11:38 poster here .. The above poster is correct. I also invested a bit in equities. |
| A lot has to do if your dual income with two 401ks or a company an exceptional 401k match. |
| Early 50’s couple with close to 1 million in retirement. But we have real estate investments with net equity worth about 2.2 million though. |
| Most people. Stop these ridiculous threads. |
My grandfather grew up dirt poor and became a self made multi-millionaire by become partner...at Arthur Anderson. His pension was essentially wiped out overnight. Fortunately he was a smart investor and was able to live off his personal investments, albeit at a very different scale than had he has his pension. From him I learned to be conservative and never rely on anyone to take of you. |
This is an interesting lesson for newbies and older folks like my self. 63. I was cautious in my early 30s as I was constructing my investment portfolio, picked some dividend payers and a few growth stocks but mostly diversified mutual funds. So I really never hit a home run on my stock investments. And while my stock mutual funds have kept up with the market, no clear out performance. But most of us don't have the time or inclination like Charlie Munger to do the research to pick quality firms. But individual stocks clearly have the ability to out perform, or in some cases, one stock can make you financially independent. Like Apple, NVDA, AVGO, XOM if bought years ago, etc.... Amazing stories of wealth building with stocks. |
Seriously. Dream on. |
Y'all really need to read "A Random Walk Down Wall Street." Low cost index funds as boring as they are have the greatest likelihood to make you rich over time, not much else will. Sure a few stock picks here and there might make you rich--but they have a greater chance of not panning out. Charlie and Warren are one of the few analysts who have a track record that beats the market long term--and they are buffered by the fact that they also own companies--and access/information we don't. I pick individual stocks for about 5-10% of my portfolio--I have had some great gains (I bought NVDA and TSLA years ago) but over a 20 year period my picks haven't beat the S&P500--I usually end up just hovering about .5 percent below when all is said and done--though I have had times where I was 60% above. Beats my DH who is well below though--and that's all that matters really since we do it as a friendly competition. We consider it a hobby. |
+100 Everyone posting about how they got rich off AMZN, AAPL, or GOOG needs to realize they got lucky and are outliers. Most people - even knowledgeable people - should NOT pick individual stocks. Even among highly-paid money managers, only 7% beat the S&P in any given year. And the 7% that do it this year are not the same 7% that do it ten years from now. Over a 30-year period, fewer than 1% of money managers beat the S&P -- and they are paid millions to attempt it full-time, not half-ass it after they get off their GS-14 job. |
| Got all my money in tulips |
+1. Stock market is gambling pure and simple. Investing by diversification is much better and investing with the mindset that you are growing your money is a good one but the expectation that you'll hit it rich on a poker hand is silly when you're not a pro gambler anyway. Which is pretty much what you're doing when you do individual stocks. Cash is king. My parents were self made businesspeople who definitely invested but their philosophy was always if you need more money work and make more. Investing is the cherry on top, never going to be your meal ticket. |
| Um, yes, of course. |
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We are 50 and have about $1.2m in retirement savings maybe $1.3m after recent runup. We’re good savers but got late starts in careers and had student loans.
We do each have small pensions at 62/63. |
| Us. We’re mid-50s with under $2M but one of us will get a pension and the value of that puts us over $2M (its present value is around $1M). |
| 66 with 1.8 and proud to have that much (most people don’t—google it). |