the question but renting is still reasonable?

When you rent you put in money that you can't get back. You are paying for a service. Once you move out, all the money you have put into renting is gone, you can't get any of it back. Renting won't stay reasonable for long. (Surely there are cheap condos around?) When you buy, you are making an investment, money you can get back or grow in the future. The big advantage to owning is that you can get most/ all/ more than what you paid back. If you own property the money you put into it is an investment. At the end of it, you can sell your house and get money back and even make money if you are fortunate.

Renting is a perfectly fine option. If the rent is reasonable, you'll avoid many of the expenses of home ownership, plus you are free to move anywhere you like. Home ownership comes with a mortgage payment, taxes, upkeep, insurance, maintenance, etc. In a good tenant/ landlord arrangement, you pay rent, utilities and it’s a good idea to buy renters insurance (super cheap and worth every penny). Leave the upkeep and headache to the landlord/ owner. Of course there is always the chance the landlord will not renew your lease. Or, he sells out, or he gets foreclosed on.

Owning a house is the only thing that you can put effort into and making a profit, well a big one at least. Remodeling, and reselling and all that jazz, but you will always love knowing that it’s yours. (Of course you have to realize that then you are responsible for property tax, lawn/ house maintenance.) Some might say residential real estate is not an investment. The return on housing is commensurate with the rate of inflation. Housing will continue to fall barring continued, extensive intrusion on the part of the government after the most recent housing bubble. You might realize a capital gain in the event of a bubble or if the surrounding area develops enough to increase the local economy and drive up real estate prices.

This talk about throwing money away by renting, you are doing roughly the same thing with buying when you have to pay interest, property taxes, maintenance, and fees (such as homeowner association fees). Renting means you do not have to pay those fees and that free cash flow could be put into true investments that give you a better return over inflation than residential real estate. Don’t get a low ass mortgage you will never be able to pay off. Buy something you can afford to pay off in 5-10 years, if that long…