VOO

shindiggaa

put it all in VOO and leave it there

UnObtainium17

Im not as good as you are but my portfolio would probably be half of what it is now have I just went VOO and chill. Learning to pick stocks in my own time increased my earning potential as if I have a second job. If i don't get too greedy it should make me be able to afford to retire few years earlier.

CallMePyro

$VOO. I just believe in it it, I think it'll do well.

Puzzleheaded-You-368

I am 25 years old and have several brokerages. A couple retirement accounts and a couple more near term focused accounts. Near Term Accounts: My Schwab account where I have about $16k in is my more speculative account where I do my own research and make investments in mostly individual companies rather than ETFs. I buy/sell more often in here. My Robinhood account I started to be able to automate my investing and gain exposure to more dividends. Have about $2.5k. Most of SCHD and cash to use for my automated investments. My other positions are VOO, NVDA, VRT, DIA, and JPM. I don’t touch these, basically just let the automation do its thing to stay in the market and let the ebbs and flows level out. Do you all have any recommendations for how I should change this up or optimize my investments? I am trying to avoid jumping all over the place with my strategy as I know that is where you can get burnt in the market but am open to suggestions, whether it be new stocks to look into, tax strategies, alternative investments, etc.

taplar

There's alot of overlap with VOO, QQQM, and SPMO. Why hold all three? 

Pretend-Ad-9504

In my area, right now, you could not buy a turnkey property (assuming 60% LTV) and be able to charge enough for rent to not be operating at an annual loss, especially if you’re in a higher tax bracket already and not doing RE full time, which is presumably the case for most people investing in real estate. You’re not going to get into it if you don’t already have a stable income. EXAMPLE (from my area): • Property price: $325,000 • 60% LTV = $195,000 financed, $130,000 DP • 6.5% / 20 years = $1,454/month (~$17,448/yr) —————— In my area market, you could reasonably expect to collect $2400/month — max — more than likely it’d be $2200, but let’s assume a best case for this example. And let’s actually take all reasonable expenses into account. Annual rent collected: $28,800 Vacancy (5%): -$1,440 Property management (9%): -$2,592 Property tax (est. 1.2%): -$3,900 Insurance: -$1,500 Maintenance reserve (remember roof?): -$2,400 Effective net income: $16,968 Mortgage payment: -$17,448 Net cash flow: -$480/yr ————————— Now, let’s say you can depreciate $260,000. Maybe there’s a big tax advantage?? Net annual rental income: $16,968 Mortgage interest (yr 1 est.): -$12,480 Depreciation: -$9,455 Taxable rental income/loss: -$4,967 (paper loss) ————————- Because most passive RE investors are in a higher income bracket, it’s considered passive income —- so passive losses can’t offset ordinary income. So, losses like this won’t materialize really until the property sells. —————————- Now, this same $130,000 invested in something like VTI or VOO would generate $9000/annual on average. And it’s 100% liquid, well diversified, not tied to one local economy, and involves zero local assholes. You can also invest more into a fund without worrying about who will be available to fix its toilets. VTI also isn’t at risk of a squirrel eating a hole in the siding so rain water pours in over 12 months and ruins two-stories of sheathing. —————————- For me personally, someone in a higher income bracket, RE seems like such a massive headache. In the end, with all the “advantages”, even if RE is barely ahead of VTI, what a pain to get to almost the same result. I would much rather spend time on other endeavors, than fighting with materials and people.

BikeNo5922

I’m 21 years old and I have about 3500 to put into an etf portfolio that will sit for many years. I am thinking of splitting it up as followed: 50% VOO 30% QQQM 10% SPMO 10% AVUV Of course I will keep investing over time, but I feel like this would be a good base to start. Please let me know how this looks. Thanks

Weird_Track_2164

You shouldn't be throwing your money into stocks let alone one single stock because you quite frankly do not have enough money to absorb the impact of a market downturn if you suddenly need that cash. Pay off debt -> Build an emergency fund for 3-6 months of expenses which is ideally a high yield savings account-> Start putting money in a 401k/retirement fund -> then and only then start putting money in stocks ideally an index fund like VOO.

StoryAndAHalf

Honestly, I'd either keep it in VOO, or take it out, because if 10k is all you have, that's not investment money, that's an emergency fund. Like, I get the feel like you want to let it grow, but the last thing you want is needing money right after your stocks fall 30% and you're selling at a loss.

wm313

Stocks go up and down. You may buy at the right time or the absolute worst time. The goal is to invest in solid companies or ETFs that withstand market drips and return profits after a drop. I bought VOO around $424 and it started moving down toward $330 or so. I stayed with it. Today, it’s almost $700. If I sold or had a stop-loss, I would have to buy back or put it somewhere else, then hope the same pattern doesn’t happen. Invest in good companies or ETFs that mirror the market. At least for your style of investing. Not everyone has a stomach for high volatility. That’s where specific ETFs lower your risk based on the investment style. It may drop 10% but it has always shown it returns higher than before. Find the right investments and you don’t have to worry about the drop. You look toward future returns. Selling a good investment solely because of an immediate drop is how you slow down in your race to retirement.

Alianspy007

VOO and VOOG are solid. I've done well with them. The SpaceX IPO coming up could be big depending on who you talk to or wether your red or blue Keep it simple and ride out the waves. I keep my portfolio mainly ETF's Be as risky as you can afford for now Unpopular opinion but these days I wouldn't be going to college. I've done well without it

GoinValyrianOnDatAss

Any Mag7 stock. Ignore everyone else $50k is too much to put into high risk and too little to put into VOO and chill.

jvaritek33c

I sold my VOO and got RSP instead, it's S&P equal weight. I get my tech exposure from Google. Even if all the AI stuff burns to the ground, Google will have a profit engine running with search

nanobot_1000

At current levels and volatility, I just daytrade MU and DRAM. Got in too late on memory after being all-in on NVDA the past decade. Am otherwise in VOO and chill mode but wary about that too.

Bright-Entry916

Top confirmed. If you are going to invest in long term, just buy VOO.

OpeningSolution3185

Personally I am in VOO mode lately.

jacob6875

Waiting is silly. I felt this 2-3 months ago when markets were at record highs before the Iran war. Now VOO is up like 6% from when I invested.

Ohlele

VOO

DoinIt4DaShorteez

At 35, I would say $70k in SGOV + 6 months of expenses is probably just about right amount of cash, probably a little more than you need. I mean you have to think of what your worst case sceanrio is and have the liquidity for that. You say stable, but $100,000 - $150,000 is a huge range, lol. I'm not familiar with "intelligent portfolio" or "go," i'm just gonna assume they buy individual equities. If you came to me and said you wanted to maintain your cash-equivalent positions as is and put all your retirement account money into VT and/or VOO or split it between them in some fashion, I wouldn't have a bad word to say about it. If you think your don't need 18 months (or how ever much $70k + 6 months adds up to) of expenses, then shave that cash position down a little and put it in VOO/VT or even take a couple small positions that you decide on yourself, to keep things interesting. Not meme shit, real shit.

Valuable-Analyst-464

I was basically 95% equities my whole investing career. I read up on bonds and made the mistake of diversifying with them at too young an age. I am not sure what’s in your brokerage and what’s in the HYSA…maybe locking too much away. Before reallocating in the taxable account, maybe reset your retirement accounts. I would say VT or 75/25 (VOO or VTI)/VXUS.

BlueShift42

Maybe trading isn’t for you. VOO and chill

Crazy_Donkies

Can I introduce you to VOO?

cnvas_home

You can use a backrest portfolio tool to compare the long term gains (as far back as you can get, depends on IPO date etc.). Unless you own capital or play with it like a dog in a race (futures) you probably weren't going to outperform otherwise investing at a dollar cost average like the nice middle class thralls we all are (excluding the proletarian Wendy's workers here). All in on VOO is a bit boomer pilled depending on your age, but it's probably best to not go beyond several funds of various asset classes in a portfolio. All of what I am saying is irrelevant if you have productive capital or a corporate veil otherwise, but even the upper middle class can lose everything to the casino.

tmangat

Direct Indexing fees are currently 0.19% on Public.com. Still only worth it over VOO if your income and investments are high enough for the tax loss harvesting to make a difference for you, or you're really bearish on a handful of stocks in the index.

Aggravating_Storm835

Good picks. Probably too spread out. I’d ignore Google, Amazon, VOO, and SCHD. Focus contributions on Microsoft, Meta, and Mastercard while you can.

BionicSteeze

Get out of index funds because of one company? Like for example would you sell all your VOO and VT ?

nincompoop221

I think the feeling of needing to constantly \*do something\* to maintain your portfolio is a trap. I've got a 6-fund portfolio mixing VOO with some tasteful factor tilts, US and international. The fund managers do the work for me, my strategy is settled.

Loose_Hornet4126

VOO is down today. You greedy purmabulls deserve to get cleaned out 🧹

venu_18

If I truly didn’t care about losing the $1k, I’d probably split it between: * some insanely volatile AI/small-cap tech play, * a tiny amount of leveraged ETF degeneracy, * and one completely irrational meme bet just for entertainment value. Because realistically, if the goal is “either rich or zero,” boring answers like VOO aren’t scratching the itch 😭 That said, the funniest part of WSB is people pretending they want high risk until they’re down 38% in two days and suddenly become long-term investors.

stonksf

Rate my 1M portfolio 60% VOO 20% QQQM 20% VGT

titanlu

Fair point. I was blue pilled into VOO and chill for a while

Wutangclang11

Rented our home for 2 months…they ended up being a fraud and got two dogs without asking. Cars parked in the backyard. Late payments. I sold the house a month later and took the equity. Put majority of that money in VOO, gained $70k since March 2025…versus the maybe $12k I could’ve gotten last year. It would’ve been nice additional income but if I were to do a rental again, it’d be a townhome/condo that’s “lower” maintenance. But doubt I will. Money market is as low maintenance as it gets.

Grand-Teach8810

So you tried to beat the market, and realized you can't. So why not just try to be the market (VOO) buy and hold it. You will see some increases.

Lumpy-Can-4883

I’m not sure how you tank 100k to 0 but nicely done hahaha you’re 25 you have time on your hand. Expensive lesson learned. Don’t mess with options, and stick with value long stocks or ETFs. I learned a similar lesson when I played penny stocks too often. Changed to the VOO and chill mentality (with some sector specific stocks thrown in) and I have more than I ever have. Patience is a virtue for a reason brother!

Vlisa

AI DCA’s into VTI/VOO. Beats 95% of its users previous gains.

Infurium

Ofc the dweebs on Reddit hate being told that VOO isn't the best thing since sliced bread. They down vote you every thing if you say anything different.

James161324

So PE has been in a large portion of the retirement accounts for decades. Pretty much every private, state and federal pension program has an allocation to PE. Heck, even if you own VOO, you have exposure to PE, APO, KKR, and BX, are part of the index.

Vlisa

Watch it just DCA into VOO/VTI.

DatBoiii4

CoC return? Did you put $10k down and rake in $30k rent annually? I was bringing in $24k rent on a $189k duplex. Which was a great deal, but after total expenses was more like $14k. Even then I eventually reached a position financially where that was pretty paltry and the juice was not worth the squeeze. The property also had other issues (foundation issues that were “probably fine for a while”, a 50’x6’ retaining wall that was starting to lean) so I took my profits and let it go. Rather spend my time doing other shit and just VOO and relax.

PMmeuroneweirdtrick

Same thoughts here but they're small positions for me so not bad. MU RKLB AMD VRT have saved the day for me and I'm up on VOO by bout 10%

Illustrious-Option-9

Doesn't have to be VOO. Can be VTI.

Virtual_Secretary_98

I'm all in VOO

Putrid_Leg_1474

I know. I doubled my money and thought i was so smart. Pretty sure I was drunk. Now thinking about selling those makes me want to drink. Lesson learned, buy companies you believe in and never sell. Maybe sell at retirement for VOO or to buy a house.

FatFluffyFish

Remember: ber or bol, bubble or not, the important part is making money. If you somehow did not make money during an insane semi con bullrun…. maybe VOO and chill is for you

Accomplished-Yam-100

Hmmmm like $100 potential monthly profit assuming the fridge or ac unit didn’t blow up and u need to replace it…or VOO and just chill. I like my time on this earth so I choose the sp500 or whatever else

Rangastang

VOO

Beginning-Fig-9089

my buddy said hes up 11% YTD, and VOO is up 9% my acct is up 65%

Affectionate-Drop689

which space stocks to buy? and which ones for memory? locking in MU tmr after i sell VOO and GOOGLE

inflamed_urethra

Why are you still here? Close the position, put 90 percent recent in VOO and enjoy retirement.

JustinDestruction

You can live in real estate, which transforms “rent” from an expense to a capital investment. Depending on your location, real estate will likely make you more return than VOO or SPY, particularly in light of the “expense” and tax benefits. “Investment” real estate doesn’t sound like your area of interest. From experience, if you don’t want to or can’t fix things when you don’t know how or pull disgusting hair out of sinks and toilets or any number of annoying tenant requests, you will not prosper by constantly hiring tradesmen.

CassianKevin

Should I invest in VOO tomorrow at ATH? Is it gonna keep going up?

catlady1215

Just a put a majority into VOO and play around with the rest of the money.

BleakyBluster

I feel like an idiot having been trading for years and essentially having no returns because I pick and choose stocks instead of just buying VOO and chilling….

Upset-Kaleidoscope45

VOO called me once at 2AM with a catastrophic sewer backup. Totally gross, that brown stuff all over the wall wasn't SBUX.

citiclosethrowaway

You won! Sell and VOO and never work another day in your life.

Neat_Database6685

New rule - if my VOO is doing better, reallocating - BYE AMZN and MSFT

Impossible-Use5636

Wasn’t impressed with VUG relative to VOO Not worth the added volatility

InvestigatorPlus3229

To Eliminate spacex from your sp 500 index holdings after inclusion scam is put on retail investors: Per $100,000 invested in VOO: You need to short $2,494 of SpaceX

TotalInstruction

Did you educate yourself about options trading in the process, or did you just yolo your life savings? My trading plan: keep a majority of my portfolio in VOO, USO, GLD and TLT. Earns dividends, grows over time. Not going to lose 60% of its value in any given day barring the apocalypse. I’m agnostic to the fundamentals on most of the options I trade. I don’t care about P/E ratio or FDA approvals for the most part because the vast majority of my options plays are high-probability, <7DTE credit spreads or condors (depending on the trend of the market/stock). I pick a short strike that is 80-85 delta and a long strike 5-10 lower. No one position risks more than 2% of my account. If the value of the spread doubles or the underlying crosses the short strike, I cut my losses and close. I close winners at 75-80% max profit. On the occasions where I want to make a directions play, I buy an 85 delta plus itm call or put with a few months to expirations. I set an alarm for if the underlying crosses a support or resistance level and stop my losses. I try to keep net beta-weighted delta close to zero. With credit spreads, I don’t need to be correct on direction, I just need to not be very wrong. I can make money in bull or bear markets.

Infurium

This is exactly why I don't invest in ETFs like VOO. I don't need dogs in my accounts.

alexunderwater1

I don’t have to take a call to fix a broken pipe at 3am for my VOO shares. That and it’s by far a better return in the long run if you can stomach, or better yet, add to your position during the downturns

RetroEvolute

Ideally both. However, with current interest rates, assuming you don't already own a rentable 2+ unit property, it's probably better to just throw the money in an index fund. I was lucky enough to get a 2 unit house with a ~3.5% interest loan (and paid 20% down so no PMI) in 2020. One of the units more or less pays the mortgage, and there are of course some random expenses, lawn mowing service for part of the year, etc, but it still brings in profit every month. Less than my VOO typically does, but it's not a 1:1 comparison. 1. Once I own the property fully (loan paid off), I'll have both units worth of income with the same minimal expenses. 2. Rent continues to increase with time, which is a great hedge against inflation. The loan value/rate also doesn't change, so inflation ultimately only makes the payments less imposing. 3. By retirement, I can just upkeep the rental and make enough to live comfortably in my, also paid off by then, house. This makes my other retirement savings more of a safety-net, overflow for spending. Now, of course there are random expenses and difficult tenants, etc. But I live close to my other property, and I vet the tenants myself. So far, I've only had very respectful tenants. I'm patient and I show them a lot of respect so I tend to get it back. The bulk of my hands-on maintenance is stopping by every few months to change HVAC filters. Every now and then I swing by to get a look while I'm running errands, but months can go by without an actual visit. It's really quite easy most of the time.

Grand-Teach8810

This is when you need to know the fundamentals of a company, and know if its outside forces causing market volatility, or the company fundamentals have changed. If you can't identify the difference, then you probably shouldn't own that stock. When a stock dips, that is a time to buy it when its on sale. This may take yrs, to know, and look at business you see and use in everyday life, do some research on them, and watch the stock for a good entry point. Buying the market, VOO and similar ETF's all but guarantee you a profit as long as you hold long enough.

InspectorDabbit_

If she's "investing" by buying shares of VOO/SPY, she's probably beating 90% of the people here

Ienjoymodels

You know that all you have to do is buy VOO right?

thesupahobo

I see a lot of problems with your perspective, and this same perspective is probably going to continue to make you lose money. For one, I don't know what stocks you are buying. If you are buying random stocks/penny stocks, you are gambling. If you want individual stocks, buy big companies and just hold. Also, an immediate 1% dip doesn't matter, especially in the long term. If you hold you probably would've made money. You put these sell limits on stuff you just bought and you are trading a stock. Most people fail when they trade short term. You want to know how to not feel anxious when a stock dips? Seriously buy and just wait. When you see dips, you don't sell like a moron. You wait for the recovery or buy more. That is how you get used to it and reframing how you see red days. I am going to use myself as an example, I bought 510 shares of AMD nov 2024. It dipped below $100. As you can imagine, I was probably down like $30k at some point on AMD. Now it is almost $500 a share. Im literally up $175k+ by holding for a long time. Another one. I bought RKLB only $2000 worth on april at $84.30/share. It dropped to like $77/share. Who cares. I hold and it is $143/share right now. Granted, I probably got a bit lucky on this. What i am saying is stop fucking selling when you see red. It is a moronic move. Stop buying shit stocks. If you can't deal with red or large fluctuations, stop being an active investor. Have an automatic system put in money weekly into an ETF like $VOO or $SPY and just forget it. Come back to actually making money.

The_Baron___

If you stop gambling and just invest in VOO for the rest of your life and remember this feeling it will be $40,000 well spent

Beneficial-Idea790

I've swapped to 60% in VOO gradually over the last year as I took profit from gains from my trades because I just couldn't deal with the stress of seeing the losses to the point where it was really affecting my daily life. Now I mostly do LEAPS (this makes me stress so much less) and really limited amount on short term options. So I guess, yes, I've learned my lesson?

Mzungufarmer

I see the same crying points about real estate ad nauseum on here. Most of those are solved by a property manager. I was military so my real estate story is a bit different since I had access to the VA loan. But I used that leverage with my low salary to retire in my 30s thanks to real estate. Wouldn't have been able to do that investing in VOO.

Mouse0022

and its unlikely an index like VOO and VTI won't bounce back up. By the time you get the signal to get back in the market, you already missed the bounce. Just put the money in, DCA, and wait it out. Another way to look at it, if you see a big drop and you're seeing losses in VOO/VTI, then that just means it's a time to buy more. Buy and hold. Do not sell.

holdencasey7

In a year you'll be saying "but I didn't buy VOO a year ago". Don't try to "make up the losses", just invest in index funds. Even if you get unlucky and always invest at all time highs, you'll be fine (https://www.sevenhillscapital.ca/insights-and-perspectives/does-buying-at-the-all-time-highs-matter)

AeneasKurtz

But *I didn't* buy $VOO at the start of the year so instead I'm down over $15k. If I stick to $VOO I won't make up the loses in such short time and it's just as likely I'll buy at the moment that the market begins its correction than if I bought an individual stock. That's my thinking and what's blocking me: I'm no longer comfortable taking loses after losing so much while the rest wins

Square-Conclusion735

Tbh 10 percent annualized while learning options through the dumbest market of our lives is actually a W compared to most of this sub. You basically paid a few percent “tuition” to understand risk, sizing and your own psychology, which is stuff you don’t get from just buying VOO. Lock in what you learned, size the YOLOs way smaller, let the boring stuff compound, and use the rest of your brain for real life. MU just covered part of the tuition bill 😂

leaning_on_a_wheel

Just buy and hold a broad index fund, that’s all you need to do. If that $100k was in VOO you’d be up almost 10% on the year.

ra__account

Most dividends by retirement age will be taxed as qualified, not at the ordinary income level. In general, keeping dividend paying stocks/funds in a tax sheltered account is good but if you're swinging for the moon with Rocketlab or whatever, putting those in tax sheltered accounts is good because if they 10x or whatever, the savings on the capital gains tax far outweighs making the 2% yield on VOO 15-20% more tax efficient.

OmnipresentCPU

I’m throwing like $3-500 positions at various 2x leveraged return stuff like AMUU on AMD and MUU for poops and giggles. But mostly resisting the hype and sticking to bagging VOO and VGT on a schedule

Legaon

I think what OP is actually referring to is the (capital gains tax distribution) part. Since IPOs + major IPOs, like (SpaceX) — has found a way to be included in these — indexes — S@P 500 index/FTSE Global All Cap index. The ETFs that “track these indexes” = (VOO) or (VT). And (SpaceX total valuation), is also being included with other “company revenue streams”. Tesla + etc. It just does not seem fair that: (1)IPOs, that launch on day 1 — should be able to bend the rules to — allow passive ETF investors to have to: (1)have ETF mangers sell massive amounts of shares in the ETF = massive capital depreciation activity/(2)use that money to now “buy SpaceX shares”. —passively managed ETFs, selling massive amounts of shares very quickly = major capital depreciation event. Big tax event for the (ETF manager). And the (ETF manager will just “have all of the ETF investors) — pay “tax event”. Capital gains distribution tax. Even though I do think that (space exploration + planet colonization of military bases + harvesting of the planet’s resources) — will become astronomically profitable in the next 10+ years. —>It’s just that: (1)if SpaceX IPO can bend the rules — and cause massive amounts of “capital gains distribution taxes”. Then, other IPOs might do something similar in the future.

Legaon

I think what OP is actually referring to is the (capital gains tax distribution) part. Since IPOs + major IPOs, like (SpaceX) — has found a way to be included in these — indexes — S@P 500 index/FTSE Global All Cap index. The ETFs that “track these indexes” = (VOO) or (VT). And (SpaceX total valuation), is also being included with other “company revenue streams”. Tesla + etc. It just does not seem fair that: (1)IPOs, that launch on day 1 — should be able to bend the rules to — allow passive ETF investors to have to: (1)have ETF mangers sell massive amounts of shares in the ETF = massive capital depreciation activity/(2)use that money to now “buy SpaceX shares”. —passively managed ETFs, selling massive amounts of shares very quickly = major capital depreciation event. Big tax event for the (ETF manager). And the (ETF manager will just “have all of the ETF investors) — pay “tax event”. Capital gains distribution tax. Even though I do think that (space exploration + planet colonization of military bases + harvesting of the planet’s resources) — will become astronomically profitable in the next 10+ years. —>It’s just that: (1)if SpaceX IPO can bend the rules — and cause massive amounts of “capital gains distribution taxes”. Then, other IPOs might do something similar in the future.

Singularity-42

The FIRE wisdom says that safe withdrawal rate that also accounts for inflation is 4%-4.5% - so you should be able to withdraw $400k-$450k every year, in 2026 dollars value, in perpetuity. This assumes investments in broad based index funds like VOO or maybe even better VT (or some Bogleheads mix). CDs are gonna get eaten by inflation and by the time you're 90 it may not even be enough to live on. You gotta stay invested in appreciating assets.

Fun_Training6342

Don't be greedy kids, but VOO and chill.

digitFIRE

I think you’re right. I don’t want this party to end. I’ll just highlight the letters in different colors on my VOO and Chill sign to make it look like I’m having fun. 🪊

suspiciousswimming8

i traded all thru sept-april and it wasn’t bad. i dont miss VOO at all. i just wish i started during the tariff crash.

digitFIRE

All of these semi conductor and space regards are making bank and I’m behind the Wendy’s dumpster holding up a “VOO and chill” sign with a sad face. Should I just jump on the ASTS, MU, and RKLB bandwagon now?

ubiquitouslifestyle

Call us when you’re not trading in the greatest bull market of all time. You’ll miss your VOO.

suspiciousswimming8

man if only i left that VOO/VT and chill shit last year. actual head in the sand

Whole-Specialist-706

fr that credit suisse high income bond fund is a massive red flag anyway considering everything that happened with CS a few years back. get out of that junk, liquidate the individual corporate bonds, and dump it all into a clean split of VOO and some safe short-term treasuries. your life will be so much simpler.

Outrageous_Tip_2133

A lot of people invest passively and never sell. If you buy ETFs of index funds like VOO/VTI/QQQ and never sell, that is the best way for retail investors to play the game in the long run. As an active trader or stock picker, you will always be at a disadvantage against bigger players who have advanced algorithms and often have major insider info before you will.

GatorBo69

To already have learned this lesson at such a young age is amazing to have. I don’t know what you lost your money on, but I would assume it was meme stocks or speculative trading.. Put your future income into more stable ETFs like boring ass VOO and VTI if you have to… And realize that you now have $100k of tax harvesting money that you can use for the rest of your life to offset your gains. $1500 a year if you’re single, $3000 if married. You’ll be fine, bud!

big-baller-47

My wife’s boyfriend has a higher return on his VOO stocks than my shitty MSFT 🫩

Few-Sail-6562

You get off of WSB and stop gambling. Reddit is a good place to find out stocks to invest in, but you have to do your own research too. Invest in index funds/ETFs right now if you cannot afford to lose that kind of money. Build back up and then dedicate a specific percentage that you can play with. I started with 5%. I buy some speculative stuff, but I stay mostly invested in ETFs like VOO and QQQ. Its boring, but my wealth is growing. I don't mind risky stuff, but I keep that to less than 20% of my portfolio. I'd be much more conservative if I was older.

JohnDuttton

Just always remember this would be $4.53Million if you just invest in VOO when you turned 65. That should help you sleep at night

Putrid_Pollution3455

Real chads pay for dates using margin spending off their insanely large pile of VOO

No-Ant-5811

Fair enough man, I appreciate the level-headed response. You hit the nail on the head with the timeline difference. ​At 52, I don't have a 40-year horizon to just sit around and wait out three different cyclical boom-and-bust periods. When you are younger, you can afford to hold a tech stock through a massive drawdown and wait a decade for it to recover. At my stage, capital preservation and actually enjoying the money is the priority. ​You are right that advanced memory has massive technological barriers to entry for new companies. But my point is that the current big three (MU, Samsung, SK Hynix) already have the tech. The only thing stopping them from massively overproducing and flooding the market right now is just the time it takes to physically build the new mega-fabs and the capital to fund them. Once those are built, the floodgates open and the margins compress. ​Holding 100 shares for 40 years is a totally valid play if you have the decades to let it ride and don't mind the extreme cyclical volatility. But for me, letting that 18% trailing stop protect my heavy position, scaling out at 1000 and 1200, and rolling the cash straight into VOO and FTEC is how I sleep at night. I'd rather be off the grid at the lake with secured profits than stressing over data center CapEx reports for the next ten years. Good luck on the long hold!

No-Ant-5811

"This time it's different" is the lie Wall Street sells retail investors right at the top of every cycle. People telling you DRAM is suddenly a "non-cyclical commodity" are completely ignoring how physical manufacturing actually works. From an operations standpoint, you cannot have a non-cyclical physical commodity when the only barriers to scale are capital and time. Yes, the demand for advanced memory will be constant and growing. But the supply is what makes it cyclical. When profit margins are this high, every manufacturer on earth (MU, SK, Samsung, plus the massive Chinese fabs) sinks billions into building new mega-fabs. When all that massive new factory capacity comes online simultaneously to meet this "regular" demand, the market floods, the supply bottleneck breaks, and premium pricing collapses. A continuous need for a product does NOT equal continuous peak profit margins. The world has a continuous, regular need for steel, plastics, and oil—and they are some of the most brutally cyclical manufacturing sectors on the planet. You can bet on the "non-cyclical" thesis and hold forever if you want. Im protecting my 270 shares by scaling out at 1000 and 1200, rolling the cash straight into VOO and FTEC, and parking my fifth-wheel at the lake for the summer. Ill let you guys hold the bag when Wall Street suddenly remembers how factory capacity actually dictates margins.

Ambitious_Arm852

Yeah all they do is "VOO and chill"

SnooChocolates9431

Put a high percent into VOO, then choose maybe 2-3 stocks you believe in. You want to be diversified but not so much where you have an alphabet of stocks you’re keeping track of. Also, time in the market > timing the market

Riggie_Prettycrab

Well done, buddy. Nice chunk to toss into VOO and start over at $15k. You got this. Or a Lambo. You could get a Lambo.

Deltrus7

Great, you learned, right? So now just start plugging away in shit like VOO and VTI.

MuchConcentrate

Who was able to buy (I guess not sell?) VOO at $630 right at 8:00 pm?

Fit-Way8939

VOO up 0.7%...