Quote :

"On the side of long term investing do you do any, well might come off as an oxymoron, but relatively "short term investing" for more immediate returns"

I do not. Many people enjoy having a stash of "play money" to mess around with.

I don't find it fun, but rather stressful. That's not how I want to spend time.

It's up to the individual and personal preference, though. It should best be kept as a small percentage of your overall investment pool if you want to do this.

1/13/2023 8:14:02 PM

I see, that makes sense

1/13/2023 9:11:14 PM

You're either going to get lucky with your picks with that money and overestimate your capabilities leading to too much risk-taking, or you're going to do more poorly than just putting it in the broad market at low cost. Neither seems like a good outcome to me. When you have a decent amount saved up, it takes a larger absolute dollar amount to meaningfully move the needle on results, and I am too scared to play games with that kind of a balance. Gamblers like to gamble. I'm not a gambler (except in the sense that that the stock market as a whole is somewhat of a gamble).

1/14/2023 6:32:49 AM

What about VT?
from what I can see they're basically vti + global for more diversification

I guess right now with the american economy outperforming others vti is a safer bet, but assuming the long term would VT be a safer bet, not that vti isn't?

1/14/2023 2:39:11 PM

VT would be fine. After much consideration, I do not care to include international in my portfolio. Many do for the reasons you stated. This is a personal decision which in my case is also influenced by political opinions. Neither VT nor VTI would be a bad long-term play.

1/14/2023 7:01:00 PM

I am resisting the urge to not let my inner "screw europe, america number one" feeling influence my decision but perhaps the heart should be king

[Edited on January 14, 2023 at 8:13 PM. Reason : 8]

1/14/2023 7:47:20 PM

It doesn't have to be that. There is exchange rate risk and geographic performance trends. There's nothing wrong with VT. I just went with VTI. If you're currently unsure, you can change with no tax penalty within an IRA at some point in the future. In a taxable account, you can strike your own balance by combining VTI and VXUS. In a Roth IRA, do not contribute more in a calendar year than you have earned income.

1/14/2023 10:23:03 PM

I've seen some people talk about tax credits relating to vxus instead of vt or something but I couldn't make much sense of it. Not that it'd really affect me, but out of curiousity do you know anything about that?

1/14/2023 11:35:35 PM

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/foreign-tax-credit

This isn't really a big advantage, though. Rather, it avoids double taxation which if imposed would represent a disadvantage. The Foreign Tax Credit for taxes paid for mutual funds or ETFs will be detailed on the brokerage 1099 at all major brokers. It's taken out of the fund returns, so it's not something that you as the holder of that investment actively pay and manage. All major tax return software handles the foreign tax credit easily. Keep in mind that for tax-advantaged accounts like IRAs, HSAs, and 401(k)s, this isn't really even a consideration anyway.

If you have a lot of financial questions or a newfound interest, consider reading and registering for the message board at https://www.bogleheads.org/. There are a lot of smart people there. The message board software is not as endearing as CrazyWeb, but the format is not bad, and thankfully a far cry from Reddit, Facebook, and Twitter.

1/15/2023 7:56:58 AM

what is the best/easiest retirement account for a self-employeed person in a service industry type position?

1/20/2023 10:27:12 AM

BBBY

1/20/2023 2:59:41 PM

Solo 401(k) + SEP IRA?

1/20/2023 6:46:17 PM

Man I need this mild recession to hit and briefly schwack equity prices. I have a bunch of cash I need to invest, but I keep holding off thinking I'm gonna get a better opportunity.

1/26/2023 1:03:04 PM

Also a good way to lose money, or at least lose potential gains. I have played that game and lost many times. If you can't stomach putting it in all in at once when you have it, make a plan to dollar cost average in regular chunks with a defined end date. If you see what you think is a good window during your investment plan, you can always throw in the remaining uninvested amount, but the main thing is get started, and don't make decisions based on what you think or feel might happen. If we're honest, we all have no clue.

1/26/2023 1:07:37 PM

^ thanks I needed to hear that

1/28/2023 3:26:44 PM

yeah that's prob a good plan.

I have kinda-sorta been doing that, and put a decent chunk at pretty good prices...but I need to pick it back up. The buys lately have been smaller and more infrequent than they should be. It hasn't been completely abstaining from buying anything, ever...but it hasn't been anything close to DCA-ing, either.

1/29/2023 8:44:03 PM

You gotta divorce it from emotion and conjecture and just execute. Easier said than done, but after it's done, it's easier.

1/29/2023 11:15:08 PM

I started using NAV to track overall investments a few years ago. It's kind of a pain but I've found it very useful in removing emotion and keeping a realistic long view of what's happening.

1/31/2023 1:53:54 PM

I've been hitting NVDA and MSFT pretty hard because of the OpenAI collab. Hopefully skynet puts me in one of the good work camps because I invested.

I'm up about 40% in my gambling account. If it goes up another 100x I'll recover from AMZN losses.

2/4/2023 9:40:57 AM

haha I'm the opposite. I've made a ton on AMZN and lost significantly on NVDA.

(percentage-wise, at least. In absolute terms, I've prob made 3-4 tens of thousands in AMZN and lost 3-4 thousand in NVDA)

[Edited on February 4, 2023 at 3:20 PM. Reason : ]

2/4/2023 3:17:43 PM

Well, I just received my second 2-week suspension within a year from the financial forum I also post on. What a bunch of thin-skinned cry-baby narc bitches! I get warned and suspended for the most stupid and benign shit there. I guess I got a little too TWW for them. I don't think my activity even registers here. Two different worlds. And it's not like TWW is really a leading community for extreme or offensive content. God help these people if they ever use the wider internet.

2/8/2023 7:18:36 PM

what did those soft-batch pussies get bent out of shape about?

2/8/2023 8:02:14 PM

So glad you asked. It almost breaks my brain how heavy-handed the moderation is compared to TDub. The latest was "disrespectful comments". No profanity, no direct call-outs. Really just pretty heavy sarcasm about new threads being created on the same exhausting topic every few days.

But they also keep up with everything you ever did or said. Here is my rap sheet according to them:

Quote :

"In consideration of the above and your prior moderator notification (Aug 27, 2022 - troll), suspension (Feb 25, 2022 - politics), warnings (Apr 30, 2021 - politics) and (Sep 29, 2020 - distracting image), and moderator notifications (Nov 24, 2019 - animated graphic), (Sep 09, 2019 - PM for challenging moderator action), and (Sep 08, 2019 - politics) , the moderators have decided to suspend your account for two weeks."

The graphics stuff is so lame. Forum software lets you post graphics, but apparently they warn you if you post an animated GIF. Or if you post a still image of a vineyard burning down when someone asks about best places for wine-tasting in California while half the state is on fire. Commenting on Communist Chinese Policy and arguing rationally against climate change denialism both count as "politics", which is not allowed. I got over 3000 posts over there, but I'm about to give up. Unfortunately some of the content is quite valuable. But I also have a plan for when I get perma-banned, which seems inevitable.

What I really want to know is whether the few moderators there can really read and keep up with the high volume of posting, or whether there's a bunch of narcs using the "report post" feature all the time instead of just discussing an issue like a person. I don't report posts. I just respond to them. I guess that's why I'm suspended again. They are trying to create a safe space for the dumbest and most sensitive people.

Thanks for not being a little bitch even though you did repeatedly lock the Ted Budd threads in Soap Box, and even though I have shit-talked Florida a lot.

2/8/2023 9:21:05 PM

It's easy to not act like a little bitch when you're not a little bitch.

The Ted Budd stuff was because I was out of the loop on NC politics and TV commercials, and people just kept posting chit-chatty threads like "Who will fight like nobody fights?" Once I was familiarized with the reference, and the posts were actual discussion on him, I left it alone.

I've been suspended from FB a number of times. Sometimes it was clearly narc-ing pussy douchebags that I called out for being just that, and sometimes it was clearly algorithms (like I'd post it, and 1 second later be suspended). I got suspended for posting the link to the Wikipedia article on "doggy style" (hahaha). I got suspended for saying something like "Russians are animals and always have been" in the context of discussion their invasion of Ukraine and atrocities committed against civilians during it. I even appealed it to their human board on the ground of "Does Facebook really intend to take the side of war crimes over those decrying them?" (the answer is yes.) They call it dehumanizing ethnic/national/racial groups. There were a couple more, but I can't remember the details now.

2/9/2023 5:34:06 PM

Quote :

"It's easy to not act like a little bitch when you're not a little bitch."

QFT

2/9/2023 7:55:47 PM

Who all still hodling BBBY stock out thurr?!

Better have some diamond hands for sure.

4/23/2023 8:39:01 AM

if you buy the dip at 0.00, your possible gains are infinite

[Edited on April 24, 2023 at 9:54 PM. Reason : Screw the "undefined" club, infinite ftw]

4/24/2023 9:53:49 PM

All aboard on TUP?

7/28/2023 4:54:13 PM

Topping up on TUP.

7/29/2023 6:37:54 AM

Diamond hands

7/31/2023 2:32:16 PM

Fitch downgrades USA debt.

8/1/2023 7:11:36 PM

Yawn like a mf

8/2/2023 2:30:56 AM

TUP TO THE MOON!!

8/3/2023 7:32:33 PM

Okay, I have like 4 VTI now

The Coz, share something

11/8/2023 2:56:22 PM

4 shares is good. 5 shares is better. If you have enough earned income, you should be investing in these inside a Roth IRA account container.

11/8/2023 8:54:55 PM

The Coz of financial success

11/8/2023 10:42:17 PM

But only up to the annual contribution limits! The secret is you got to buy always and never sell.

11/9/2023 5:19:00 AM

I'm gonna invest in some underrated tech companies first, try to aim for 30% returns within 6 months.

About 500-600 dollars worth that I have freed up right now.

I'm gonna try to get two VTI every quarter when I start working another job next month.

11/9/2023 5:35:48 PM

Good luck picking the winners. But it's better to learn lessons early. The only problem is when you get lucky and think you're a stock-picking genius. QQQ would be safer if you want to make a concentrated bet in a specific sector. This is not a recommendation.

11/9/2023 7:26:17 PM

Nice day for a VTI.

11/10/2023 3:59:33 PM

Indeed, The Coz.

I also have one VDC, by the way. I know that it's redundant under VTI, but it has similar stable growth and I like consumer staples as an investment, so I'm keeping one on the side. I also wanted something that wasn't super tech-y.

Today, I learned about the rule of 72. Did some calculations inspired by that, with LOG, and was surprised by the fact that consistent 4% growth would double your initial principle in just 18 iterations. Crazy, isn't it? Math!

[Edited on November 10, 2023 at 4:24 PM. Reason : additional information!]

11/10/2023 4:20:59 PM

Also...

Quote :

"This is a personal decision which in my case is also influenced by political opinions. Neither VT nor VTI would be a bad long-term play. "

Would you mind sharing why? Even if it's just a "feeling" thing, I'm interested to hear the 'deets'.

[Edited on November 10, 2023 at 4:30 PM. Reason : -]

11/10/2023 4:30:09 PM

Why I choose VTI, or why neither is expected to be bad?

Yeah, math for the win! But don't forget that inflation eats your future lunch.

11/10/2023 7:07:02 PM

Why you only invest in VTI and not VT/VXUS (non-US).
Like the politics/personal reasons you were referencing.

11/10/2023 7:51:26 PM

Oh. Mainly because I'm an American. I was born here, I live here, I work here, I plan to retire here. It's the biggest market. It has strong institutions despite recent attempts to dismantle them. I don't need to think too much about the effects of currency exchange or potential nationalization of industry. Many of the largest US corporations are multinationals which derive a large percentage of their revenue and profit from foreign markets, so by investing in those companies, you already have exposure to the performance of foreign economies. Last, while it's an example of recency bias, the US has outperformed foreign markets for many years (although if you look back there were plenty of examples where the opposite was true). Investing in foreign markets has not recently proved protective from what have tended to be global contagions. So with as big of a headstart as I now have by investing in the US, if investing in foreign markets is unlikely to appreciably change long-term returns, why bother at this point?

https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Domestic/international

Read the sections "Risks of International Investing" and "Risks of Home Country Investing". The US is somewhat of a unique case because of how large and economically dominant it is. It wouldn't necessarily be as safe for a Canadian to invest purely in Canadian equities or a German in German equities.

11/10/2023 8:25:26 PM

The coz are you brown people? Nttawwt. First sentences seem like brown person. Nttawwt

11/10/2023 10:10:47 PM

No, I'm white as they come. But I do use cultural appropriation.

11/10/2023 10:40:42 PM

I share similar sentiments, but with less thought out reasoning on my end .

I'm excited to see where my VTI goes, I am predicting a good increase over this quarter. Not that it matters, given the long term purpose, but a guy can still speculate

Quote :

"No, I'm white as they come. But I do use cultural appropriation."

Lol!

[Edited on November 11, 2023 at 2:36 PM. Reason : -]

11/11/2023 2:35:49 PM

How do buy/sell/hold recommendations issued by companies even work?
As in, who are they intended for?

Like what exactly are they based on? Reports base it on the stability of the companies, but the big fish moving the money are the real ones manipulating prices, right? Mutual funds, institutions.

Is there any material benefit besides other people investing in it for the same reason beyond the stability of a company ensuring that it doesn't do kaput and make the shares worthless?
Dividends, I guess?

Like sure we know the whole "all of it works on confidence" thing, the ultimate fiat, but any other answers?

[Edited on November 11, 2023 at 6:54 PM. Reason : -]

11/11/2023 6:49:08 PM

In high finance, there is the "buy side" and the "sell side." Issuing guidance is a function that falls into the "sell side."

A sell-side analyst will follow companies, often similar companies or companies within an industry, and be an expert on them. Like, if you had a Bloomberg terminal, and connections within the companies and industries cultivated by you and your prestigious firm, and physical proximity in many cases by working on Wall St, and financial modeling skills learned in the most prestigious university programs and possibly advanced degrees, and then you spent 100 hours per week doing this...[I]that[/I] kind of expert.

The companies they work for then sell this research and advice to their clients.


Institutional money may not be "manipulating prices" by some nefarious sleight of hand, but they do move markets by virtue of the fact that they're slangin' enough dollars around to have an impact. Plus, if you buy/dump a bunch of a stock, even if you were some billionaire's kid and could do a bunch of it...nobody cares much, because you don't know anything. If Goldman Sachs does it, others follow suit.

At any rate, buy/sell/hold or overweight/underweight/neutral ratings aren't necessarily driven by stability. ("Beta" is the measure of stability. Really, volatility, or most correctly, correlation with the broader market.) They're driven by the perceived opportunity to provide attractive returns at the current price.

[Edited on November 11, 2023 at 10:39 PM. Reason : ]

11/11/2023 10:33:08 PM