What Are We Investing In?

[Geoist]

Stocks? Real estate? Crypto? Art?

Shortly before the pandemic (2019), my wife and I decided to start actively investing in the market beyond our Roth IRAs/pensions. Since our Roth IRAs are fairly conservative (we put that money into the S&P through VOO and a little into QQQ), the active investment account is focused on growth, profitability, and great balance sheets. These are more-or-less the stocks we've been going with since early 2020, but I've recently done some pruning to get the concentration under 30:

This list are the core and they each make up between 2.5% and 10%:
Meta Platforms
Google
Adobe
Salesforce
Broadcom
Vici
Ulta Beauty
Nvidia
Amazon
Palantir
Microsoft
Shopify
Netflix
Elf Beauty
Visa
Costco
Chipotle
S&P Global
Tesla
Paypal


This list includes my more speculative plays which make up less than 2.5%:
Crowdstrike
Sofi
Crispr
Enphase
Upwork
Stoneco

 

[tshade]

Stocks? Real estate? Crypto? Art?

Shortly before the pandemic (2019), my wife and I decided to start actively investing in the market beyond our Roth IRAs/pensions. Since our Roth IRAs are fairly conservative (we put that money into the S&P through VOO and a little into QQQ), the active investment account is focused on growth, profitability, and great balance sheets. These are more-or-less the stocks we've been going with since early 2020, but I've recently done some pruning to get the concentration under 30:

This list are the core and they each make up between 2.5% and 10%:
Meta Platforms
Google
Adobe
Salesforce
Broadcom
Vici
Ulta Beauty
Nvidia
Amazon
Palantir
Microsoft
Shopify
Netflix
Elf Beauty
Visa
Costco
Chipotle
S&P Global
Tesla
Paypal


This list includes my more speculative plays which make up less than 2.5%:
Crowdstrike
Sofi
Crispr
Enphase
Upwork
Stoneco

Just grab a good annuity, etc, etc and wait 40 years------no prob

 

[Mach]

What's a 5 year return on that? (% obviously, I don't want to know your specifics!)

 

[Geoist]

Just grab a good annuity, etc, etc and wait 40 years------no prob

Being in my 30s now I'm not sure if I want to wait 40 years.

 

[Rexedgar]

We farm that mess out, doing ok. I have no interest in being a hands on investor, blood pressure is already too high!

 

[venice_ca]

We farm that mess out, doing ok. I have no interest in being a hands on investor, blood pressure is already too high!

Same here!

I tell them I’m not interested in maximum return; just keep up with inflation, and I’m happy. (The company I worked for had a profit -sharing plan, and went out of business when the owner died. I took the distribution, and want to preserve what I have.)

 

[VySky]

IN 1985 IRA were just kicking and an old timer (same age I am now) came up to me at 25 and said, "Young man if you're going to work here I suggest you get into an IRA".

In 30 years you'll be a millionaire

Well 30 years later at retirement my account was not 1Mil.

But it was nothing to snuff at.

My 2 cents to younger folk. At least meet the minimal contribution to get the employer match. Then take subsequent pay/COLA raises and plus up the contribution.

Compound interest is your friend.

 

[bongsaway]

We farm that mess out, doing ok. I have no interest in being a hands on investor, blood pressure is already too high!

We're like you, we don't mess with it at all. I never look at the markets. We have a super nerd investment guy. We actually saw him last week and he just goes on and on about this and that, he gets so carried away. He even stopped himself at one point and said, if you want to get bored out of your mind, come and see me. Anyway we are very conservative in our investments. At our age I would rather make six to eight percent than lose six to eight percent. So far so good.

 

[bongsaway]

IN 1985 IRA were just kicking and an old timer (same age I am now) came up to me at 25 and said, "Young man if you're going to work here I suggest you get into an IRA".

In 30 years you'll be a millionaire

Well 40 years later at retirement my account was not 1Mil.

But it was nothing to snuff at.

My 2 cents to younger folk. At least meet the minimal contribution to get the employer match. Then take subsequent pay/COLA raises and plus up the contribution.

Compound interest is your friend.

Vy, are you turning commie? Actually offering some good advice to help people.

 

[VySky]

Vy, are you turning commie? Actually offering some good advice to help people.

I hear ya.

It was sage advise and I am glad I listened.

Or I'd still be working and wouldn't get to goof off all the time on DP

 

[Geoist]

What's a 5 year return on that? (% obviously, I don't want to know your specifics!)

Well, it's been less than 5 years so far for me, but so far I'm at a 37% return (12% per year). Could be a lot higher but I made some mistakes along the way:

1. Sold to take profits way too early on some of these holdings. Sold most of Elf Beauty when it 2x'd and 3x'd. If I just held and kept adding I'd be sitting around 1000% gain. Similar situation with Chipotle, Ulta, and Nvidia.
2. Bought near the peak with PayPal. That one REALLY dragged me down as I kept adding the whole way and it's become a large portion of the portfolio. But I'm not too worried. New CEO should help kickstart things again and Wall Street is WAY undervaluing the stock.
3. Didn't add enough Palantir at its lows despite being very bullish on the company.

Hopefully, as I learn, my returns will look better, too.

 

[tshade]

Being in my 30s now I'm not sure if I want to wait 40 years.

in any case, time is your best friend at your age

 

[bongsaway]

I hear ya.

It was sage advise and I am glad I listened.

Or I'd still be working and wouldn't get to goof off all the time on DP

Don't go getting soft on us, I don't want to have to change my mental image of you.

 

[tshade]

Being in my 30s now I'm not sure if I want to wait 40 years.

To play the market week by week is no different than going to Las Vegas........................trust time

 

[multivita-man]

Roth IRA with Vanguard index fund, and some 401-Ks that I really need to roll over into a traditional IRA. Aside from that, just cash. I've been waiting for interest rates to go higher so I can feel better about parking cash in some interest-bearing accounts. I could probably afford to buy a starter home but it doesn't make sense now, not with interest rates being what they are. And my rent ain't that bad. I like liquidity. People invest for different reasons.

 

[Geoist]

To play the market week by week is no different than going to Las Vegas........................trust time

Oh I agree 100%. That's why I invest longterm and diversify. Also staying away from meme stocks.

 

[Craig234]

What we are investing in is oligarchs. Put our trillions in the pocketbooks of oligarchs. Also some military, but oddly we're having a hard time arming allies against threats a tiny faction as large.

 

[dmpi]

Being an older retired guy, I'm 65% stocks and 35% bonds/fixed income. My stocks are 75% S&P500 (SPY) and 25% Foreign. For the past few years my stocks have been on autopilot. However lately there's been some action in the fixed income market like Bonds, CDs and T-bills. There was a lot learn about bonds. In a way it's far more difficult than stocks. Your primary focus is on the Fed and possible corporate defaults.

 

[Craig234]

What, on the other hand, is China investing in?

Well, they have over 25% of the STEM people in the world, and it's growing; they're buying up the world's rare minerals for things like batteries; they're investing in Quantum computing, AI, their nuclear aresenal, I think hypersonic missiles, and are reportedly the world leader in green energy. Of course there are the surveillance systems so they can care for people and the nice Uyghur re-education camps.

 

[ataraxia]

To play the market week by week is no different than going to Las Vegas........................trust time

Yep, Vanguard offers excellent index funds, from aggressive small caps, to REITs and international funds, to more conservative things like bond funds, etc.... Just get a good mix that makes sense for the level of risk you are willing to accept, and just put it in there and forget it.

 

[dmpi]

Roth IRA with Vanguard index fund, and some 401-Ks that I really need to roll over into a traditional IRA. Aside from that, just cash. I've been waiting for interest rates to go higher so I can feel better about parking cash in some interest-bearing accounts. I could probably afford to buy a starter home but it doesn't make sense now, not with interest rates being what they are. And my rent ain't that bad. I like liquidity. People invest for different reasons.

Money market accounts are liquid, it only takes a day to sell it and convert it to cash and another day or two to transfer to your checking/savings account. I use Schwab's SWVXX which currently pays 5.25%. It really doesn't make sense to hold too much cash in a savings or checking account.

 

[Bucky]

Oh I agree 100%. That's why I invest longterm and diversify. Also staying away from meme stocks.

You just named about 5 meme stocks, although I don't think there is a consensus on the definition of a meme stock.

 

[Geoist]

You just named about 5 meme stocks, although I don't think there is a consensus on the definition of a meme stock.

What on my list would you consider a meme stock?

When I say meme stock I'm talking about the usual Wall Street Bets-type meme stocks like Gamestop.

 

[Bucky]

What on my list would you consider a meme stock?

When I say meme stock I'm talking about the usual Wall Street Bets-type meme stocks like Gamestop.

Most people here would consider Tesla a meme stock or an outright fraud.

 

[dmpi]

A meme stock has more to do with who trades it rather than what the company does. Also it can't be too widely held or traders won't be able to manipulate the stock price and put it on wild swings.