OP - what book or site would you recommend for someone looking to learn more about investments? This is something that I've long been interested in learning more about but have no idea where to start. TIA!

I don't see the problem. If someone asks you what you do with your free time just say something like "I'm a finance geek" or whatever. If they're interested, they'll follow up and you can say you love reading about the markets and investing or whatever. You don't have to do it in a douchey way. I think this is how everyone is with their hobbies. Eg, my husband is into fishing but I have rarely heard him get into a detailed conversation about it because most people are not super into it. Likewise nobody wants to hear about my DC urban mom addiction. If that were the only thing I were capable of talking about, I should probably find some other hobbies because I would be super boring.

Any hobby involving money is like that. Travel, sailing, scuba, etc. Even if you do it on the cheap people think you're a snob and swimming in money.

NP here. I will admit I was a nerd. I studied finance and math. No one wants to talk about that.

When I'm with social friends here in VA, we talk about kid stuff, food, local beaches, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP. No one thinks you're bragging, they simply think you are a huge nerd who needs to get some real hobbies. Also, they are bored to tears.

Protip: a few of my buds are in the market for a condo now and I actually enjoy accompanying them on open house visits. It's always fun to see new houses and maybe nab a free cocktail or two while doing it. I'm not the envious type though.

Wow it's like middle school in here; a serious person = huge nerd.

No its not like middle school. I am not the PP who used the term "huge nerd" and probably wouldn't have. But OP genuinely needs to hear that the issue isn't that other people are jealous, intimidated, or think OP is too serious. The issue is that they find the topic boring (or, occasionally, as other PPs have pointed out, think that good investing is passive so the entire concept is stupid). That doesn't mean OP shouldn't be interested in it, but it does mean OP should proactively seek out other people who are interested in it. Go on MeetUp or something. But recognize that people aren't jealous of your success, they just happen to not give a shit about it. My hobby is building furniture and custom sheds. When somebody's eyes glaze over when I talk about it, I don't think "man they're so jealous of my kick ass shed," I think "this is not a topic this person is interested in."

Anonymous wrote:OP. No one thinks you're bragging, they simply think you are a huge nerd who needs to get some real hobbies. Also, they are bored to tears.

Protip: a few of my buds are in the market for a condo now and I actually enjoy accompanying them on open house visits. It's always fun to see new houses and maybe nab a free cocktail or two while doing it. I'm not the envious type though.

Wow it's like middle school in here; a serious person = huge nerd.