QQQM

RedditLeagueAccount

How old are you? Once you have a certain amount of money, you basically just need it to be safe for 5-10 years and that amount will grow to be enough to retire off of even in a safe account. What is your risk tolerance? Do you think there is an AI bubble right now? **SCHD** \- this is the common defensive etf option. Sacrifice some growth but if AI crashes, this will do better than **VOO/QQQM**. Good to have a percentage in this ETF depending on your fear level/need for a safety net. 950K after 10 years I think has you getting paid around 52K a year without needing to sell. I wouldn't recommend dumping it all in there though. I personally am avoiding this until retirement then i'll probably consider putting a decent chunk of my roth into it. Take a look at **SPMO**. I use it instead of **VOO**. It seems to recover just as good as **VOO** and outperforms it. A small percentage in international ETF's would be a good idea. People default to **VXUS** but **AVNM** or **DFAX** are worth researching. US and international take turns outperforming each other. **QQQM** and **VOO** have a lot of overlap. Technically it doesn't hurt to have both. They are just doing similar things. Voo performs a bit worse I think but has a larger safety net. But for both funds, at this point they are heavily weighted in tech. Goes back to the risk conversation.

SMW_Pilot

You're more in tech than it looks. The top of SMH (Nvidia, TSMC, Broadcom) is also the top of the S&P, and crypto trades like tech. That's about half the taxable account on one bet. Fine if it's on purpose, just don't call it diversified. VXUS already has \~25% emerging markets, so VWO on top is double counting. Drop it or know why you have it. Roth changes make sense, keep QQQM small since you already own those names 3 times over.

ANON__02

\[23 years old living in the US making 90k a year\] I was wondering if this would be the best way to split up my investments, I just plan on DCA a leveraged portfolio towards tech/growth but still want to keep things diverse. I have maxed out my Roth IRA for this year so the Roth portion is currently scheduled to start next year in January. Taxable spread: $552 every paycheck (biweekly) Sp500 - 35% SMH - 21% VXUS - 20% VWO - 10% BTC - 7% ETH - 7% Roth ira: (Currently this is at QQQM 57% FSKAX 30% FTIHX 12% but I felt like rebalancing due to taxable also being tech heavy) FSKAX - 40% AVUV - 25% FTIHX - 20% QQQM - 15% Please feel free to share any opinions and ask any questions!

Chup1210

Why QQQM instead of QQQ? Is it just the cheaper fee, are there any other reasons?

daygo449

I would look at VXUS for international. Even if you kept VOO and QQQM, VXUS would be good to mix in if the U.S. market goes down. It should help with diversity. I know VOO and QQQM have a ton of overlap, so you will get a lot of questions on why both, but I also know that QQQM is a more aggressive risky version of VOO with adjustments coming only once a year, but I like to hold onto it as well

Im_Still_Here12

There is zero reason to do VGT and QQQM. The overlap is huge but the fees on QQQM are higher than VGT and its performance is also less than VGT.

CovTaude588

A 70/30 VOO/QQQM split is still a fairly large bet on the same mega-cap growth names, so I wouldn’t call it much more stable. For a 20-25 year horizon, I’d keep the core broad with VTI or VOO and only add QQQM if you knowingly want that extra concentration. Separate sub-accounts won’t change the combined risk or return, tbh.

mdn845

I would put so much in QQQM or riskier sector specific ETFs. I remember when the Nasdaq 100 index fell from 4705 in March 2000 to 805 in Oct 2002. It took until 2011 to recover the losses. Anyhow, large cap growth has seen good times lately. But if we have another 2000, you’ll be able to sleep if you own things like VOO and VTI. That’s the direction I’d personally go.

Nuclear_N

I split the 500 and QQQM for about the last 7 years with about 65% of my investments. I have a large holding of AAPL in a brokerage account that is tax trapped, and I have about 5% in LEAPS of QQQ, and SPY. Then a small smattering of SOXX and others. Sounds like you are heading to the same place.

brother7

I have a 4-pronged approach to investing: “own the market”, momentum, growth, tech. VOO is “own the market”; QQQM is growth (not pure like SCHG). You may want to consider momentum and tech. Here’s a good starting point: 30% VOO / 30% SPMO / 25% QQQM or SCHG / 15% VGT

GaylrdFocker

VT and QQQM >$250k I'll still put in some stock picks and cash for dip buying. Timing the market usually doesn't work out in your favor. What if it's never this cheap again?

RuchNZ

Also prefer SPMO over QQQM, as the momentum index has a proven record over decades and isn't stuck buying a particular industry. Personally VT+SPMO+IDMO for a more complete and diversified portfolio with an aggressive tilt.

Historical_Low4458

QQQM is pretty tech heavy (just like VGT). With the tech over lap from VOO, you don't really need both. FYI, don't base investing decisions based on only AI.

lotsoflag

Definitely should consider some international exposure(at least 20%, but I’m currently sitting at 30%). I also favor SPMO over QQQM as the inclusion criteria is more sound imo and allows rotation into whatever is hot

Jumpy-Imagination-81

You need international stocks. International stocks beat VTI and QQQM in 2025 and international stocks continue to beat US stocks in 2026. US vs international stock outperformance is cyclical. After an unusually long (16 year) cycle of US stock outperformance that cycle appears to be over. You should have 25-35% in international stocks continue. reddit will recommend VXUS but I prefer VYMI. forward. **Vanguard projects international stocks will beat the US for 10 years.** https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/vanguard-projects-international-stocks-will-beat-the-us-for-10-years-here-are-3-etfs-built-to-capture-that/ar-AA200o0l **Investors who stay "close to home" may miss growth opportunities** https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/wealth-management-insights/international-stocks **2026: International Stocks Seem Set to Shine** https://www.schwab.com/learn/story/2026-international-stocks-seem-set-to-shine **The Case for International Equities** https://www.dodgeandcox.com/individual-investor/us/en/insights/the-case-for-international-equities.html

RZDirInvest

SMH, QQQM, IYF, IWM or individual stocks in those sectors, always DCA. Just my 2 cents. Not recommendations.

greenpride32

AAPL used to be a high growth company, but then had 3 years of essentialy flat revenue. They're back on track for mid to high teens top line growth, but for my tastes they don't quite fit the profile of consistent growth anymore compared to other megacaps such as GOOGL MSFT AMZN NVDA where top line is literally running up each and every year with lots of pre-contracted recurring revenue. I have a smaller position in AAPL after liquidating some recently (when it ran to $330). I have enough exposure from VOO/QQQM that I'm okay holding less shares. I could see a scenario where they maintain a "popular consumer name" premium such as COST and WMT. But I pick my individual stocks for valuation based on financial performance that outclasses SP500 average and thus should have higher return.

BeConciseBitch

My process on a big win is to pause, move profits into VOO, QQQM, and VXUS. I personally need a break from the high of winning a bet to make clearer decisions. When I’m ready or targeting a trade again, I sell calls on some of those to get some trading money back. But never more than 20% of my total portfolio. That’s my “process” it’s allowed me to stay in this fucky ass game for over a decade.

Tooakwfh

Have a decent chunk in QQQM, VTSAX, and SMH and will be holding them all for the foreseeable future.

ap1618

Fair, I have always used XLK but will look into QQQM.

_galaga_

Not saying it's an advantage but QQQ/QQQM tracks the NASDAQ top 100 companies so they're more tech heavy than SPY. When big tech is winning QQQ/QQQM will do better. QQQM has a lower expense ratio than QQQ so that's why many prefer QQQM.

ap1618

Why QQQM

WhatMattersHere

You’re not a nutcase, and neither allocation looks likely to lose everything. They’re broadly diversified portfolios with several deliberate tilts, but they’re more complicated and overlapping than the number of funds makes them appear.FSKAX already owns the companies in QQQM and SMH, while VXUS already includes emerging markets. FISVX/AVUV add a small value tilt, and QQQM/SMH add a growth/technology tilt. That can be intentional, but those funds aren’t providing completely separate diversification or guaranteed additional return. I also wouldn’t describe the brokerage as extremely tech heavy overall. It’s roughly 74% U.S., 25% international and 1% currently unallocated. The concentrated funds are relatively small positions. The more important question is what that brokerage money may eventually be used for...Living with your parents increases how much you can invest today, but it doesn’t necessarily make all of the money long term. Before investing it, privately reserve whatever you may need for emergencies, moving out, transportation or another likely expense within roughly five years. A long horizon helps only when you can actually leave the money invested through a major decline. One tax detail: $625 monthly equals the $7,500 IRA limit for 2026, assuming you have at least that much earned compensation. Before adding regular contributions to the rollover IRA, check whether they will be deductible and whether you qualify for and prefer a Roth IRA. Keeping new contributions in a separate IRA can also preserve a cleaner distinction between old employer plan money and new contributions.Finally, I wouldn’t rebalance the taxable account frequently by selling. Use new contributions to adjust the weights when possible and do most necessary selling/rebalancing inside the IRA, where trades don’t create current capital gains taxes. The portfolio is workable. The real test is whether every tilt is something you understand and would continue holding after it underperforms the broad market for several years not merely whether you’re comfortable with volatility today.

GaylrdFocker

IRA. You don't need FISVX if you have FSKAX (already has Small cap value). Just keep the FSKAX/FZILX. But why only use 1 zero fee fund? FZROX/FZILX or FSKAX/FTIHX. The zero fee funds have less stocks than the actual Total US and Total Intl funds. Brokerage is also overly complex. 80-90% VT and 10-20% QQQM if you want to be very aggressive

daygo449

There’s a lot to ask or unwrap here, but to answer your question, I’d start by listening to the Rich Habits podcast. They are pretty darn good with their information, and they should be able to help get your foundation underway by listening to a handful of episodes. I also like “The Millionaire Next Door” as a foundational book. “The Simple Path to Wealth” will help you with stock market investing. “The Psychology of Money” will help you with behaviors with money. “The Total Money Makeover” by Dave Ramsey is building the essential blocks to getting out of debt and staying out of it. There’s no sense in investing if you haven’t paid off a 20% credit card first as almost no stock or fund will beat that longterm. And finally, “I Will Teach You to Be Rich” which will help you build a plan and automate everything for you. Those are some books that I’d look at along with a few podcasts. We have no idea of your financial health or your age, so giving investing advice is kind of hard given that, but I’ll assume you are on the younger side. If you read what most experts say or do, they almost always invest in an index fund like the S&P 500. It’s the gold standard, and you will likely do best to just follow this strategy as most people won’t beat that longterm, especially if you are a novice. Some good ones are VOO/SPMO, QQQM, and VXUX. There are others, but those are the ones I’d look at first. I’d avoid buying stock until you really have a good foundation under you or you really, really know the stock you are buying. I’d also avoid BitCoin or limit how much you are throwing at it until you get your financial house in order. As for the vehicles to invest with, you always want to go 401K, Roth IRA, and then a brokerage account in that order assuming you are in the U.S.. If you don’t have a match at your company, fully fund your Roth IRA before moving to anything else. If you have a match with your 401K, contribute to the match and then do the Roth IRA. If you are contributing to match, then maxing out your Roth IRA, then go back to your 401K until you’ve hit the max there. Then you can look at a brokerage account. I think if you hit $100K invested, then you can start to explore more investing options and vehicles like BitCoin, Gold, real estate, etc. The biggest thing is do your homework. Run numbers via AI, especially with what funds, stocks, etc. you want to buy. Be smart and do your homework.

Different_Height_157

QQQM would probably be easiest otherwise I’d wait to see what business still buying.

Downtown-Text6587

I would rather buy leaps on SPY, QQQ, or QQQM. I would also only buy leaps with less than ten percent of my portfolio. Alternatively, you could also buy index futures but you’ll pay more in taxes and for futures the point value is the same.

dpatel211

What's a good reason to keep bagholding VOO + QQQM right now? Any fellow regards?

LaconicB

Too good to be true? It’s all about picking the right tickers with this strategy. I’ll give you the stats for you to decide if it’s too good to be true with the choices you want to go with.  The best put strategy in the last year with VOO was the -.50 delta put with 60dte. The strategy return was +25.5% versus VOO return of +40.6%. VOO drawdown -18.5% versus put strategy at -2.5%.  The best put strategy for QQQM in the last year was -.35 delta with 30dte. The strategy had a return of +28.9% versus QQQM return of +53.3%. QQQM drawdown -22.6% versus put strategy at -15.2%.  If you pick a better ticker to go with, results can be much better. For an example, GME had a return of -10.2% but a put strategy of -.50 delta with 60dte had a return of +88.1%. GME drawdown -49% versus put strategy at -18%. 

Spiritual_Plum581

At 22, I think your biggest advantage is time, not your ability to perfectly time the market. If the money is truly long-term retirement money and you already have a sufficient emergency fund in the HYSA, I wouldn't spend too much energy trying to decide whether this month or six months from now is the perfect entry point. One thing I would think about, though, is the allocation itself. VTI already gives you substantial exposure to the large tech companies that dominate QQQM, so adding QQQM isn't really adding much diversification — it's intentionally increasing your concentration in those companies. That's not necessarily wrong, but it should be a conscious decision. At your age, consistently funding the Roth, keeping costs low, staying diversified, and continuing through both bull and bear markets will probably matter far more over the next 30–40 years than whether you lump sum or spread this particular contribution over a few months.

sparkle_and_twist

VOO , QQQM, SMH are 80% to 90% correlated. They are essentially the same thing.

2ManyCatsNever2Many

i see you're 31 from an earlier comment. honestly i'd just do QQQ (or QQQM - same but less fees). picking single stocks looks good but even winners often dilute. if you want to pick stocks, you could carve out maybe 20% or so but the best thing is to let compounding happen. try this: in excel, put your portfolio value in cell A1 and then in cell A2 put the formula =A1 * 1.11 (this uses the ETF's average annual return of 11%). fill this down for 29 rows and that's what the portfolio will be when you are 60 *without any additional contributions*. of course you'll want to make more, but as you can see this is a healthy return.  you have time on your side - use it. stock picking sounds great but it is tough to beat the market year after year and any massive returns come with incredible risks. 

Novel-Comparison-364

In my younger years i did some dividend chasing not accepting that i needed to focus on growth instead. A tale as old as time. Anyway my dividend positions never surpassed my index funds but i have had some money in them 8k and 7k in SPYD and SCHD respectively. I also have recently sold 4k of SCHD that I’ve been sitting on. Im 30 and looking for quicker/slightly aggressive growth so im not scared of something like TQQQ but i was thinking maybe a step back from that like QQQ or QQQM or some sort of allocation strategy for QQQ/QQQM, TQQQ, and VTI. My question is what would you do? Consolidate out of the dividend funds? If so, what would you go into?

daygo449

Listen to the Rich Habits Podcast. I think it would help you. One thing I was going to say is keep 3-6 months for your emergency fund in your High Yield Savings Account. I’d pay off any debt you have assuming it’s high interest debt or really anything over 5%. Take the rest of the money, and dump it into index fund ETF’s in a brokerage account. This way you can still access the money if need be. I’d look at VOO, VTi, QQQM, VXUS, or something like that. Continue to put money into your URA and max it out and continue the custodial account as well. You might want to look at a 529 Plan to help with tax burdens too. I’m not sure where you are with your retirement account, but if you’ve hit $100K at your age, you probably want to start diversifying as well. It might make sense to get a CPA to help you with tax advice, and maybe look at doing an hour or two discussion with a financial advisor to help you with structuring everything. You don’t need to invest with him, but just to get guidance around what to do and where to put things. I think it’s worth a couple of grand, probably less, to figure out where you stand. They can help you get on the right path to hopefully get your net worth up without risking anything or spending too much. I’ll end by saying there’s nothing wrong with leaving your money in a HYSA, but your money is at best gaining a 3-5% interest rate vs something like VOO which will land you 10%+. You are young enough that any investments you make, even if the market dips bad, it will probably never hurt you. You have time to recover. If there are dips, you keep buying because you know it’ll go up again, and you’d have bought while everything was cheap.

Pristine_Fix_3047

My Roth is primarily VOO, VT and QQQM. What do you think about VXUS and VOO

Foreign-Cold-4668

Hello All, Question regarding my approach to investing. I graduate college this december with my Electrical Engineering degree, and I already have a job lined up making just under 100k. In terms of the allocation of my investments, how does this sound: VOO 60% QQQM 15% VXUS 15% VYM 10%

FederalAd327

QQQM and coast until retirement

GaylrdFocker

I've beat the market over the same period by buying QQQM

scottyk318

I'm a fan of keeping things simple, along with your age what I would do is something easy like 65% VOO 25% QQQM 10% VXUS

sillyhatday

There are "mini" indexes which require 1/10 the capital. Look for XSP and QQQM.

dpatel211

Death to growth stocks and the TikToks of Gen Z kids saying to put your money in VOO + QQQM

capgainsandivs

Why do you use QQQ over QQQM or IQQ? Lower expense ratios with the latter two.

Mysterious_Editor312

QQQM in 2 weeks. Maybe.

Hooker_Thresh

QQQM

Cloud2987

I just invest in VOO, QQQM, QQQJ, and IBIT in my growth portfolio. I’m done picking stocks and checking on it daily.

Electronic-Advisor72

Gonna continue dca of QQQM, VRT, SMH and ROBO until the robots win.

uncle420john

Fidelity- auto invest in a large cap growth etf like SCHG and/or QQQM… thank me in 25 years.

s1234en

I think you can beat SP500 if you're invested in other broad market growth etfs with half of your capital, with other half at SP500. Etfs such as SPMO QQQM, FMTM. With individual stocks it's mostly luck.. proven algos should do the work.

RedditLeagueAccount

Good job starting at 19! The question is how much you want to be involved. As u/[LCJonSnow](https://www.reddit.com/user/LCJonSnow/) said, sector stuff tends to under perform. So that volatility might not even be as profitable. You will have to micro manage those sectors to sell high and buy low to generate outstanding returns. Generally, people recommend 3 fund or 4 fund portfolios. This maximizes results while taking out micromanaging. Those 5% funds you have - They are fine if you are up for checking on these stocks every day/week. Generally, energy and rare earths do not outperform the market. You might have some random spikes but then it will either stabilize or drop. Even if they outperform 1 year, the next 5 years, voo will beat it. So, it is 100% okay to get those funds. Just be aware they need to be monitored. I know Exxon mobile is a popular pick. It is a good choice from that sector. Just check graphs. It wont beat most other fund types most of the time. I did the same thing with my account where I had a few gambles. I have a separate account just for playing with certain stock types. I don't put a lot of money in it. It is just learning/playing around money. As mentioned earlier, It requires constant observation. It is hard to avoid grabbing those few extra stocks to see what will happen. Just don't make it a large portion of the portfolio. I think 5% combined at most. I believe that ETF's are almost exclusively better than mutual funds in most scenarios but fidelity does have those zero expense ratio funds. I do agree that there should be zero bonds at your age. These are good. * VOO * QQQM * FSTA * FZILX Consider SPMO. Newer fund, similar to VOO but less holdings and a slightly different methodology. Slightly higher volatility but it has been out performing. If you think the stock market is going to crash, VTI is better than both VOO and SPMO. It will drop less and recover decently. VOO only started outperforming VTI significantly in recent years. Can VTI for now and change it later. This would be for if you think AI is a bubble right now or if you think the current Oil war will impact everything. You might want a 5% for a mix of gold and bitcoin (bitcoin does have etf's so you don't have to worry about owning BTC itself). Bitcoin seems kinda scammy but its in a down cycle. We will see if it recovers or finally dies. Gold is for if inflation destroys the USA Dollar. Might not matter at your age. I ignore gold myself but I know its on a lot of peoples recommendations to have a small position in it.

TrapLordBoss

im got out of crypto last year. sold the last of my holdings in xrp, in at .25c out at $1.20. put it into TSM, NVDA, SPTM (SPDR), QQQM and XEQT.

ZookeepergamePlane68

With the extra $, start with 50% for savings, like a Money Market (Fidelity, SPAXX is at 3.31%) its like a HYSA but better, IMO. Then open a Roth IRA (its free and will be tax free after your 59.5 age) put 25% into VOO, 15% into QQQM, 5% QTUM ETF, and 5% into whatever stock your need to scratch that gambling itch. Once you get your savings to 3-6 months expenses, whatever your comfortable with, increase VOO, this should be your core. At your age I would do VOO at 50%, QQQM to 30%, QTUM ETF 10%, and the last 10% at whatever stock or ETF, I like NASA ETF. Also, use AI, Claude is your best friend when it comes to this stuff, remember you get out what you put in, better info you feed it the better it gives!

KaptainCankles

I was in your shoes, very recently, and I am 37 so I have a few more years on you. My wife and I contribute to VOO/QQQM mainly and a little into SMH/TSLA. We plan to do this for the next 25-30 years and we are confident we will be fine by the time we retire.

Vapes7a

DRAM is the only ETF I own right now. I also had SOXX earlier this year, but sold it all in June. I'm currently considering buying VUG, but having a bit of a hard time coming to a final decision. I'm torn between VUG, SCHG, VGT, QQQM, MGK, and FTEC. There are way too many choices for my liking lol

Outrageous_Sample901

This is bullish, QQQM from $301 to $385

SerMumble

You're too concerned with the number of shares and average cost of your holdings. What are your percentage weights of your holdings in your account? Inspect the weighting of the stocks in your portfolio and notice the multiple bets on the same stocks like Amazon and Microsoft for example. This should be concerning because it's not something you mentioned being aware of. The selected etfs are all reputable. SPYM and QNDX are cheaper than VOO and QQQM if you're adding new shares in the future. The cost savings is not huge so nothing wrong sticking with VOO and QQQM if you prefer the cleaner portfolio. The individual stock holdings are a bit performance chasing. If you are investing long term, these look like relatively shorter term holdings compared to your etf choices.

FracturedFlow

QQQM: SCHG: SPMO: VOO: VGT: SCHD: Lots of overlap

traderbusto

QQQM - 1000, rest 0

Affectionate-End9198

Between these 4 stocks/etf how would you divide up a $1,000 AMZN,HOOD,AMD, QQQM

No-Humor-5927

I do about 60% VOO 30% QQQM and 10% individual stocks which right now mine is in RDDT.

AlfB63

So the SPCX which is below IPO price and SCHD which has underperformed QQQM and QDTE doesn't?

citygeek

Right, that’s my point. Since inception of QDTE, total returns: QQQM: 67.2% QDTE: 58.99% Expense ratio: QQQM: .15 QDTE: .97 + tax drag Imagine the underperformance over a decade, factoring in the tax drag and expense ratio

Few-Praline9810

A legit answer is to join bogleheads and passive investors, and realize most people will never beat the market (I learned this lesson too a year or so ago). Rebalance your portfolio into some market ETFs and passively invest. My current portfolio is like VTI (or VOO) like 60% or 65%, VXUS for international exposure (like 30% or so). And a bit of AVUV for small cap exposure. If you'd rather bet on tech rn, QNDX for the cheapest nasdaq 100 (or QQQM or QQQ, but these have higher cost basis). Then don't touch the money for years. Don't try to chase yield, dividends, or high risk high reward. You can claim up to $3,000 on your taxes for the losses btw. Actively traded funds are pretty bad. Play with the numbers, watch historical stock market videos on risk (Ben Felix maybe). Uhhhhh. Check out bogleheads. They're really risk averse, but they still get pretty good returns. About half that of top 100 nasdaq companies. The reason you get a lower yield is because the top 100 nasdaq companies (QQQ, QQQM, QNDX) are heavily skewed tech and US. Which opens you up to consentration risk. And they're all large caps, which means smaller growth possibilities (and potential dot-com bubble corrections). You'll sleep better at night if you just passively let your investments play out instead of chasing gains. It'll take you a few years to see significant growth. And tbh you are at the point where I definitely could see your portfolio increasing to 100k easily if you just don't gamble and surpass that. At 100k, you are 1/3 the way to 1 million in time. At 300k, you are 1/2 to 1 million in time. iirc "No one wants to get rich slow" - warren buffet or something. Anyway, yeah, I can't guarantee anything. Not financial advice, but I do think it is a better plan than whatever you're doing.

crazyjonwayne

Go with QQQM if you plan to hold for a long period.

Senior-Preference678

This is entirely true. Tech has had a historic, legendary run. But if you are using past performance to justify holding both funds today, you are missing two massive structural traps: Market leadership rotates in massive multi-year waves. **2011 to 2026:** Tech dominated completely, making QQQ look like an unstoppable winner. **2000 to 2010:** QQQ suffered a brutal **"lost decade," finishing down roughly -50%**, while the un-overlapped parts of the S&P 500 (value, energy, financials) completely carried the market. If you hold both funds right now, you aren't diversified against a sector rotation. If tech drops, both of your "jackets" get soaked at the exact same time. Even if you are 100% correct that the Nasdaq-100 will continue to beat the S&P 500 for the next 15 years, **buying QQQ is still the wrong move for a long-term investor.** Invesco literally created a twin fund for this exact reason: **QQQ (0.20% fee):** High liquidity, tight spreads, built specifically for day traders and options. **QQQM (0.15% fee):** Holds the exact same companies but at a cheaper price, built for long-term buy-and-hold investors. If you want to intentionally overweight big tech because you believe it will keep winning, that is a valid strategy. But do it efficiently. Drop QQQ, buy **QQQM**, and stop paying a premium to duplicate the exact same mega-cap stocks you already own in your core S&P 500 fund.

Fit-Engineer8778

Eh it’s not much. Like $600 or so. Literally one stock and FSR. My position in exxonmobil is much higher and QQQM. I’m actually mostly trying to divest from the stocks that don’t pay out a reasonable dividend compared to their value (MSFT dividend yield was ~0.75%, exxonmobil is 3.5% or so last I checked)

Fit-Engineer8778

Been bag holding MSFT since like an ape I bought the top last time and it finally went green. Contemplating just selling it and put the funds into exxonmobil and QQQM/VOO. Idk yet. Need a regarded take to convince me otherwise.

__redruM

How do you invest in the hottest sector of the hottest stock market this century and still lose money? Grab an index fund ETF, even VGT, QQQM or SMH. AI has made my early retirement possible, and I didn’t even have to pick the right companies. Just bought the market and sectors.

default-username

1. NASDAQ 2. S&P 500 3. Dow Jones industrial average Those are the three most well known indices in the equities market. Look them up and learn about them. QQQ, ONEQ, QQQM, QQQE - these track the NASDAQ VOO, SPY, SPYM, SPYX - these track the s&p 500 And you shouldn't trade the djia, so I don't know any index funds that track that. All of these index funds are so that you don't have to pick winners and losers. You're just playing the market as a whole.

Hooker_Thresh

Def have both but I built my base of 100K into QQQM before I started investing into VOO

GroundbreakingSir386

Some people want to sleep good at night but I think if 70% of your portfolio is in VOO or QQQM you’ll still sleep plenty fine investing in individual plays.

greenpride32

>The higher multiple is the part I don't really get. Are investors just betting Apple figures out AI eventually? A lot of rotation has gone into "safety" plays, to the point SCHD 12m trailing was beating both SP500 and NAS100. Just in the past few days or so NAS100 has taken back the lead. KO had been trading at similar or higher multiples than AMZN GOOGL MSFT NVDA. I sold a portion of my AAPL when it ran up (maybe $335-ish so didn't quite hit the top), as I think it's overvalued relative to others, in same way I sold some SCHD for VOO and QQQM. A company shouldn't be rewarded for not making CAPEX spend, it does nothing material to the bottom line. Also, it makes sense for AMZN GOOGL MSFT to invest heavy into AI as they are hyperscalers - CPU dominated compute is now becoming CPU + GPU. But AAPL has no business here.

BigResponse7284

I’m mostly buying VOO for obvious reasons, with a good amount of money in QQQM (I feel tech will only go higher with ai even with a potential bubble). I did throw some money in spacex because I think it could go up but that isn’t as important.

Sufficient_Nose629

I'd probably take $300k and put it in QQQM(VOO/SPY)

Waste_Waltz_3426

I don't suggest investing in crypto, especially if you're new. Since you're fairly young (saw that you were 28 yo), I'd say VOO/QQQM is a good start. Could be 50/50 or 80/20 depending on your risk appetite.

ponyfarmer

This is an old post but .. Amazon is a longterm hold for me. I bought 100 shares in 2023 and then 60 more when it was still low. They have had huge expenses as a company so this and Microsoft were my two under 10% of my portfolio equity pics to watch while they build up their infrastructure. I have an appx 15-25 year window before I draw on this account. AMZ can swing and languish as much as it wants in this time frame and I expect all sorts of changes in the company during this timeframe, but in the past three years it has carried my portfolio and the value of the AMZ in the portfolio has more than doubled. It has outperformed every single ETF I have. I’m not selling it anytime soon though, so that doesn’t mean anything. You made a profit on your sale and that can be more than enough. I like longterm picks that I expect to grow bigger and faster in the longterm than even QQQ/QQQM and the S&P tracking those same companies. It has done that for me. I’ll sell when I sense the company doesn’t have a plan that can perform at that level.

General-Oil293

Uppies for QQQM

ProdigyCorp

At 22 with $15k in VOO and QQQM, you’re already way ahead. Anyone telling you index funds won't make you wealthy is confusing getting rich quick with building real wealth. ​Index funds already hold all the megacaps like Nvidia, so you get the upside without the single stock risk. Put like 90% broad index funds and play with the remaining 10%. If a stock crashes, you won't ruin your future. ​Your not being too conservative. Keep putting money into VOO and QQQM, focus on growing your income, and let compounding do the work.

ExcellentPhysics9143

I want more exposure to those companies without investing in them individually. I think the 20% exposure into VUG can do that for me while not being limited to the nasdaq requirements if I went 20% QQQM for example

Academic-Ad7090

VOO and QQQM are excellent picks for ETFs. You are very young and have lot of time to compound your savings. My advice would be to focus on increasing your earnings from your primary income source, save a certain percentage depending on the stage of your life into these ETFs every month, forever. If you want to slightly diverse exposure outside of large cap & technology, consider similar index funds covering other sectors. That should be good enough. Don't think about individual stocks or even worse, options trading. That's a lot of stress which takes away your focus from your life. Just excel at what you do, improve your income, save some and enjoy your life! P. S: For those suggesting individual stocks or searching for the next big hit, think about it, the index funds adjust their portfolio to include those best stocks and leaving out those underperforming ones for you, for a very small fee. Go through the list of stocks in a fund like VGT over the years, the set of stocks which form the fund keeps changing. Why spend a lot of time to read charts, pick stops, manage stop losses, tracking target etc for that extra few percentage gains when you can use that time to spend with your family or do stuff you love. Life is short! But if you say you love doing stock picking then do it by all means but it might not be suitable for everyone IMHO.

steady_compounder

Honestly the next step is probably just building the habit. VOO and QQQM are a fine start, but the bigger win is contributing regularly and not turning a retirement account into a constant stock-picking project. You can lose money in the short run, but the point of a Roth is giving the portfolio a long runway, not judging it month to month.

Content-Assistant849

It's slightly better 5 years out. Not sure it's worth the risk to hold over QQQM, but to each their own

Good_Ride_2508

These two (VOO & QQQM) are best ETFs. Just buy them periodically, weekly or monthly whatever timeframe you can, and see after many years. Yes, you can go divdiedn reinvest with VOO and QQQM. This is good start. Good Luck.

Happy_Stand6826

no, it's actually some content creators that are transparent about their portfolio that suggested to invest in safe etfs like VOO, QQQM, VXUS etc... was i lied to this whole time lol

Happy_Stand6826

VOO, QQQM, and VXUS. this is for my roth ira & hsa. my brokerage account has those 3 as well, and SCHD but i stopped investing in my brokerage for now so i can max out my roth & hsa.

island_dwarfism23

VOO and QQQM have a highly significant overlap, particularly among large-cap tech and growth companies. Due to this, holding both is significantly less diversified than people expect. However, the overlap is not necessarily a problem if the goal is to deliberately overweight growth-oriented companies. For investors who prefer a simple, broadly diversified portfolio, choosing either VOO or QQQM would be sufficient. VOO provides broader exposure across the S&P 500, while QQQM is more concentrated in large-cap growth and tech-focused companies experience greater volatility. Rather than trying to time the market based on recent performance, consider establishing an smaller starter position and dollar-cost averaging (DCA) into the ETF(s) that best matches your investment strategy, risk tolerance, and desired level of concentration.

ComparisonOther4318

You’re not being too conservative at all, you’re doing what most people *wish* they did at 22. I’m late 30s, \~80 to 90 percent in broad index funds, 10 to 20 percent in individual stocks for fun and potential upside. That “core and satellite” setup lets you scratch the stock picking itch without nuking your future. If you just keep shoveling money into VOO and QQQM for the next 10 to 20 years, you’re already on a very realistic path to “seriously wealthy” by normal human standards.

Various_Couple_764

I you buy individual stock you might get lucky have the next Aapple or Amazon. Or loose it all when the company goes bankrupt. So your invesmtn might eventually make you rich or you loose all of your money. And you don't know how long you have to hold for the investment to pay off Individual stocks can be massively profitable but the risk is much higher. With VOO and QQQM you are buy the a large basket of stock in the hope that some will perform very well and those good stock outweigh the bad ones. SO EFT focus on the average performance o the market . This reduces the growth that can occur, and dividend. But is also reduces the risk. history has show the market index fund are very good overalll performer with less risk and more reliable but smaller growth. Yes ther are people the buy 10K of stock and hold if for about 10 years and have more than a million. But that rarely happens. .

greenpride32

AAPL is a great company, but their biggest growth years are likey behind them (which you greatly benefited from) and not ahead. They are back on the path to growth, but very recently had a stretch of 3 years of flat revenue - not something you'd expect at their multiple. I think the wise thing to do is sell some AAPL and put it into the SP500 (using an ETF such has VOO). The SP500 index tracks 500 of the largest profitable companies, rotates winners in, and losers out and adds more weight to the biggest winners. If you bought an SP500 ETF, effectively, 6.5% of that is APPL as it commands the second largest weight in the index. So it's not as though you abandoned AAPL, you just diverisifed out of it. SP500 has a long term annual increase of 10.4% (CAGR) with dividends reinvested. That rate doubles your money roughly every 7 years. I personally sold a portion of my AAPL holdings in past week, as I do not believe their big runup is supported by financial performance. And I own sufficient amounts through both VOO (SP500 - \~6.5% weight) and QQQM (NASDAQ 100 index- \~8.55% weight). Also AAPL reports Q3 earnings after the market close today - so there is potentially a wild price swing coming in the near future.

Long_Illustrator_988

> I’m 22 and also run a business, so my thought is to use the business as the primary wealth generator and consistently move some of the profits into diversified investments rather than trying to get rich from stock picking. Exactly. QQQM and VOO already is a bet on US equities, particularly large-cap tech. "Stock picking" is probably not the easiest way to get rich, although it can work out, but if you have a successful business spending your time on stock picking is like divorcing your gorgeous wife so you can try and bag some famous model by crafting the perfect DM (as if that's going to work). What's nice about your business is you're not necessarily competing against the best and the brightest, whereas with stock picking you kind of are. Also, the guy telling you to stop thinking small is giving reasonable advice, but there are a million ways to skin a cat. Personally, I think his advice is a little too strong on something that is just one of many ways to get wealthy. I got wealthy, by the way, and I got there by being a cheap fk that built up my portfolio. I didn't sell any businesses or have any huge windfalls, I just put in the work year after year. My advice is to not listen to him and do whatever you want with your business. Your plan is perfect, you just need to execute.

bhope95

VOO and QQQM have serious overlap also there's no garuntee the US will continue to be the dominant player in 40 years. The US is already getting dominated by other markets. Yes individual stocks have more upside, but you'll suffer from volatility and some companies may go out of business. Your best bet like someone said is start a business or acquire skills that get you paid more. You can also look into factor investing as that carries compensated risk.

Wookiee27

If you actually want to be rich 15k in index funds will not cut it. VOO and QQQM are safe but not high growth. Recommend GOOGL, ASTS, RKLB and at these levels should hopefully outperform market in 5-10 years

UniqueAd1152

First build up your VOO and QQQM to around 100k. That is your foundation. Then depending on your risk start investing in individual stocks. Simple way is to save up and buy MAGS when they retrace to their 50,100, 200 moving averages. If your risk tolerance is more you can pick high beta stocks , but it has to be a small percent of your entire portfolio. But you have to he watching them, take profits, cut losses accordingly. Learn some technical analysis

Fitasianwife

Why don’t you buy VOO and QQQM forever and listen to no one, including me. I’ve lived through up’s and down’s, lost decades, 18% mortgages, and getting $20m, is doable in a lifetime-don’t get a divorce!

Gain_Spirited

I'm 61 and started investing in my early 20's. Every time I tried something risky I might have been happy for a while but I eventually got burned. I would have a much bigger portfolio right now if all I did was put it in index funds like VOO and QQQM. So my advice to you is to keep loading up on those index funds. They will give you the best return in the long run and you don't have to think about it.

therealjerseytom

> I keep hearing people say that if you want to become seriously wealthy, you need to pick individual stocks and that ETFs won’t get you there. Who's telling you that, and what do they know? With regard to risk, even if you're not looking for "the next NVIDIA", you can experience **complete and total loss of your investment.** It's no joke. Even big, established, household-name companies. They can still exist after a major economic calamity or financial struggle, like after bankruptcy restructuring, and you can be left *completely wiped out.* So that's one risk. You also have the very real risk of doing a shit job of picking companies, and you underperform the index - this is what happens with most people. > I’m mainly wondering whether I’m being too conservative by sticking with VOO/QQQM at my age. There is absolutely nothing conservative about this. Up until *very recently*, to be 100% equities would practically be wildly reckless at any age. There's a lot of recency bias for anyone under 35-40 who have been living in the easy money era of US stocks been a rocket ship.

Finance_EssentialsAR

22 with 15000 in VOO and QQQM, contributing regularly is not "too conservative"; you are already ahead of most people with that The whole "you need to invest in individual stocks to get rich" is a meme, because most people, even those who invested in individual stocks, made their money by buying the next NVIDIA before it went to 800$, but they also could've bought the stock that failed to deliver anything and just stagnated for a decade. VOO, QQQM, and other indexes already include all the companies that will deliver the most profit, including the future NVIDIA, but without risking nearly as much money into the failed experiments. About individual stocks: most people who have long-term investments in individual company stocks usually buy some as a part of their index funds, in much smaller proportions, because it's really hard to estimate how much you can lose if the company goes to 0$ (which will happen to most of those stocks) and how much you can make if the company does well enough. It's less of a question of "how much can I earn?" and more of "can I really risk this amount of money on this particular company?" Nothing wrong with staying 100% index funds either. "Get rich slowly and reliably" beats "swing for the fences and maybe get unlucky" for most people, especially this early when time in the market is doing most of the heavy lifting. If you want to see that play out with real numbers instead of just taking my  word for it, I built a compound interest calculator that lets you plug in your own contribution and timeline: finance-essentials.com/calculators/compound-interest. Watching what an extra 5 -10 years does to the ending number is honestly more convincing than any stock pick argument.

Muy_Division

With only VOO and QQQM, you’re very overweight tech and com services. It’s probably fine since you’re young, but personally I’d add some small and mid cap, as well as international equities. We’ve been in a long running bull market but there’s been some rotation happening lately, where small caps, large cap value, healthcare, financials etc have been outperforming large cap growth (VOO is considered a large blend but since it’s market cap weighted, it tilts towards growth, and QQQM is explicitly large growth ex-financials).

IputSwitchesOnGlocks

Save yourself and just buy VOO, VOOG,QQQ or QQQM. Don’t overthink it bro. Why buy anything other than the s&p

AetossThePaladin

VOO and QQQM is a classic combo, you will be fine long term. Market fluctuations are normal.

Cruian

>mostly in VOO and QQQM On including QQQ(M): Remember this has heavy overlap (over 80% by count last I checked) with the S&P 500 or US total market. **Look only at the inclusion criteria, not past returns** (as they’re a terrible way to judge future returns, at least in the way most people tend to believe). Do they make sense to you? Does it make sense to over weight these stocks based on the inclusion criteria of the index? They don’t to me, I view it as complete nonsense. What about international? >I keep hearing people say that if you want to become seriously wealthy, you need to pick individual stocks and that ETFs won’t get you there An uncompensated risk is one that doesn't bring higher expected long term returns. It should be avoided whenever possible. Compensated vs uncompensated risk: * https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/uncompensated-risk/ >An uncompensated risk is a risk that you can diversify against. * https://www.northerntrust.com/middle-east/insights-research/2024/wealth-management/compensated-portfolio-risk or if that doesn't work, the archive link: https://web.archive.org/web/20260107205255/https://www.northerntrust.com/middle-east/insights-research/2024/wealth-management/compensated-portfolio-risk >But not all risks are compensated with an expected return premium. * https://www.pwlcapital.com/is-investing-risky-yes-and-no/ (Bold mine) >Uncompensated risk is very different; it is the risk specific to an **individual company,** sector, or country. (Bonus extra on that last bullet: single country is an uncompensated risk) How many people try individual stocks and end up "failing," at least compared to broad coverage index funds? >I’m mainly wondering whether I’m being too conservative by sticking with VOO/QQQM at my age. 100% stocks is not conservative, but you are taking on some uncompensated risks and likely leaving out some compensated risks.