2021 Investment Thread

[Bubba_s]

You can open an HSA even if your employer doesn't offer it. Fidelity let's you invest the money. May be others now too.

-If the company offers it with matching 401K and max it out
-HSA if the company offers it and max it out
-Invest in the S&P500 or ESGV
-read the 'Index Card'
-Read 'Rich Dad Poor Dad'
-Listen to Freakonomics podcast
-Track your budget on Mint.com

Download this; it's a good overview of investing in general, targeted at younger savers. https://www.etf.com/docs/IfYouCan.pdf

https://www.bogleheads.org/ has some good advice, once you weed out the b.s. posts. Some are from or targeted towards new savers.

The classic 3 fund portfolio makes sense for many.

Move out.

edit: kdding aside, just a simple S&P 500 fund in a Roth.

Thanks to all of you. I'll go over all of this with him (and myself!).

As far as moving out, he is already thinking about that but I'm in no hurry to boot him.

 

[scootergmc]

You can open an HSA even if your employer doesn't offer it. Fidelity let's you invest the money. May be others now too.

Depends. There is eligibility criteria.

 

[Indio]

Agreed. There are a lot of kids out there who have only seen an upward market since 2009-10. They don't really have a visceral feel for a correction. They think it's just easy money, lol.

You recommended some index funds or was it mutual funds(?) sometime ago on this thread and now I can't seem to find that specific post. You mind naming those funds again.

I mostly invest in stocks and would like to branch out.

 

[Killroy1999]

You can open an HSA even if your employer doesn't offer it. Fidelity let's you invest the money. May be others now too.

Yes, you have a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) to contribute to a HSA. If you employer already offers a regular plan and pays for part of it or all of it, you may not want to decline that deal. Correct me if I am wrong. For me the difference between Kaiser gold and a HDHP is $2000 a year. That is some good savings for folks that dont need to go to the doctor often.

 

[Killroy1999]

Many of these young youtube FIRE folks have yet to experience a true investment market recession/pullback. When they do, bread lines and tattered clothes they'll be.

They will be fine if they stick to the plan:
-Frugal
-Super savers
-Sitting on a pile of money that should go far

They are much better off than the typical consumer :laughing

If the market is not returning what they planned for, they can always go back in the job market. They are still young. They may be making passive income with YouTube and they are probably tax writing off a lot of expenses -- Business savy.

 

[JesasaurusRex]

Depends. There is eligibility criteria.

Of course, but you can qualify regardless of if your employer offers an HSA or not. Which is my case. I'm on a high deductible plan through my employer and they don't offer and HSA. Even if they did you probably couldn't invest that money into any mutual funds so I'd still look for an alternative unless there's a company match

 

[JesasaurusRex]

Yes, you have a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) to contribute to a HSA. If you employer already offers a regular plan and pays for part of it or all of it, you may not want to decline that deal. Correct me if I am wrong. For me the difference between Kaiser gold and a HDHP is $2000 a year. That is some good savings for folks that dont need to go to the doctor often.

Ya everyone's situation is different. The problem with HDHP is the high deductible :laughing. In general your premiums are lower though. Throw of the dice 12 months at a time. My HDHP is still like $250 per week just in premiums so that blows. Been that way for years now.

If your employer pays for all or most of your family premium and it's not the HDHP that still may be a better deal I donno what those savings would be.

 

[afm199]

You recommended some index funds or was it mutual funds(?) sometime ago on this thread and now I can't seem to find that specific post. You mind naming those funds again.

I mostly invest in stocks and would like to branch out.

Can't remember, here are some of my faves:

The SCH funds below are all Schwab and really well run and have a very low management cost.

SCHD
SCHV
SCHG

VGT
RYT

VOO ( I wish I had just kept my original purchase on VOO.)
SPY

VIG

ADX ( this is an odd one, CEF, you get to buy stocks at a whopping discount, but it's not managed for growth but income.) It's also the oldest fund in the US. Investigate before buying.

Pimco CEF's PFN, PDI, PCI always investigate, these are pricey right now and I am not buying.

NHS is a nice high yield bond fund, it's getting pricey as well

BKN

 

[Indio]

Can't remember, here are some of my faves:

The SCH funds below are all Schwab and really well run and have a very low management cost.

SCHD
SCHV
SCHG

VGT
RYT

VOO ( I wish I had just kept my original purchase on VOO.)
SPY

VIG

ADX ( this is an odd one, CEF, you get to buy stocks at a whopping discount, but it's not managed for growth but income.) It's also the oldest fund in the US. Investigate before buying.

Pimco CEF's PFN, PDI, PCI always investigate, these are pricey right now and I am not buying.

NHS is a nice high yield bond fund, it's getting pricey as well

BKN

Thank you ! :thumbup

 

[mrzuzzo]

Can someone here advise about a 529 plan? Need to open one, is this the best choice for CA residents? https://www.scholarshare529.com/index.php

 

[Yakoo752]

Where ever, your bank/broker should be able to help

mines been sold a few times already, and my kid is only 3.

it clearly doesn't matter
:laughing

 

[Killroy1999]

Can someone here advise about a 529 plan? Need to open one, is this the best choice for CA residents? https://www.scholarshare529.com/index.php

I dont know why 529 college plans are special and why you can't just invest in VOO.

Though Fidelity, I have NH Portfolio 2036 (Fidelity Index) age based. NH is for New Hampshire, so I don't you have to invest in CA. Other states offer a tax benefit, but not CA. Fees can be highish compared to other indexes. Looks like that one has passive indexes with fees 0.08 to 0.14%

 

[afm199]

I dont know why 529 college plans are special and why you can't just invest in VOO.

Though Fidelity, I have NH Portfolio 2036 (Fidelity Index) age based. NH is for New Hampshire, so I don't you have to invest in CA. Fees can be highish compared to other indexes. Looks like that one has passive indexes with fees 0.08 to 0.14%

Equities, in the long run, have been quite a good way to invest. However, in the short run, they can lose considerable value, and the short run may be ten years. So if the need for the money is within that span, it may not be there.

 

[scootergmc]

Can someone here advise about a 529 plan? Need to open one, is this the best choice for CA residents? https://www.scholarshare529.com/index.php

As has been said, CA has no state tax advantage, so I went with Vanguard (NV). Their fund choices are limited but there is an aggressive large growth fund. I'm not a fan of age-based 529 unless you're a set it and forget it type and starting when your kids are super young. You can miss out on a lot of growth in the later years (and loss as well), so as usual, your risk tolerance is something weigh greatly as you're working with a known time horizon.

 

[kuksul08]

Can't remember, here are some of my faves:

The SCH funds below are all Schwab and really well run and have a very low management cost.

SCHD
SCHV
SCHG

VGT
RYT

VOO ( I wish I had just kept my original purchase on VOO.)
SPY

VIG

ADX ( this is an odd one, CEF, you get to buy stocks at a whopping discount, but it's not managed for growth but income.) It's also the oldest fund in the US. Investigate before buying.

Pimco CEF's PFN, PDI, PCI always investigate, these are pricey right now and I am not buying.

NHS is a nice high yield bond fund, it's getting pricey as well

BKN

I don't understand buying so many index funds. If you don't want to think, just buy VTI and you get some of the lowest costs and best diversification.

 

[afm199]

I don't understand buying so many index funds. If you don't want to think, just buy VTI and you get some of the lowest costs and best diversification.[/QUO


I have my own requirements for a portfolio, as do you. I'm not interested in buying for thirty years in the future because I won't be here thirty years from now, and almost certainly won't twenty years from now. Which means I'm not buying 100 percent equities, not even close. And I was asked for recommendations. Those are ETF's I recommend. Each has a focus. VTI has a focus, VOO has one, SPY has one, and they are not identical. If VTI fits your needs, it's what you should buy. I don't think your needs and mine are even close to identical.

 

[jiffy]

VTSAX or VTI is as simple as it gets. Total market index funds that arguably give you a large diversity to the market. To AFM199's point, it really depends on your personal situation. But there are many ideas and theories that index funds can make life simple and mitigate risk. Someone earlier posted Boggleheads, that's a great place to do research on simple investing.

 

[cfives]

Heard Bill Gates talking about a nuclear power company/idea that he is involved with, TerraPower. Doesn't look like it is public, but do like the idea of looking towards nuclear for a cleaner energy future, and/or discounted trip to the moon.

 

[Killroy1999]

\ I'm not a fan of age-based 529 unless you're a set it and forget it type and starting when your kids are super young. You can miss out on a lot of growth in the later years (and loss as well), so as usual, your risk tolerance is something weigh greatly as you're working with a known time horizon.

Why do you think an age based fund can miss out on growth? Bond allocation too large towards the target date?

My son is only 3, so the bond allocation is good to me. I actually noticed that my 529 was doing better than than IRA, so I looked at the bond allocation and noticed it was only 7% and mine was ~30% at the time. I fixed that.

"Aggressive growth" to Fidelity seems to just add more international which I have not grown to low yet.

 

[lizard]

I’ve been reading up on bitcoin. Interesting. I am thinking of investing.

The bitcoin thread is worth a read. There were a few Barfers that sold in ‘17. Damn! But hey, hindsight. 20/20...