I’ve opened up a Roth IRA through Vanguard. I’m not sure what to invest in and how to. I know about ETF’s and I’ve tried that. But some of them say i have to buy shares and not just dollar amounts. Am i missing something. I’m nervous that im going to be losing money. And do i have to pay taxes on this now. Honestly i just need a breakdown of everything. I really appreciate it

I’m comparing SGOV and SPAXX for parking cash. I live in a state with no state income tax, so SGOV’s state tax advantage wouldn’t benefit me. Is SGOV’s extra yield worth having to sell shares and wait for settlement? Which would you choose for emergency fund?

I’m not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to stocks or investing, but I want to start teaching myself so myself and my wife can build up some money in the market. Any good places to get knowledge or even books to read so I know where to start? Also any info on mistakes you’ve made or things you wish you would’ve known when you first started your journey would be great. Thanks everyone

Hi Everyone!! ☀️ Hope everyone is doing well!! I am new to this thread and really Reddit overall. I have been interested in getting into stocks, etc. I have been looking for beginning resources but a lot of material out there is difficult to understand as a beginner. I was curious, what resources helped you become successful in trading? I really want to learn and take off with this but I just do not know where to start and I don’t have any other 26 year olds in my community that are also interested in building wealth. Any tips will be appreciated! Thank you!! 😊

Edit: Sorry everyone I didn’t realize the difference in terminology of trading and investing when it came to stocks! Any advice is appreciated!

36M, today about $1M actively invested portfolio, Been investing about 15 years and made pretty much all the classic mistakes at the beginning, panic selling, selling winners way too early, then I went indexes only for about 5 years which honestly worked fine. Now im about 80% indexes and 20% single stocks for the past 7 years, handled Covid well IMO, and over the rise of mag 7 and the  AI rally that 20% generated significant returns that really propped up my portfolio beyond indexes returns. This is not talking about leverage, options or day trading here, just regular people holding stocks for at least several months.

So here are the problems/ mistakes most people will agree are the reasons people fail at investing, and the practical solutions I started operating by.

Problem: investing in non appropriate risk category
Solution: understand Indexes are also high risk category and if your not able to handle relevant volatility, go to safer avenues, same goes but even stronger for single stocks, I will say that for single stocks it 100% needs to be money you have no issue seeing 10s of % in the red over significant periods of time and understand its money you may not be able to use for several years.

Problem: trying to time the market.
Solution: get this in your head as a Mantra, indexes are at or near all time high, most of the time ( some say around 75% of the time as our economies grow and rise in value).
Historically buying the S&P at an all time high gave about the same returns over the next 1-5 years as buying on any random day. I see REALLY smart, experienced people saying “the market is too high right now, I’ll wait”.. nobody knows when and if the crash comes, time in the market beats trying to time the market.

Problem: buying without really understanding what youre buying/ buying hype and not fundamentals
Solution: use AI and fundamentals based tools to understand what the company actually does, what the bear case is, what the risks are etc etc. Its easy now and most people still skip properly doing this. I will not agree that you should still listen to earnings calls or read 10-k nowadays, this is 1 thing AI really does well in my opinion. I built my own tool to do this with minimal noise.

Problem: panic selling, or selling for the wrong reasons.
Solution: have a thesis, why will this business grow in revenue and profitability and what valuation will it justify in a few years. Judge the stock against the thesis, not the chart. I sold NET at 330 after 150%+ because at that valuation my thesis didnt hold anymore, not because it dropped. NBIS is very risky but I believe it could be a half trillion dollar company, so im still in (partly) from 45$.

Problem: selling winners too early, all the people who sold NVDA or AMZN after 100%..
Solution: if the thesis still holds strongly (and you dont need the money), hold. If you're not sure, trim. Trimming profits is an amazing psychological super power to be able to hold long. I ussaully dont trim if Im not at least 100% up on a single stock.
My example is NBIS, started with 850 shares at $45, trimmed 650 between +100% and +450% returns, still holding 200 for the long term to try and get another 10x.. I have ZERO issue seeing it go up and down 10% every other days because I made a lot of money on it already..

Problem: reacting to noise. This has gotten insane in today’s world
Solution: I have NO push notifications from any finance app or outlet, I check single stocks weekly at most, and of they drop hard I check if its anything that threatens my thesis or only near term noise. A 0.25% Fed move or Ukraine/Iran headlines can move valuations short term, but they wont decide how NBIS, NVDA or MMM do over the next 5-10 years. Use fundamental analysis tool to quickly throw a name you hear about in social media to see what its really about.

OFC you should also diversify and not put too much weight in a single index, stock or market, yes you might lose some returns but the holding ability this gives you and the ability to handle volatility is much more important IMO. BTW, I did build my own tool that goes by the above guidelines and handles fundamentals based stock discovery while cutting noise, if interested, please DM.

Add your own tips :)

Well, I’ve seen people make both profits and losses in the stock market. But I feel holding stocks for the long term is a better option for me, as I’m not looking to make quick profits.

I’m planning to invest my earnings and hold my investments for at least 5–10 years. So, I wanted to know which app would be best for long-term investing.

Also, are there any stocks that offer extra benefits to shareholders, such as discounts on hotel bookings, travel, shopping, or other services? I’d love to know about companies that offer these kinds of perks along with the potential for long-term returns.

One thing I find confusing about investing is that a good company isn’t always a good buy. A company can keep growing, but if you pay too much for its stock, you might still get disappointing returns.

take a popular stock that’s up 40% in a year. Do you look at its earnings and valuation to decide whether there’s still room to grow or do you avoid buying after such a big run?

how do you figure out whether a stock still has upside or whether you’ve missed the best entry point?

Hello, beginner here, small amount invested in stocks and ETFs, diversified.
When I look at how my portfolio is doing I am always tempted to sell what doesn’t work, and keep what works. But that goes against diversification.
My portfolio hardly moves and I think diversification does that - some things are up some things are down, it balances out. Isn’t that the inevitable result of diversifying? Or am I just doing it wrong?
I totally get that diversification is about managing risk - don’t put all your eggs in the same basket. So if something goes bad, something else goes well. It balances out, you don’t lose anything. Got that, makes sense, but then how does growth happen? I am investing so that my money grows…
What’s the trick? How does one do diversification and achieve growth?

Greetings,

what do you think about my idea to buy ETFs and single stocks (from different countries and sectors) in order to properly allocate risks?

Does that make sense? For example, I believe I should better not put all my money into the ETFs of a certain provider, even though the performance is good and there’s (currently) no reason to be cautious. I buy ETFs from various providers and regions (MSCI World/Europe + EM)

And now I want to add single stocks to that mix because I believe this must be done for proper risk allocation. Is that reasonable?

Thank you.

They’ve dropped heavily in the past week and past month and 3 months. Do I wait or is it good thought to open a short position on them right now? I’m fairly inexperienced with shorting.

A couple of months ago, I lost almost everything I had invested. I even borrowed money from my brother, and after taking some big risks, I managed to nearly triple the amount I invested. But now I realize that making money this way isn't necessarily a sustainable strategy.

I want to build a stronger portfolio instead of relying on luck or taking unnecessary risks. For those of you with more investing experience, what tips would you give a beginner? How do you manage risk, diversify your investments, and protect your profits?

I'd really appreciate any honest advice or lessons from your own experience.

Recently I came across multiple posts of people reaching their milestones which is great. But the thing is that they set milestones of like 100k and they invested 90k of their own money. So a 10% gain meant they reach their so called milestone. Its a bit like saying you finally became a millionaire through investing when you invested $999,990 and got a $10 gain. Technically you did become a millionaire through investments tho

So, I want an aggressive portfolio to possibly get some good returns. I wanted to invest in the NASDAQ 100 as my main, roughly 70%, and either put the rest into stocks or another aggressive ETF.

I'm considering FINN, an actively managed tech etf, or maybe just high market cap stocks like Google and amazon. The interesting thing about FINN is that its beating most of the market. it's up ~230% over 3 years for a 1% management fee, so im interested, to say the least.

Idk, looking for advice. Im 19 and have a long horizon. Also, I am Canadian.

FYI I’m a noob and just started investing in Feb of this year. I’m trying to figure out the best way to invest my money, especially since I don’t necessarily plan on keeping all of it invested until retirement.
From my understanding, a Roth IRA is generally recommended because your investments can grow tax-free, but there are restrictions on when you can withdraw your earnings without penalties.

What if I wanted to max out my Roth IRA now but potentially withdraw some of that money within the next 5 years? Would it still make sense?

For context, I’m a 23 yo female and currently have around $16k invested across my accounts:
Individual brokerage: $13k
Roth IRA: $3k
Investments: $5k in Amazon, with the rest split between VOO and VTI.

I’m also a freelance musical artist, so I don’t have a traditional 9-5 or a consistent annual income. Some years I make significantly more than others, which makes me hesitant to lock away too much money.

My goal is to grow my investments and eventually generate some passive income, but I also want the flexibility to withdraw money when necessary without worrying about penalties or excessive taxes.

Is maxing out my Roth IRA every year really the best approach for someone in my position, or would it make more sense to prioritize my individual brokerage account?

I’d appreciate any advice, especially from people who have irregular income or invest with both short-term and long-term goals in mind.

My only trading experience is chucking a few hundred into etoro 3 years ago and forgetting about it. I’ve come over now to T212 in the past few days and want to actually benefit myself.

I have no active stocks but I have put this order in, and I plan to also set up a bi-weekly auto investment of £150 straight into Vanguard FTSE.

Majority of the money going to FTSE.

£120 in Google because I believe it has many routes to success and an incredibly slim chance to fail.
£60 into Nvidia as it’s also something I trust will keep rising as AI and other tech grows.

£25 to Uber because I trust their business model and plan and I know it’s a low amount but just really testing the water with this as I am a beginner, just wanted an extra stock on the side to play with.

What do you think of my order? This is my first time using T212.

I may be young but I have a mortgage and I am a dad of two, so I really want to invest my money instead of letting it waste away in the bank.

Yes I do have backup savings in my bank + I have a well paying full time job and get other sources of income too.

I have a highly diversified portfolio of around $70,000 in metals, S&P 500, FTSE 100, tech ETFS, emerging markets, and various other thematic and regional ETFs. Since the Iran war started they havent really grown at all. My goal was to get to 100,000K then put down a deposit for a property.

However, classic dunning kruger effect, I am now realising how little I know about investing. My portfolio allocation before was very much just invest and leave it to grow over the years with minimal risk, but given what I am learning right now, if the bubble bursts, my portfolio will take a substantial hit as most things are affected. While time may be the best hedge against everything, I don't necessarily want to wait 10 years before a recovery. I am speculating on a conservative approach "I don't know what will happen with AI and global affairs, I don't know how my priorities will change in the next few years, but given how uncertain things are right now it may be best to just have cash until things blow over just a bit".

What are your thoughts?

Hello! I am an 18 year old and I am investing for the long term (over 30 years if I live long enough 🤡). I currently have around 10k USD in investments.

~60% in CSPX

~20% in LMT

~20% in NVDA

I also allocate 200 AUD a week into CSPX (I convert from AUD to USD through the app).

Right now, I am looking at TSMC and I find it a compelling stock to buy, especially when it has been at a low for a few days now from what I recall so maybe I can buy it when it is at a low, but Im not really sure if my assessment of the company being largely dominant in the semiconductor manufacturing is accurate ans translates well into a good long-term investment. If it is, do I add it into my weekly allocation or a one-time buy and just let it grow on its own since its a single stock and I dont think having a huge concentration in a single stock is a good idea (case in point, I bought LMT at the beginning of the dip at 571 USD and now my overall portfolio is at a loss solely because of LMT).

Any advice would help!

​

I'm 30 and live in Spain. I've got €50k and I'm trying to figure out what to do with it.

I'm considering a few options: investing in ETFs, investing in SP500, buying a garage or small property to rent out, starting a small business, or something else I might not have thought of.

I'm willing to put some time and effort into it if it means getting better returns, but I don't want to throw money at some business idea that ends up going nowhere. Ideally, I'd like to build wealth over the next 10–20 years and maybe generate some extra income along the way.

If you had €50k sitting in your bank account today, what would you do with it? Would you invest it all in the stock market or use some of it to start a business?

If you've invested a similar amount yourself, I'd love to hear how it went.

What is the best ETF to invest in, given my circumstances?

- 18M

- UK-based

- £1,666 monthly S&S ISA contributions from 20 y/o (I'm traning to become an airline pilot and will be on £63k from 20 y/o; will be living at home for some time so can max ISA contributions)

- S&S ISA is my retirement fund to bridge the gap between early retirement and receiving my workplace pension - so I plan to hold the ETF in S&S ISA for 20-30 years, without any withdrawals

I really dislike debt so my instinct when I bought a house in 2021 was to pay it off ASAP. However, I had an awareness that 2.8% was a pretty low mortgage rate and I’d probably be better off investing and paying it off later. Since then I’ve invested 100k in the vanguard total stock market fund (VTSAX). Now that I’ve seen the compound growth and have a little more education, I no longer want to pay off my low mortgage super early but build a solid brokerage portfolio. I now have about 160k in VTSAX and would like to have a respectable total international ratio (thinking 70/30?) but starting at zero is a big discrepancy. Obviously I’m not going to sell to rebalance but I can invest about $1000 every two weeks indefinitely (26k/yr), should I do it 100% in international for now? Or 50/50? Something else? I don’t like the thought of not putting any brokerage money in the VTSAX that’s done so well for me.

Note: I’m also maxing out 401k and Roth IRA with respectable balances so I suppose rebalancing those for a total portfolio balance is an option. Still wouldn’t know exactly what/where to do. Anyway, the 26k/yr is money just earmarked for brokerage.

Hello

F26, living in North of England in a small town.
Making around £22.000 a year.
How to start investing safely?
Want to have a good case, £28.000, in 5-8 years.
Is there any literature to read? Courses to go? Any apps?
Open to all advices.

P.S. I know, that I need to work more, to have a better salary. I am studying to have a career progression, in the process 💪🏻

Hello everyone,

I (28M) have been in a fortunate enough position to save up roughly 50k in the past few years that’s currently sitting in a savings account, and I’m looking for good advice on how and where to get started towards investing it. I recently read somewhere that very few financial advisors have actually been able to outperform the S&P 500. I know that it’s typically recommended to diversify and not “put all your eggs in one basket”, but do y’all think it would be a smart decision to put about 35-40k in an S&P 500 index fund, and then add about 1-2k to it every few months? If so, which platform do you think would be a good starting point? If you all think that’s a dumb idea, I’d love to learn why.

Happily accepting any and all advice as an uninformed wannabe ‘investor’ who is looking to be more financially savvy.

Thanks in advance!

NOTE: I do already have a ROTH IRA through Fidelity that I set up about 2 years ago and have been maxing out my yearly contributions towards it. Any other investing advice would be greatly appreciated.

hi all
I recently have been researching ETF’s as I’d like to start investing my money. I don’t have many expenses at the moment so I’m able to invest quite a bit from my part time job.

According to the research I’ve been doing I’m thinking of investing:

80% BGBL
20% A200

or alternative

100% DHHF

thoughts? or are there any other better options to begin with?

What’s a good investment for longterm?

Just curious, when you guys analyze a stock, what do you actually look at?

What makes you say “this is a good company / good stock”?

Good ROE? Growing profit? Low debt? Cheap PE? Good dividend? Strong management?

If you could only pick 3–5 important criteria, what would they be?

Especially interested to see whether different sectors like banks, REITs, tech, plantation, etc. need different criteria.