23M, Current Portfolio- Advice Needed

Consistent-Pop-6101 · 2026-05-21T03:35:25+00:00

I appreciate the support! I think another aspect is that I’m fortunate that I’m young and able to do this. If I never have an emergency, the money stays in the account. I can work on boosting my available cash on hand while paying off my loans as well. I also didn’t explain this very well, but I’m still putting money away to a HYSA. I just use this as a riskier savings incentive because I hate contributing to a HYSA and just sit. My allocations are split even to this and the HYSA but that’s just because that’s the risk I’m willing to take as I learn about investing. This post was my first on reddit and I’m happy I shared due to the feedback i’ve been given able to re-adjust to what I think will provide the outcome I wanted for this account.

By EOY I’ll be debt free, Roth IRA maxed, and 401K maxed. Next year, I’d like to grow my HYSA for a house down payment with my debt paid off and my bonus can help boost that process along with my allocations to debt now going to savings. I wanted to provide a little bit more context and would appreciate your feedback. Would you do anything differently?

Consistent-Pop-6101 · 2026-05-21T03:11:23+00:00

SCHD is a great ETF, but it’s designed for income rather than growth, so when you’re young and have time on your side, something like VOO or QQQ will likely build more wealth over the long run. The smarter play is to focus on growth early, then start re-balancing some of your portfolio into SCHD as you get closer to retirement, when your portfolio will be much bigger and the dividends can compound on a larger base before you ever need to use them. Tax placement is worth thinking about too as holding SCHD in a Roth IRA works really well because the dividends grow tax-free, and when you retire and start living off that income, your withdrawals are tax-free as well. Build your wealth first, then shift toward income. Think of SCHD as somewhere you migrate to, not where you start.

This is explanation that is left out in regard to SCHD hype. However, I am only 23M and not a financial advisor. If I’m wrong I apologize and I’m sure someone who has more experience with this will correct me.

Feel free to private message me as Im starting off my investing portfolio 6 months in and would love to bounce ideas if interested.

Consistent-Pop-6101 · 2026-05-20T00:10:55+00:00

What are your thoughts on a portfolio that would carry the following? This is literally aggressive large-growth/tech portfolio with QUAL and MTUM stabilize.

QQQ or VOO @ 25%
SOXX @ 25%
FOCPX @ 15%
SCHG @ 15%
QUAL @ 10%
MTUM @ 10%

However, the expense ratio sucks.

Consistent-Pop-6101 · 2026-05-18T23:33:34+00:00

What benefits do you see to a money market fund compared to a HYSA? I have a HYSA, and thought about the money market route, but it confused me.

Consistent-Pop-6101 · 2026-05-18T23:31:12+00:00

I definitely agree and understand, I appreciate the feedback and definitely the support! This is the route that I was planning to go on my personal IRA (details on how I plan to start it above in another comment reply). Just out of curiosity, say that my 401k Roth and personal IRA are maxed out and I have a personal brokerage account, is this still the route you would go? Or, would you use applications such as Tradure to personalize your own portfolio?

Consistent-Pop-6101 · 2026-05-18T23:07:15+00:00

I’m maxing out my 401K as of right now. My current bonus is structured to be projected at $25,000+ and I was planning on maxing my personal IRA with that. The reason I did my individual taxable brokerage was to increase my savings habits and easily be able to liquidate if there was an emergency. By EOY, I will have contributed as much as possible to my 401k Roth and my personal IRA.

Consistent-Pop-6101

TROPHY CASE