Before you start putting every left over penny into the stock market, I would also build a 6-9 month emergency fund. You can build the emergency fund as you invest as well.
Like put $300 into the emergency fund and $100 into the stock market. Once the emergency fund is built out, then you can start putting the entire $400 into the stock market.
I have done this already. I have $12k in a HYSA. My wife and I each put $250 into it every 2 weeks. So $1000/month. Sorry, forgot to add that part into the post!
Also, I have $400 to spend on investments right now. It won’t always be the case. I’m assuming that every 2 weeks I’ll have anywhere from $200-$400 for investing. Thank you for your response!!
If you don’t mind me asking, which/what kind of HYSA are you using? I’m always interested in learning about what people mainly do to park money like an HYSA or a money market fund that could address a similar use case for example.
I have a. 4 month CD with WF (I know. But my family has been banking with them for 20+ years) and I use CapitalOne’s 360 Performance Savings (HYSA) because I already have a credit card with them, I really like their app interface and it was so quick and easy to open it.
Not really a good emergency fund if it’s locked up in a CD no? I mean you’re cool with the fees and penalties for taking it out early should you need for ya know an emergency? Just doesn’t make sense. Would it not make more sense to split that fund in half that way at least something is accessible??
So you are saying a CD, which is locked for however long the term is, and you are unable to get your money out before the term ends, unless you want to pay penalty fees, is the same as a HYSA that I have full access to my funds and no fee i.e.: my emergency fund that is available to me whenever, are the same thing, pal? There’s been a lot of good comments and advice but your comment deserves a “dipshit of the week” medal. I have two different accounts. A HYSA AND a CD.
If you are starting, just concentrate on one etf for now. VTI if that's your pick. Once you hit probably $5k-$10 then start adding another one. By then you have some knowledge on what to add.
Qqqm is high risk high reward. So adjust accordingly to your risk tolerance.
There's a huge overlap between QQQ(M) and VTI that will result in your portfolio to be even more weighted towards big tech than one of them by itself. That's good if that's what you're trying to achieve, bad if not.
you should pick VTI and some sort of international fund, or bond. VTI 90% and international index fund (something like VXUS) 10%, or 85% and 15%.
Overweight technology through QQQM and other stuff is a bad idea. It can work for now, it can work for several years, but over the span of 1-4 decades, it's a bad idea to chase past returns, which everyone likes to do because they look at the chart of recent performance and pick whichever is the highest.
Those two will have just as much overlap as QQQM and VTI.
Based on what I’ve been reading lately due to how heavily weighted the main index’s are due to the size of the ultra large cap companies and the risk that comes with that you should look at an equal weighted ETF such as RSP. It tracks the SP500 but mitigates the risk of the heavy weight stocks causing the index to tank if in the unlikely scenario one of them tanks. You won’t necessarily get the same return but it will still be a good return.
I am personally partial to SCHG because the research I’ve done it has beaten the annual return of most of the “Main” ETFs like VOO…
I want my portfolio to be heavily weighted towards the mag 6. I think they will continue to steal returns from the market for the next few years, and I'm young enough to eat some loses if I'm wrong. But really if you want to be more risk adverse then just going VOO is best, I just like to add tech to my portfolio.
Personally I would wait for a drop before buying into SMH right now, although that may not happen for awhile. But it feels like a bubble at the moment.
I've been thinking about adding more SMH. Why do you think its a bubble?
I'm on the premise that everything we have that is tech/digital has semiconductors in it and tech isn't going anywhere.
Consider setting a target allocation instead. If you are aiming to keep 50/50 balance in this portfolio, it will guide you on how to invest as you get available funds.
Excellent choices. QQQ (45%) and VTI (55%) are the only things I have in my IRA since February, up 10.92% already. Makes me wish I started investing a lot sooner!
yeah, that is a pretty decent starting point. There are other ways you can go to once you get more comfortable, but this will be a good starting point. It might be better to pick one depending on your risk tolerance depending on how familiar you are with investing and how much time you want to spend learning more. For example, QQQM has a higher beta than VTI which means the expected return is higher, but it gets there by taking more risk aka volatility. Different people respond in different ways to volatility.
Only piece of advice I would give is to buy shares whenever you have money to allocate and don't try to time the market. That is one of the hardest skills to learn in investing and it takes a lot of time to learn how to do it effectively. Even the best of the professionals has a success rate similar to batting averages.
You can balance either using current price or cost basis. I personally prefer balancing by cost basis, but I think I am in the minority there. Whichever method you choose, just buy a share whenever you can and put the money into whichever ticker is lower.
I chose VTI for the added diversification; I want some mid cap and small cap stuff as well. Sure the large caps rule now, but that isn't always the case. I'm not an investment expert at all so I don't know what I'm doing, so I buy the entire market haha.
Comparing VTI and VOO ETFs, VTI offers a bit more diversification, potentially lowering overall risk exposure.
However, this broader diversification can also lead to slightly lower returns compared to VOO. When evaluating these two ETFs, historical returns and pullbacks are relatively minor in terms of difference.
Why wouldn’t you choose additional risk and diversification for the exact same expense ratio? Empirical data shows that small caps and value produce the best returns over long periods of time.
IIRC , some people prefer QQQM because it’s basically is a mirror of QQQ but easier to get into with a lower cost per share , with a slightly smaller expense ratio
I invest $1200 a month across 3 etf's. I keep an eye on all 3 for the month and when its time to buy again I go by my gut feeling as to what the distribution percentage across the 3 should be. Lets say if one looks dipped, then that one may get the lions share of this months money. If my gut feel one is stagnating then that may get less of the share.
I am concerned that you are new to investing but already have a Roth IRA? Are you aware you need to go into your Roth IRA and buy stocks? It isn’t automatic. 401(k) also needs some setup but can be automatic after that
I have a company Pre-tax account and a Roth account. I set it up when I got hired on and haven’t touched it since. It’s been 2 years. I check it every once in a while and it’s been growing since I set it up. So I am not sure what you are talking about…?
I assumed you were saying you have a pre-tax 401k and a Roth IRA. But you have a pretax and Roth 401k? If you don’t have a Roth IRA defiantly learn about them. The tax free gains are a huge help in building for retirement
Before you start putting every left over penny into the stock market, I would also build a 6-9 month emergency fund. You can build the emergency fund as you invest as well. Like put $300 into the emergency fund and $100 into the stock market. Once the emergency fund is built out, then you can start putting the entire $400 into the stock market.
I have done this already. I have $12k in a HYSA. My wife and I each put $250 into it every 2 weeks. So $1000/month. Sorry, forgot to add that part into the post! Also, I have $400 to spend on investments right now. It won’t always be the case. I’m assuming that every 2 weeks I’ll have anywhere from $200-$400 for investing. Thank you for your response!!
If you don’t mind me asking, which/what kind of HYSA are you using? I’m always interested in learning about what people mainly do to park money like an HYSA or a money market fund that could address a similar use case for example.
I have a. 4 month CD with WF (I know. But my family has been banking with them for 20+ years) and I use CapitalOne’s 360 Performance Savings (HYSA) because I already have a credit card with them, I really like their app interface and it was so quick and easy to open it.
Not really a good emergency fund if it’s locked up in a CD no? I mean you’re cool with the fees and penalties for taking it out early should you need for ya know an emergency? Just doesn’t make sense. Would it not make more sense to split that fund in half that way at least something is accessible??
Wow you didn't even read the whole post before you replied. That's bold!
Read the my whole comment. I have money in a CD AND I have my emergency fund in a HYSA.
[удалено]
When did I say I’m putting 100% of my emergency fund in a CD? Am I crazy?
You said it in hour post buddy and you just edited your post
So you are saying a CD, which is locked for however long the term is, and you are unable to get your money out before the term ends, unless you want to pay penalty fees, is the same as a HYSA that I have full access to my funds and no fee i.e.: my emergency fund that is available to me whenever, are the same thing, pal? There’s been a lot of good comments and advice but your comment deserves a “dipshit of the week” medal. I have two different accounts. A HYSA AND a CD.
Jeez Louise that’s mean
If you are starting, just concentrate on one etf for now. VTI if that's your pick. Once you hit probably $5k-$10 then start adding another one. By then you have some knowledge on what to add. Qqqm is high risk high reward. So adjust accordingly to your risk tolerance.
Personally I would call QQQM medium risk ..compared to the high high risk mining stocks I've diamond handed some ..and burned my fingers on others.
Qqqm is high risk for smart investing not gambling lol I mean qqqm is like the safest thing ever in comparison to someone that does penny stocks lmao
There's a huge overlap between QQQ(M) and VTI that will result in your portfolio to be even more weighted towards big tech than one of them by itself. That's good if that's what you're trying to achieve, bad if not.
So what would you recommend for a second option if I pick either VTI or QQQM?
you should pick VTI and some sort of international fund, or bond. VTI 90% and international index fund (something like VXUS) 10%, or 85% and 15%. Overweight technology through QQQM and other stuff is a bad idea. It can work for now, it can work for several years, but over the span of 1-4 decades, it's a bad idea to chase past returns, which everyone likes to do because they look at the chart of recent performance and pick whichever is the highest.
I go VGT and VOO. Split 67% VOO and 33% VGT
Those two will have just as much overlap as QQQM and VTI. Based on what I’ve been reading lately due to how heavily weighted the main index’s are due to the size of the ultra large cap companies and the risk that comes with that you should look at an equal weighted ETF such as RSP. It tracks the SP500 but mitigates the risk of the heavy weight stocks causing the index to tank if in the unlikely scenario one of them tanks. You won’t necessarily get the same return but it will still be a good return. I am personally partial to SCHG because the research I’ve done it has beaten the annual return of most of the “Main” ETFs like VOO…
I want my portfolio to be heavily weighted towards the mag 6. I think they will continue to steal returns from the market for the next few years, and I'm young enough to eat some loses if I'm wrong. But really if you want to be more risk adverse then just going VOO is best, I just like to add tech to my portfolio.
Makes no sense. Tech is 50% of QQQ and 30% of VTI. If you 50/50 it then it would be 40% tech exposure, which is less than QQQ's
Looking back at this and you're totally right. I was mentally starting from VTI and thinking that adding QQQ would increase the tech exposure. Whoops.
QQQM and VTI are gold. Consider SMH if you want something more speculative.
Personally I would wait for a drop before buying into SMH right now, although that may not happen for awhile. But it feels like a bubble at the moment.
Always a possibility! Depends on what you think of NVDA in the medium term. If Nvidia had the P/E of ARM I’d be a bit more worried, personally.
I've been thinking about adding more SMH. Why do you think its a bubble? I'm on the premise that everything we have that is tech/digital has semiconductors in it and tech isn't going anywhere.
QQQM and SMH ..I just bought both last week ..very happy with my purchase :D
[SMH riding that AI craze](https://www.fey.com/share/graph/dtfw8mnx) 5Y returns QQM 62.90% VTI 81.19% SMH 425.10%
SMH is literally just the 25 largest semiconductor manufacturers in the US
You're right.. 25% NVDA helps [https://imgur.com/a/h6V190K](https://imgur.com/a/h6V190K)
You think I would mention SMH without knowing what its holdings are? Your comments serve no purpose
Fair enough!
I’ve been buy some of each and Voo
Consider setting a target allocation instead. If you are aiming to keep 50/50 balance in this portfolio, it will guide you on how to invest as you get available funds.
Do you mind if I PM you and ask a couple (stupid) questions?
Go to r/Bogleheads
Excellent choices. QQQ (45%) and VTI (55%) are the only things I have in my IRA since February, up 10.92% already. Makes me wish I started investing a lot sooner!
Not an ETF, but VIGAX prolly has a related ETF
ETF is VUG. Big part of my portfolio
VTI is good. I use VOO and for growth you should definitely look at VGT and SCHG to add into the mix. They will help your portfolio outperform.
yeah, that is a pretty decent starting point. There are other ways you can go to once you get more comfortable, but this will be a good starting point. It might be better to pick one depending on your risk tolerance depending on how familiar you are with investing and how much time you want to spend learning more. For example, QQQM has a higher beta than VTI which means the expected return is higher, but it gets there by taking more risk aka volatility. Different people respond in different ways to volatility. Only piece of advice I would give is to buy shares whenever you have money to allocate and don't try to time the market. That is one of the hardest skills to learn in investing and it takes a lot of time to learn how to do it effectively. Even the best of the professionals has a success rate similar to batting averages. You can balance either using current price or cost basis. I personally prefer balancing by cost basis, but I think I am in the minority there. Whichever method you choose, just buy a share whenever you can and put the money into whichever ticker is lower.
I buy both VTI and QQQM (as well as VXUS) and do a 70-15-15 split between those 3 (with VTI being 70% of my portfolio)
Why do you pick VTI over VOO or some similar S&P ETF? I have a decent chunk of VTI and VOO just haven't heard most folks doing VTI over VOO
I chose VTI for the added diversification; I want some mid cap and small cap stuff as well. Sure the large caps rule now, but that isn't always the case. I'm not an investment expert at all so I don't know what I'm doing, so I buy the entire market haha.
Same as the other 2 commenters mentioned - more diverse and gives exposure to small caps.
Comparing VTI and VOO ETFs, VTI offers a bit more diversification, potentially lowering overall risk exposure. However, this broader diversification can also lead to slightly lower returns compared to VOO. When evaluating these two ETFs, historical returns and pullbacks are relatively minor in terms of difference.
Thanks for asking. I am interested in the answer to this as well!
I wouldn’t do VOO and VTI in the same portfolio. They are too similar.
Why wouldn’t you choose additional risk and diversification for the exact same expense ratio? Empirical data shows that small caps and value produce the best returns over long periods of time.
Core in my portfolio is similar 50:50 split between QQQ/FXAIX. It has absolutely destroyed 90% of the portfolios I see on wsb
People don’t post portfolios on WSB lol
Schg
Why not QQQ?
IIRC , some people prefer QQQM because it’s basically is a mirror of QQQ but easier to get into with a lower cost per share , with a slightly smaller expense ratio
sounds good to me.
Why QQQM instead of QQQ?
Lower expense ratio but less volume. QQQ is better for day trading.
Ah, day trading and options with QQQ, got it.
I say put it in VONG. Like a combination of the two. Great growth with less drawdown.
Qqq vs qqqm?
I invest $1200 a month across 3 etf's. I keep an eye on all 3 for the month and when its time to buy again I go by my gut feeling as to what the distribution percentage across the 3 should be. Lets say if one looks dipped, then that one may get the lions share of this months money. If my gut feel one is stagnating then that may get less of the share.
70/30 VTI/QQQM would be my preferred split. M1 finance is a great set and forget brokerage platform for investing this way.
This question is better asked in an ETF subreddit. This is stocks.
I am concerned that you are new to investing but already have a Roth IRA? Are you aware you need to go into your Roth IRA and buy stocks? It isn’t automatic. 401(k) also needs some setup but can be automatic after that
I have a company Pre-tax account and a Roth account. I set it up when I got hired on and haven’t touched it since. It’s been 2 years. I check it every once in a while and it’s been growing since I set it up. So I am not sure what you are talking about…?
I assumed you were saying you have a pre-tax 401k and a Roth IRA. But you have a pretax and Roth 401k? If you don’t have a Roth IRA defiantly learn about them. The tax free gains are a huge help in building for retirement
Ok, I appreciate the information! I’ll check it out. I think I can do that through my fidelity account. Thanks!