Investing megathread extravaganza

[DaFace]

A place to talk about investing stuff.

[TwistedChief]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

1) moderate
2) Not sure yet
3) No
4) 35 years

Keep it simple: invest in low cost index funds. Something like 80pct equities/20pct bonds. Slowly decay that ratio such that in 25yrs you're 50/50 and then look to be 20/80 at retirement.

Don't spend time reading this megathread looking for great alpha investing opportunities.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by TwistedChief

Keep it simple: invest in low cost index funds. Something like 80pct equities/20pct bonds. Slowly decay that ratio such that in 25yrs you're 50/50 and then look to be 20/80 at retirement.

Don't spend time reading this megathread looking for great alpha investing opportunities.

Hey, don't diss me. I was an investing genius for the last six years. Up until the past three months, anyway, and for some reason I'm an idiot now.

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

We're ALL idiots right now.

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by TwistedChief

Keep it simple: invest in low cost index funds. Something like 80pct equities/20pct bonds. Slowly decay that ratio such that in 25yrs you're 50/50 and then look to be 20/80 at retirement.

Don't spend time reading this megathread looking for great alpha investing opportunities.

Target date index fun if they have one would be my suggestion too.

However, my work 401k didn’t get any index funds until 2 years ago.

His bigger decision will be how much he can/should put in a year if he’s really got no other investments and is mid to late 30’s. He’s gonna have to makeup some ground there and should think about maxing if able but that student loan debt is basically a second mortgage payment.

[DaKCMan AP]

Originally Posted by lewdog

Target date index fun if they have one would be my suggestion too.

However, my work 401k didn’t get any index funds until 2 years ago.

His bigger decision will be how much he can/should put in a year if he’s really got no other investments and is mid to late 30’s. He’s gonna have to makeup some ground there and should think about maxing if able but that student loan debt is basically a second mortgage payment.

Target funds typically charge higher fees/expense ratio and are more conservative than necessary. A 2055 or 2060 target fund likely still has near 30% bonds and fixed income which is too high.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by DaKCMan AP

Target funds typically charge higher fees/expense ratio and are more conservative than necessary. A 2055 or 2060 target fund likely still has near 30% bonds and fixed income which is too high.

This is just all false (at least in the case of mine). I'm in SWYMX (target 2050), and it's an 0.08% expense ratio and is currently at 90% stocks.

[DaKCMan AP]

Originally Posted by DaFace

This is just all false (at least in the case of mine). I'm in SWYMX (target 2050), and it's an 0.08% expense ratio and is currently at 90% stocks.

That's how it should be, but not how the target funds in my company's 401k offering are structured.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by TwistedChief

Keep it simple: invest in low cost index funds. Something like 80pct equities/20pct bonds. Slowly decay that ratio such that in 25yrs you're 50/50 and then look to be 20/80 at retirement.

Don't spend time reading this megathread looking for great alpha investing opportunities.

I'm not trying to turn into a day trader at all.

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by DaKCMan AP

Target funds typically charge higher fees/expense ratio and are more conservative than necessary. A 2055 or 2060 target fund likely still has near 30% bonds and fixed income which is too high.

Originally Posted by DaFace

This is just all false (at least in the case of mine). I'm in SWYMX (target 2050), and it's an 0.08% expense ratio and is currently at 90% stocks.

My experience is more like DaFace as well. Vanguard Target Date Fund of 2050 is 90/10 and expense ratio of .15%. This is offered through my company as a choice and my wife's when she was working. Vanguards track higher percentages of equities across the timeline in target date funds, which IMO is good.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Hog's Gone Fishin

Do you have any targets for reinvestment other than General Mills. Apple is being recommended by Motley to buy now as it's down 30% in this correction.

I've got a little Apple, and it's still up from when I bought it (maybe three or four years ago). I've always been a bit skeptical that they can maintain their golden aura.

I've been increasing positions in little drips as the market falls. My latest is PEB, which has a bunch of independent hotels. It pays a nice dividend and I'm not sure how things like tariffs would really hurt it.

[Great Expectations]

Put $18,500 in every year with an equitable split between large cap/medium cap/small cap. In 8 years move into mostly the large/med cap. Taper off reguarly from there.

[TwistedChief]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

I'm not trying to turn into a day trader at all.

Yes, this is it. Don't focus on all of this nonsense. I've worked in this world for 16yrs and there's no one you should give a dime to thinking they have the ability to do better than average. A lot of mediocrity will try to convince you otherwise and a lot of FOMO will try to do the same.

It's good you're thinking about this when the market is struggling and not when everyone is patting themselves on the back during a bull market for their brilliant ability to trade stocks. (People will hate me for saying this but it's the reality.)

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by TwistedChief

Yes, this is it. Don't focus on all of this nonsense. I've worked in this world for 16yrs and there's no one you should give a dime to thinking they have the ability to do better than average. A lot of mediocrity will try to convince you otherwise and a lot of FOMO will try to do the same.

It's good you're thinking about this when the market is struggling and not when everyone is patting themselves on the back during a bull market for their brilliant ability to trade stocks. (People will hate me for saying this but it's the reality.)

Meh. We boring investors are here too. It's just boring, so there's not near as much to talk about.

"OMG, THE STOCK MARKET IS CRASHING!!!" "Oh. Well, I guess I'll just...keep doing what I've been doing for years I suppose."

[EPodolak]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Question:

I just got a job offer. Salary will start ~120 with a significant increase after about three years. Company offers an IRA that they match 50% of up to 5 percent of my salary (2.5% ). I'll have about 180k of student loan debt.

What resources do you recommend I look at, and how would you diversify?

Big proponent of indexing here. Sometimes ignoring all the noise out there and temptation to get richer faster takes discipline, a book like this one breaks down the approach and can help you stay the course.

https://smile.amazon.com/Bogleheads-...e+to+investing

This BB is also great support for personal investing that centers around index investing: [https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=1]

[TwistedChief]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Meh. We boring investors are here too. It's just boring, so there's not near as much to talk about.

"OMG, THE STOCK MARKET IS CRASHING!!!" "Oh. Well, I guess I'll just...keep doing what I've been doing for years I suppose."

Yeah, but man, there's a lot of mediocrity who are paid a lot of money and spend every single moment of every day trying to find opportunities in the market and cannot consistently do so. Are most prepared to invest their time and do the same? Probably not. And so, just being average is super acceptable.

I'm a portfolio manager at a hedge fund. I get it. There are 4 people in my world I know outside of myself that I would ever entrust money to, and I know thousands.