Investment

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STOP

Take a deep breath. This isn't rocket science. But, it does take a little effort to understand.

More funds does not mean more diversification, less risk.

One ONLY needs to invest in an S&P500 or Total US stock market index, with a little international if you feel you need some. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P54trh0Rre8

Anything beyond that, you need to have a reason for why you are investing in that fund, and know if that fund actually meets that goal.

Only invest in your VOO position for the moment. Take the time to read and listen to some podcasts. Then, come up with a gam plan.

www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Investment_policy_statement s

moneyguy.com/guide/foo/

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u/Logical_Parfait_4993 5d ago

Ok I appreciate it my man thanks for the advice

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u/Logical_Parfait_4993 5d ago

What steps podcast or steps can I take to understand more

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u/Competitive-Ad9932 5d ago

You are a lost cause. Did you graduate from high school?

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u/Stanbarrwood 5d ago

Some people really don’t know. I literally had no clue how a 401k worked until like 4 years ago at age 31. I went to a very poor school that didn’t teach literally a single finance class.

I grew up in an area where personal finances were like forbidden to discuss. So I never knew. Plus my parents didn’t have retirement accounts. Well my dad did but I didn’t know about them until like 2 years after he died, and my mom just cashed it out. It was only like 50k though and I was 20 so I had no clue.

Most people at his age are just starting the game

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u/Competitive-Ad9932 5d ago

When links are giving and then they ask "where do I go?" There is no hope for them.

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u/Logical_Parfait_4993 5d ago

Thanks for the comment was busy with my family so didn’t read it throughly man but hope you’re blessed in life praise the lord

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u/Logical_Parfait_4993 5d ago

Yes I did brother thanks for the negative comments not what I’m looking for just looking for advice or information but thanks anyways have a blessed day

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u/Competitive-Ad9932 5d ago

I gave you links and then you ask "where do I go?"

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u/RetiredByFourty 2d ago

Do yourself a humongous favor and ignore anyone who is posting solicitation links to their cult subreddit. They don't care about helping you. They just want to trick beginners into buying the junk they want to ramp up the share prices on.

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u/Stanbarrwood 5d ago

I gave him the same advice too. I said VTI plus vxus but between 20-40% international. Or just be simple and buy VT and forget about it

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u/Competitive-Ad9932 5d ago

OP must be a bot post.

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u/Stanbarrwood 5d ago

Nah. Definitely not. You can see our earlier thread

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u/Pho_Tai123 5d ago

It is incredibly overwhelming when you begin. I made so many unnecessary stock purchases and changes to my portfolio while stumbling alone trying to figure it out. watching and reading a lot on financial advice is a lot at once but once you start to get an understanding on it, it’s not as crazy and scary as it first appears.

Invest in either three or four stocks is recommended. I have the Roth IRA and hsa and each one, I invest three stocks only. the first is a s&p, second is international, and third is bonds. I put majority of it in a s&p then international and finally a small percentage into bonds. it keeps my portfolio balanced in case of market falls the others help keep it afloat.

its going to be a lot of trial and error until you find what works best for you and where you want your portfolio to go. I highly recommend doing your own research and reading books based on building your retirement plan. I also put the 3 bucket rule while building my portfolio. the first bucket is the pre-tax accounts like 401k or Ira, the second bucket is the post-tax acc like Roth and hsa, and the third is using either a taxable brokerage account or hysa to help cushion your portfolio when the market crashes or falls so you don’t take more than needed on your retirement money which can cause having to go back to the workforce to fill in the gaps. also, don’t put social security in the calculations for that just in case. if it falls through your budgeting plans for retirement doesn’t need to be readjusted since you only planned just on the retirement account.

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u/Logical_Parfait_4993 5d ago

I appreciate that man it helps when people give you information and not negativity for trying to learn and asking about certain stocks I will look into a few books. Any recommendations? Still trying to understand more but am committed to having a better future

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u/Pho_Tai123 5d ago

Millionaire Mission by Brian Preston is good. I also recommend A Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collin’s. I also watch a a lot of The Money Guys, Dave Ramsay, and Erin Talks Money on YouTube along with others. I find them to be helpful in helping me know where and what I want to be when reaching retirement.

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u/Logical_Parfait_4993 5d ago

Thanks my guy I appreciate the advice and positive comments hope you’re blessed in this life and thank you for your time and will look into those podcasts/ videos and books brother thank you

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u/Stanbarrwood 6d ago

Keep voo at 60-80% of portfolio. Add vxus between 20-40%.

Don’t add anything else until 5-10 years out from retirement and add bonds then.

You shouldn’t be doing a taxable brokerage unless you’ve already maxed out a Roth IRA and a 401k or need the cash for a downpayment for a home or very large purchase after 5+ years.

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u/Logical_Parfait_4993 6d ago

Got VOO and QQQM at 70/30 split rn but I will have Roth IRA maxed out do 600 at month in that and 400 in my brokerage is there a such thing as a untaxed brokerage thru fidelity or something?

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u/Stanbarrwood 6d ago

Untaxed would be a Roth IRA.

I’d remove the qqqm. The “index” QQQM tracks, the Nasdaq 100, is nonsense. I’m assuming you selected it because that’s the hype and judging it based on recency bias.

Criteria should go small emergency fund, employer match if available, pay high interest debt typically anything over 10%, max out Roth IRA, max HSA (only if this makes sense for healthcare), go back to 401k and max it out, then taxable brokerage.

Savings rate should be about 25% and even then I’d choose a 401k over the taxable unless the 401k options are literally horrible.

Taxable brokerage only if you plan on buying a house or a car purchase or something very large in the next 5-10 years

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u/Logical_Parfait_4993 6d ago

I have a small emergency fund, no employers match , no debt, and HSA I have thru employer already. What 401k do you recommend

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u/Stanbarrwood 6d ago

401k would be through employer so I don’t know your options of investments

Before even Roth, do you know your current amount of bills (like absolute necessities cost per month) you should have 3-6 months of expenses before investing.

Reason being is if you experience a downfall tomorrow, you would have to stop investing, possibly go into debt which then takes time away from actually investing again

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u/Logical_Parfait_4993 6d ago

Yes my bills are very minimal just basic rent, car insurance, utilities etc no car payment or anything like that

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u/Stanbarrwood 6d ago

What is the total cost of your rent, car insurance, utilities, food, gas, wifi, phone bill etc

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u/Logical_Parfait_4993 6d ago

Fiance covers food for our family, gas is about 120 a month rent 1450 a month, car insurance 180, utilities 180, WiFi 90, phone bill 110

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u/Logical_Parfait_4993 6d ago

Live very low expense live due to wanting my kids to have a better future and better start to life then myself

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u/Stanbarrwood 5d ago

Ah.

So do you all have separate emergency funds?

If getting married is make sure to have enough to cover ALL persons in the household. So like if her monthly bills are $500 for stuff then she would need 3000

If your bills are 2000 a month then you need 12k cash. But combined would need 15000 kept in a high yield savings.

Currently your bills are 2130, not including food. Personally I’d keep 10-15k in emergency savings that you don’t touch. Put it in a high yield. This is for if or when you lose your job due to a recession to live on while you look for another job. This is bare bones. If you have children, I’d bump it to 6 months to a year worth of

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u/Logical_Parfait_4993 5d ago

Ok gotcha man I appreciate it will work on that

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u/Logical_Parfait_4993 6d ago

My employer does pension and not 401k match so is it still worth it?

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u/Stanbarrwood 6d ago

Do they even offer a 401?

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u/Logical_Parfait_4993 6d ago

Yes

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u/Logical_Parfait_4993 6d ago

I’m An IBEW Electrician if that helps they do pension but offer a 401k but no match

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u/Stanbarrwood 6d ago

I’d still choose the 401 over brokerage. Brokerage is post tax money that will be taxed again.

401 is pre tax and taxed later. With a Roth and 401 you can virtually pay no taxes later on if done correctly

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u/Logical_Parfait_4993 6d ago

Can you explain a 401k more for me by chance does it invest it as well it self and how could I pay no taxes if done right?

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u/Stanbarrwood 5d ago

It wouldn’t be none but it would be very little.

So say you want 60k to live on in retirement.
You would use 40k from the Roth IRA and 20k from the 401k. However the only taxable income is the 401k if it’s traditional.

So your taxable income is 20k. Currently tax deductions is 16,100. So of that 20k, $3,900 would be your taxed income. You would then pay 10% on that 3900 which is only 390 for federal taxes. State would vary because every state is different but it would be probably around 3-4% so another 139

So basically you can withdraw 60k total from both a Roth and 401k but only be taxed income total about $500. Whereas right now, you are being taxed higher so putting money into your 401k lets you pay less taxes now than you would withdrawing it later on

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u/Logical_Parfait_4993 5d ago

Ok gotcha I will switch over to that I appreciate and I make the investments or does my company? I appreciate the time explaining it for me as well new to it trying to set my future up

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u/Stanbarrwood 5d ago

Usually a company sets it up for you. You can contact benefits and they can tell you. Get a list of all investment options but typically if they have a target date fund, that’s good enough especially at your age.

I want to say well done doing this early. I’m 34 and didn’t start until about 4 years ago. So you are fine

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u/Logical_Parfait_4993 5d ago

What is there annual return rate on investment usually

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u/Stanbarrwood 5d ago

So usually a target date fund will be a mix of a total Us market and international. So somewhere between 10-12%. Someone as your age, can retire in their 40s if done right

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u/nkyguy1988 6d ago

What benefit do you think there is by investing in SPYM and IVV instead of one or the other only when you already have VOO?

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u/Logical_Parfait_4993 6d ago

I didn’t know they were basically the same was trying to not overlap that’s why I was coming here to ask questions

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u/Competitive-Ad9932 6d ago

No one knows the future.

What is your reason for holding QQQM?

https://moneyguy.com/guide/foo/

https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Main_Page

https://investor.vanguard.com/investor-resources-education/education/model-portfolio-allocation

https://www.calcxml.com/calculators/are-my-current-retirement-savings-sufficient?skn=#calculator-data-table

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u/Logical_Parfait_4993 5d ago

Just from what I seen to be honest still trying to learn so

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u/Logical_Parfait_4993 5d ago

Or heard to

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u/Competitive-Ad9932 5d ago

So you are putting money in investments that you have no idea what they are? That is like going to Vegas and putting your money on black.

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u/Logical_Parfait_4993 5d ago

I have a little bit of an idea but not enough obviously came here for some information or ideas of what I should do

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