Reply to Is this a common feeling in your early 40s? Feels like friends are getting rich and we're stagnant

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]On DCUM, every time someone asks this question, multiple people say: "family money" because then they don't have to think about what they themselves could have done differently. I really don't think receiving large gifts or inheritances from family is as prevalent as you think. Minor downpayments are the most common form of help, but usually don't run into paying for the entire house.

Practically no one ever says: "stock market". Yet for us, that's been the sole driver of our wealth, and I suspect it contributes to the wealth of a lot of my neighbors in Bethesda, along with people who manage or sell successful businesses. We bought high tech stocks when they were cheap because we believed in the product and decades later can sell some stocks to meet our needs.

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But how did you have so much excess wealth 20 years ago to invest substantial sums on individual stocks?

[b]We followed the “prudent advice”:[/b]

Paid down student loans (guaranteed return as they say) but not too fast as they were tax deductible 
Invested in diversified index funds through maxed out 401ks
Kept adding to some long term CDs for building up a down payment on a house (which took a LONG time since houses appreciated faster than the $50k/year we were saving). 
Then we had kids, and whose there went $28k/year/kid for daycare
Then we bought a house and suddenly we are dropping $20k for waterproofing a basement…

Dabbling in the stock market is fun, but a) in 2023 you can say tech was great, but you have survivor bias (and honestly most high flying tech are not profitable enough to justify their valuation, like Uber or Tesla, or have already past their prime like Facebook). 
In general they recommend against investing large sums in individual stocks unless you don’t care to lose it. And if you don’t care to lose $20Ks of dollars, you are already WAY richer than us and likely OP. [/quote]

You followed the “prudent advice”. This is exactly your problem. This is OP’s problem. 
This is the reason she is left behind. She doesn’t play to win. She plays not to lose.
“Prudent advice” will not get you rich overnight. It will make you comfortable when you get old. 
OP’s friends that are getting richer are probably playing more aggressively and taking more risks. 
“Prudent advice” is what most people choose to follow. Go to college and get a 9-5 corporate job instead of the 
more riskier path of entrepreneurship. Same with investing.

I bet some of OP’s friends took more risks with their investments and got rewarded.

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