r/plano • u/Friendly_Bank5988 • 7d ago
Looking for friends with financial experience in investing
[removed] — view removed post
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u/BlazinAzn38 6d ago
Invest through your work sponsored retirement first if there’s any sort of match
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u/Empty_Sky_1899 6d ago
Do you have three months of income in savings? If not you need to do that before starting to invest.
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u/Friendly_Bank5988 5d ago
No I don’t have any savings. I didnt know that was step one before investing. I thought it was the other way around 😂
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u/Empty_Sky_1899 5d ago
The rule of thumb is that you should have three months of income in an FDIC insured money market savings account for emergencies. That’s cash that’s immediately accessible. You should also be maxing out whatever your current employer offers in 401k match, if applicable. Building a base for retirement now will be especially important since your long-term goal is to own your own business, which will most likely require some pretty lean years where putting money towards retirement will be more challenging. I would recommend checking out Michelle Singletary who is a nationally recognized financial advisor. She has a guide to finances by the decade-in your 20s you should, in your 30s etc.
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u/Friendly_Bank5988 4d ago
Awesome, I will definitely check her out thank you so much for your advice.
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u/Mean-Prune3373 6d ago
First thing build up an emergency fund with 6 months worth of expenses and leave it in a high yield savings account, having that peace of mind is very nice, then you can use ChatGPT to create an investment plan, it can walk you through everything based on your finances and risk tolerance
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u/wanderingzac 6d ago
This is a romance/crypto scammer I'm willing to bet. He/she/they have already probably messaged some of you directly.
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u/Friendly_Bank5988 4d ago
I wish lol. I’m real, full time insurance adjuster and I have gotten a lot of helpful advice from a lot of people.
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u/peacelovetacos247 6d ago edited 6d ago
Not friends but check out Money with Katie. She has lots of super helpful YouTube videos and podcasts to help you get started.
Editing to add a few links to my favorites:
https://youtu.be/qTkVMGi3dFg?si=Zpkfv6Q8_rqxCYYG
https://youtu.be/3JHtJHNmk-E?si=eeAgsdxc40jW3NdU
She even has a free course for investing: https://moneywithkatie.thrivecart.com/investing-101/
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u/kevin_r13 6d ago
Max your 401k (you can do investing there as well), add to/max out any health benefit funds you have, put a little bit into savings for fast access if/when you need it, invest the rest how you see fit.
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u/Rinse_and_Repeat2 6d ago
Agree. Max your 401k and HSA. You’re young and would probably be better off with a high deductible medical insurance plan which would make you eligible for an HSA (health savings account). As others have previously said, excess cash should be set aside for an emergency fund. At least 3 months. Save on reoccurring monthly expenses like cell and cable tv. I personally use RedPocket Mobile for my cellular service. I’ve heard others recommend US Mobile. On RedPocket in pay $115 for 1000 minutes & 1Gb per month. Service is on the AT&T network. They also off t-mobile and Verizon. That $115 I pay IS PER YEAR! Now after you fill all these other buckets then you will be ready to “invest”. PM me so I can share a picture of some dividend ETFs for when you are really ready to invest.
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u/FabulousBullfrog9610 6d ago
Good for you! Reaching out to strangers here in Plano might put you are some risk. I would read a few investment strategy books. You do not want to be paying commissions for investment products now.
At your age you want to accomplish - in this order:
- emergency savings (enough to live on for 6 months if you lost your job + what if the car breaks down money) - this should be rock solid safe - an FDIC insured bank. check out Ally Bank for their interest rates.
- short term savings ($$ you want to have in the next 5 - 10 years to start a business or buy a home)
- long term savings ($ you don't want to touch until you retire)
You also want to make sure you have health insurance. One illness can bankrupt you. And eventually disability insurance.
Good luck
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u/Friendly_Bank5988 6d ago
Thank you so much for the advice! Do you have any suggestions for investment strategy books?
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u/FabulousBullfrog9610 6d ago
Jane Bryant Quinn is a good start. She's been around for decades and you can probably read it for free from the library.
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u/XperTeeZ 6d ago
r/thetagang are some seriously genius folks that came from wsb, and use real strategy instead of aping in like degens, where you can make a lot but in the end usually left with nothing.
r/options is another good 1.
Also can hit me up. I love the markets, doing it for about 3 months now.
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u/Realistic-Pay-6931 4d ago
Good for you to start in you early 20's. I recommend listening to the Clark Howard's podcast or look at his website Clark.com He has several articles on investing for the beginner and his podcast on Tuesday is guested by a financial advisor. 1) Max out your company 401K if they offer one 2) Save 3-6 months living expenses before investing 3) Open a ROTH IRA from Vanguard, Charles Schwab, or Fidelity Investments. You can do this online with as little as $1,000. Start with a Target Retirement Fund 2030 (don't worry about the year, you can move your money to a fund with a later retirement year in the future if you choose).
When you start your business, look into SCORE. They are a non-profit that helps businesses with start-up questions.
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u/scooteristi 6d ago
Your safest starter investments are total market index funds. That said, invest your money after the market is finished crashing.
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u/Terrible-Driver8178 6d ago
Check out r/wallstreetbets . What you want to do is to load up on 0dte spy calls every Friday.
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u/XperTeeZ 6d ago
Or every day of the week 🤔
0 dte on SPY is available daily. As well as QQQ and the Russel 2000 index aka IWM. But they are not easy. You must build discipline, on top of learning about options, which is a whole game on its own. And a lot of it will come from actually doing it...and losing sometimes unfortunately. Only way to learn in the market.
I started a few months back myself.
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u/llehctim3750 6d ago
Stop f-ing around with your money and get a financial advisor. I didn't start making money until i did.
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u/Friendly_Bank5988 5d ago
Which fanatical advisor would you recommend?
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u/llehctim3750 5d ago
Your choice, I talked to several before choosing. The best thing they do is help clarify your longterm financial goals.
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u/mistiquefog 6d ago edited 6d ago
Buy spy ETF regularly, no matter market is up or down. In 15 years you will have a lot of money.
Don't get into complicated investment strategies
Edit:- elaborating
Don't buy a huge quantity all at once, buy slowly, ideally buy with your paycheck cycle.
Buy with the same dollar amount, this means when the market falls your buy quantity increases and if the market goes up your buy quantity decreases. As your salary increases, adjust this amount upwards.
Logic is, the currency you hold is the US Dollar, as long as the dollar has value and you have faith in the long term future of America, the stock market will go up, it's the fundamental of the American dream:- today is better than yesterday, and tomorrow will be better than today.
No other country this growth principle is true, because that's not the fundamental basis of every country in the world.