Updated: May 12, 2023 at 12:09 p.m. ET

Pros tells us how they’d personally invest.

Ever wonder what you would do with an extra $1,000 if you could do what you wanted with? What about what financial advisers would do with it? “Fun money should be used for just that — invest in something that motivates you to track something you value or believe in,” says Brent Weiss, certified financial planner, co-founder and head of financial wellness at Facet. We asked six financial advisers this question: If you personally came into a fresh $1,000, how would you invest it. Here’s what they told us. (Looking for a new financial adviser? This tool can match you to an adviser who meets your needs.)

Generative AI, says Reese Harper, certified financial planner and CEO of financial planning tech firm Elements

“I would definitely be looking at generative AI,” Harper says. That includes “any company that is making serious investments in vertical software, that targets a specific industry, large language models to help scale efficiencies across a very common task or function.”

Defensive sector stocks, says Nicholas Bunio, certified financial planner, Retirement Wealth Advisors

“I’d invest it in a defensive sector stock, like Lockheed Martin,” Bunio says, referring to the Bethesda, Maryland-based aeronautics, arms, defense and technology corporation. “With the war in Ukraine, our weapon stocks are running low and a large amount of re-orders are needed. Plus companies like this are more stable than a high-flying stock — and business should continue to increase with war and China tensions.”

Bitcoin and the ARK Innovation ETF, says Brent Weiss, certified financial planner, co-founder and head of financial wellness at Facet

“I’d split it 50/50 between Bitcoin and the ARK Innovation ETF,” Weiss says, adding that he still likes the cryptocurrency “because I believe in the revolutionary possibilities in the underlying technology and the prospect for a distributed and decentralized world,” adding that “it will either take off or quite literally come full circle and fall to a price that may only allow me to buy one pizza.”

When it comes to the ARK fund, an actively-managed exchange traded fund managed by asset management phenom Cathie Wood, Weiss says he personally likes “the focus on companies developing innovative technologies that can transform the way we live.”

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Double down on long-term goals, say multiple advisers. 

For his part, Caleb Pepperday, certified financial planner at JFS Wealth Advisors would also focus on the long term.  “In the grand scheme of things, investing an extra $1,000 isn’t going to impact many individuals’ financial plans greatly,” Pepperday says, adding that “going all-in on a specific company with your fun money can quickly turn into gambling rather than investing.”

Instead, he says he would “look for the long-term benefit of investing in a vehicle that could provide tax benefits while also appreciating in value.” Pepperday adds that he might “contribute that money to a Roth IRA so that it grows tax-free over my lifetime,” adding that “if that $1,000 grows to $10,000 and I’m in the 22% fed tax bracket” and ultimately “gained an extra $1,980 by not needing to pay Fed taxes on the money earned. 

As far as actually investing the excess funds, Pepperday says he “would look for a low cost, broad based index fund and ensure that it has international exposure. Over the last five to 10 years, we haven’t seen international investments perform as well, but so far this year we have seen things reverse and international equities have provided value.”

Anthony Colancecco, certified financial planner at Ballentine Capital Advisors, says with that $1,000, he would also likely focus on his long-term goals. Because “certain factors have been shown throughout history to perform better during long periods of time,” — for example, “stocks outperform bonds, value stocks outperform growth, and small cap companies tend to outperform large cap companies,” — Colancecco says “this style of investing is not betting the farm on one single stock or asset class, but takes the passive indexing approach and adds layers of financial science to seek higher expected returns throughout the portfolio.”

U.S. growth stocks and developed and emerging markets, says Chris Lyman, certified financial planner, Allied Financial Advisors.

Like Pepperday and Colancesso, Lyman says if it were his own personal money, he would likely “only invest for the long term,” adding that “if it is money I think I might need in the next five to seven years, I am not going to invest it because I want to give the investment the best chance possible at achieving a gain.” That said, Lyman adds he is “personally looking at U.S. growth stocks and developed/emerging international markets outside of Asia.”

Since large cap tech stocks posted significant declines last year, Lyman says he thinks “companies in that sector are in an excellent position moving forward,” adding that “technology will continue to innovate, and those companies bring in so much cash that they do not need to rely on the financial markets all that much to raise capital meaning they should be more insulated against the high interest rate environment we now have.” (Looking for a new financial adviser? This tool can match you to an adviser who meets your needs.)