Posted: 4/23/2026 2:19:49 PM EDT
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With investments, and where would you put your money? I probably know more about building ARs than investing. But the 870 hours I've spent on YT shows me everyone says the samething, nothing makes sense. yield curve, oil prices, stock market, gold, etc. |
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I agree on s&p. I spent a lot of years chasing potential big wins. but I realized I am not willing to risk big to win big. I have had 10 bucks go to 14000. But that bet would not be something I would have risked more than 100 bucks on. If you averaged out all the wins and losses I found I was making like 14 percent. S&p made me like 35 percent last year when I switched to the end of the year. This year has been up and down, but I am up today on IVV at 11 percent. But I also have over 10 years left to go before I can retire. it might be too volatile for someone retiring in the next year or two. I mean it did lose 50 points or about 7 percent I think end of march. not make or break but could freak someone out. |
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Originally Posted By GSPatton: Index funds are designed for people who are not professionals. SP500 has been doing pretty well. I was pleasantly surprised, I was near my all time high last night despite some withdrawals after all this folderol in the world news. |
The only hyphenated names I like are cartridge names......30-06, 30-40, 38-55 etc.
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Originally Posted By SteelonSteel: I was pleasantly surprised, I was near my all time high last night despite some withdrawals after all this folderol in the world news. Ya the IMF saying we'll be lucky to just get a global recession and not stagflation has got me wondering if I should buy more gold. I have a vanguard ETF someone here told me to setup like 10 years ago, I would just throw more in it, but things just seem off and like something bad is gonna happen in 6 months. |
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Originally Posted By CPT_CAVEMAN: 25, maybe even 30 years. How much? Who knows what the dollar will be worth then. Buy low fee index funds and forget about it until you want to learn more. The longest timespan where the sp500 had zero average return was almost 18 years during the great depression. The second longest period was under 10 years of the dot com crunch. All major brokerages have low (or zero) fee funds covering the total market, sp500, and nasdaq indexes. No magic, just wait for the line go up. Nobody has ever lost on a 30 year timeline unless they behaved irrationally or foolishly. Turn off the news, they rely on traffic for revenue and nobody gets traffic if they tell you everything will be OK for those with a brain.  |
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Originally Posted By CPT_CAVEMAN: Ya the IMF saying we'll be lucky to just get a global recession and not stagflation has got me wondering if I should buy more gold. I have a vanguard ETF someone here told me to setup like 10 years ago, I would just throw more in it, but things just seem off and like something bad is gonna happen in 6 months. Don’t base your investing decisions on feelings |
"It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things."
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Moderate-Length Barrel Evangelist
Joined:
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4853
EE: 100% (11)
USA
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What everyone else said. You don’t need youtube gurus or to know any fancy tricks. Don’t worry about the news, or whatever fears are pushed on you via social media. Ignore whatever fund or stock of the month is being pushed in videos or whatever. You’re a prime candidate for the Boglehead investing style. Which is to buy a low expense ratio index fund(less than one percent, .4% and below are common), that is broad-market. So nothing that is focused on a single industry, sector, or theme. These include: VT (most diversified) VTI (all US) FXAIX, VOO (S&P500) FXAIX is Fidelity only, VOO is available anywhere. QQQM (Nasdaq 100) Don’t agonize too much over choosing one. Buy with however much you wish to invest, and do so regularly without looking at the share price or chart. Same amount everytime if possible, adjusting for income only. Every paycheck, just like if you were putting it in a savings account. Speaking of savings account, you should keep an emergency/getting laid off fund separately. If your bank doesn’t have a high yield savings account with a ~3% yield, buy SGOV for your emergency fund in your brokerage, or SPAXX if you use Fidelity. If you use Robinhood, they have a “cash sweep” you can use like a high yield savings account. Whatever amount isn’t invested automatically earns interest. Don’t leave large amounts in a low-yielding account…it’s losing to inflation. Start now, ask more questions later. Take advantage of the tax benefits of doing this inside of an IRA account, which is available in most or all brokerages. |
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Originally Posted By 1168RGR: What everyone else said. You don’t need youtube gurus or to know any fancy tricks. Don’t worry about the news, or whatever fears are pushed on you via social media. Ignore whatever fund or stock of the month is being pushed in videos or whatever. You’re a prime candidate for the Boglehead investing style. Which is to buy a low expense ratio index fund(less than one percent, .4% and below are common), that is broad-market. So nothing that is focused on a single industry, sector, or theme. These include: VT (most diversified) VTI (all US) FXAIX, VOO (S&P500) FXAIX is Fidelity only, VOO is available anywhere. QQQM (Nasdaq 100) Don’t agonize too much over choosing one. Buy with however much you wish to invest, and do so regularly without looking at the share price or chart. Same amount everytime if possible, adjusting for income only. Every paycheck, just like if you were putting it in a savings account. Speaking of savings account, you should keep an emergency/getting laid off fund separately. If your bank doesn’t have a high yield savings account with a ~3% yield, buy SGOV for your emergency fund in your brokerage, or SPAXX if you use Fidelity. If you use Robinhood, they have a “cash sweep” you can use like a high yield savings account. Whatever amount isn’t invested automatically earns interest. Don’t leave large amounts in a low-yielding account…it’s losing to inflation. Start now, ask more questions later. Take advantage of the tax benefits of doing this inside of an IRA account, which is available in most or all brokerages. VIG is the only thing I got right now. I just put most of the money I'm looking to invest in a Vanguard money market account until I figure out what to do. With the new fed chair coming in I think I'll wait a sec and see. Thanks for the help guys. If anyone else has suggestions I'm listening. It's funny you mention "gurus", it kinda feels like the shoeshine boy quote while browsing YT. Jordan Petersons daughter is on there giving investment advice. If it wasn't for her dad no one would probably know who she was. |
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Originally Posted By GSPatton: Index funds are designed for people who are not professionals. SP500 has been doing pretty well. Yep, I have a fair amount in VOO. |
If you think I am sexy now just wait until you find out I have full medical and dental.
Personal pronouns are; Bro/Dude
Personal pronouns are; Bro/Dude
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Originally Posted By CPT_CAVEMAN: With the new fed chair coming in I think I'll wait a sec and see. Thanks for the help guys. If anyone else has suggestions I'm listening. If you missed the best 10 days over the previous 30 years your total return would be 50% less than if you just left your money alone in the sp500. See here. Time is the only thing you can’t buy more of. 30 years is a guaranteed win, put your money in and get on with life. |
Moderate-Length Barrel Evangelist
Joined:
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Posts:
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EE: 100% (11)
USA
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Originally Posted By CPT_CAVEMAN: VIG is the only thing I got right now. Market cap weighted: check Passively tracks an index: check Low expense ratio: check I’m not generally a fan of dividend funds, but this one does not chase yields, and historical performance isn’t bad. If you just keep buying this every paycheck, that would be very reasonable. I’d say the same for putting in the rest of your investment funding. I’m still happy to discuss other ETFs if you like. |
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You can make big bucks in the market if you put it into a SP500 index fund and don’t touch it in 10 to 20 years. You can lose big bucks if you constantly trade in and out, looking for the next Apple or Nvidia, thinking that you can out smart everyone else in the market. Dollar cost averaging investing is your friend. |
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I think retiring with millions is easy. The less you know and the less you pay attention to it. The better off you probably are. I'd really tune out EVERYTHING you see in the news and media about the stock market. I'd also tune out 'social media influencers.' Its all irrelevant. If possible max out any employer match 401K you can. Create a side brokerage with a ROTH RIA and max it out every year for tax free growth. If you want to invest past that, just do a regular brokerage next to your ROTH. I'd say invest 10% of your income minimum on auto pilot. Meaning every time you get paid or 1X per month it auto buys for you. Try to increase by 2% per year until you are investing 20% of your income. There are a lot of different portfolio's you can do with just ETFs. Honestly if you don't want to over-think things just buy Vanguards VT etf. Which is a total world stock market. If you think America will fall go that route. If you think America will continue to be a global leader just by Voo/ the S&P500. Any time you think America may fall just understand every other country is just as fucked as we are (or sometimes worse). Warren Buffet is probably the worlds greatest investor has stated numerous times just investing 90% into the S&P 500 and 10% into short term US treasuries is the best strategy for investing. Stay debt free. Spend less then you earn. Auto invest a % of your income when you get paid. And turn off your brain. |
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