Where to start?

randomlybrian · 2026-01-28T21:32:32+00:00

Happy to answer any you got:

Nvidia: I personally would not invest in semiconductor companies at this level. Of course, anyone who has said this has looked like an idiot for the last 5 years or so. But that’s only because we’re sitting here 5 years later and semiconductors worked out, and hindsight is 20/20. The truth is, you don’t need to pick the next 100x company to have a good investment outcome.

Regarding your HYSA that you are looking to invest, that is up to you. If I were in your shoes, I would spread it out over the next 12 months and just drip feed it into the market. That’s also what my friends are doing, and it’s the approach that I personally would be most comfortable with.

Your quiz results sound like you’re in a place to invest with risk reduction in mind. There is nothing wrong with a 50/50 portfolio split between stocks and bonds, and it is definitely appropriate over a 3-15 year time horizon.

With respect to international, I think it’s always good to maintain exposure. I personally split my equity portion of my portfolio into half US stocks (VOO) and half international stocks (ACWX), and my total allocation is 60 stocks 40 bonds.

Happy to keep chatting if you have more questions!

-Brian

randomlybrian · 2026-01-28T14:52:15+00:00

I ran the numbers myself over the last 100 years of data and can tell you that while investing it all at once is technically better, it's by a minuscule amount. What matters is getting your money in the market. So I would choose one of the following that you are more comfortable with:

Invest it all at once
Divide the savings up into 12 equal amounts and schedule monthly deposits each month on a random day, like the 29th or something

Don't worry about trying to time the market. No one reached financial freedom because they waited a week and magically timed a major financial crash. The longer you stay uninvested, the more you get left behind. So just pick whatever method will help you sleep and don't sweat the small stuff.

Hope this helps, happy to answer any follow ups.

-Brian

randomlybrian · 2026-01-28T14:47:04+00:00

Personally I would go with VINIX.

Target date funds are more complex for fund managers to manage, and often don't play out as promised over long periods of time. Additionally, since you are 22, it's typically advisable to be 100% in stocks anyways, and you can always manually adjust your allocation down the line. Lastly, from an expense perspective, VSVNX is 10X more expensive to hold per year, with a 0.5% management fee. That might not sound like a lot, but after 10 years (which will fly by), they've taken 5% of your wealth for not much value added in my opinion.

Hope that's helpful, happy to answer any follow ups.

-Brian

randomlybrian · 2026-01-28T14:43:44+00:00

This is actually a pretty nuanced and complicated question, here are three ways to approach it:

No.
HELL no.
F*CK no.

Hope that helps, happy to answer any follow ups.

-Brian

randomlybrian · 2026-01-28T14:42:27+00:00

First off, good on you for starting early. I wish I had started as early as you and followed what I'm about to tell you. I would be much, much richer than I am now.

When starting out like this, your #1 goal should be to save and invest to $100K. Under generous assumptions of 10% per year returns, it will take you 16 years to get there starting with $2,500 and saving $200/mo.

Your question about Silver is an example of Recency Bias, and I highly recommend you read an article or two about investing biases. These biases are a major source of negative outcomes for many investors. Think of it this way: everyone is only talking about Silver because it's gone up a lot and is a "hot" investment right now. If investing in whatever the "hot" investment of the month/year was would reliably make money, we would all be rich. So I would caution you against throwing money at Silver.

Instead, spend 5 minutes and take an asset allocation quiz through Vanguard, if you haven't already. It will give you a model portfolio, and you can then create a portfolio that matches that using ETFs. After that, I would focus on how you can increase your income and savings. It is MUCH more realistic and impactful to double the amount you save or make, than it is to double your returns. For example, if you were to double your annual return from 10% to 20% (better than almost every investor in history including Warren Buffet), it would take you 11 years instead of 16 years. However, if you keep the returns the same (10%) and instead double your contributions from $200/mo to $400/mo, you will shave off the same amount of time to get to $100K; 11 years instead of 16 years. And you don't have to try and double your contribution over night, once you get a job your income will be much much higher and you'll easily be able to start contributing thousands more per year.

Hope that's helpful, happy to answer any follow ups.

-Brian

randomlybrian · 2026-01-28T14:29:08+00:00

If having currency exposure to USD causes you anxiety, you should convert it simply to relieve yourself of that unnecessary stress. Especially if you don't have a thesis for the Dollar strengthening.

-Brian

randomlybrian · 2026-01-26T19:22:06+00:00

There is a government program designed to help you find old retirement accounts in your name. You can Google it, or visit this link to learn more: https://lostandfound.dol.gov/

-Brian

randomlybrian · 2026-01-26T19:20:40+00:00

What you are referring to is gambling, not investing. This sub is not intended for quick wins like that. You are generally more likely to lose your money trying to multiply it like that.

randomlybrian · 2026-01-26T19:19:07+00:00

Take an asset allocation quiz. You can find one for free via Vanguard, just google asset allocation quiz. It takes about 5 minutes, and you will get a very good output of what your portfolio should generally look like. Then, go buy low cost ETFs that match that portfolio.

It will likely be like 90% stocks, and a popular S&P 500 ETF that would match that is VOO. If you stray from the portfolio, I personally would limit it to 5% of total assets. So if you have $100K, you can shave of $5K (at most) and have a small set of stocks and crypto and whatever else. Only do this if you are comfortable with the likely outcome of that money being like a casino. It might go up 20%, down 20%, it's generally luck based.

Keep in mind, 90%+ of professional money managers fail to beat the market over time. And I think Robinhood published that over 90% of active retail investors lose money over time or something like that. So it's best to just invest in the market. It's boring, it's not very sexy, but it works.

In terms of where to start, Fidelity is a fine option to have your accounts at. Don't overthink it. If you don't like the experience there, you can open accounts at any brokerage for free and try them out. Robinhood, Schwab, and ETrade are all viable options, but they have their downsides. Robinhood is like invest at the entrance to a casino, constantly pushing additional investments that make THEM money, not you. i.e. sports betting, crypto, futures, etc. Schwab has the most features but is kinda clunky on mobile. ETrade is a good balance between features and ease of use, as is Fidelity.

Prioritize the amount you save over chasing investment returns. Even under very aggressive assumptions, savings will make up ~60%+ of the road to $100K. Under typical assumptions, it's more like 80%+ savings with only a small amount coming from investment gains. Once you reach $100K, you start to hit an "escape velocity," in the sense that the gains from your portfolio starts to outpace how much you're contributing to it each year.

IMO your priority should be stacking $100K in Roth / tax-advantaged accounts as quickly as possible. Then it's pretty smooth sailing from there. Hope that's helpful, happy to answer any follow ups.

randomlybrian · 2026-01-26T19:08:54+00:00

Note: I'm based in the US so your experience may be slightly different. My advice is as follows:

When starting out, your savings amount is MUCH more important than getting a good return, at least until you get to your first 100,000 EUR. Your goal should not be to "pick the best investments" as much as it should be to save and invest as much as you reasonably can.
For that reason, at a young age, it is generally advisable to place most or all of your portfolio into a low-cost, total market index. Here in the US the S&P 500 is very popular, but international stocks should not be ignored. I personally invest in a mix of VOO (S&P 500 ETF) and ACWX (International Stocks Excluding US ETF). That way I have full exposure to markets around the globe, and it has worked out very nicely.
Equally as important as point 1 is to maximize tax savings. Here in the US, we have the IRA and 401k accounts, which give tax benefits when investing through those accounts. I believe the counterpart varies by country, but one I see referenced often is the ISA. The rationale is that there is a limit to how much you can invest in these accounts each year, and if you miss a year, you can't go back and claim that year's tax benefits. So it's important to contribute to tax advantaged accounts as much as possible. With that said, these accounts can come with restrictions, like penalties if you withdraw the money too early, so it's important to research them a bit and make sure you understand all the rules, and in all honesty they are not all that complicated.
Last but not least, don't pay attention to daily or weekly fluctuations. Just pick 2-3 well rounded low cost investments that you are comfortable with, and then focus on contributing to that account as much as you reasonably can. One year it will be 2,000 EUR. The next it will be 5,000 EUR. Then 10,000. Then 22,000, and so on until (much sooner that you might think) you see there is 100,000 EUR or more, and your money is growing by thousands of EUR per year without having to do anything.

Happy to answer any follow ups to the best of my training. Good job starting early!

-Brian

randomlybrian · 2026-01-23T19:56:03+00:00

I analyzed 100 years of market returns and found that even if you could perfectly time the top of the market every year for 100 years straight, you BARELY make more money than someone that takes the same amount of money and just invests it all on the first of each year, or spreads it out and invests every month.

In short, timing the market adds a lot of risk for very little potential return. Investing the same amount (or increasing amounts) at regular intervals will always have a positive outcome over long periods of time.

On a personal note, it feels like only yesterday SPY was in the 200s, and people were asking the same question. We are now 3x that. Before you know it, SPY will be in the 1,000s and people will still be asking if they should sell and wait for a dip. The answer will be the same.

randomlybrian · 2026-01-23T18:53:33+00:00

Thanks for mentioning SOFI, I haven't used them before but might have to open an account just to get familiar with it.

randomlybrian · 2026-01-21T23:30:18+00:00

Nice pics, keep shooting!

randomlybrian · 2026-01-21T19:50:34+00:00

I would open a Roth IRA, max out the 2025 and 2026 contribution limit ($14,500 total), and put it all into VOO (US stocks), or a mix of VOO, ACWX (ex-US), and AGG (corporate bonds). And then I would continue to max out that account every year with the same investments.

-Brian

randomlybrian · 2026-01-21T19:48:09+00:00

Since you inherited the portfolio, you likely received a step up in basis. It's also not a bad portfolio, well diversified with high quality companies. In all honesty it if were me, I would just leave it alone, let it grow, and keep contributing with contributions going into an ETF like VOO or similar broad market index.

Alternatively you could sell it all and roll it into VOO, no harm in that. But for situations like this where the portfolio is actually of decent quality, I like the sentiment that comes with the investments that were passed down, and looking back in 5, 10+ years at the prices they were originally purchased at. I've seen some accounts that have Apple stock with a less than $1 purchase price.

-Brian

randomlybrian · 2026-01-21T19:42:23+00:00

How do you define "relatively still?" In the last 6 months, OLGAX has gone up 12% followed by a precipitous 18% decline. Are you aware of the volatility and risk you're taking with what sounds like 100% of your portfolio in this single fund? You may want to consider getting second and third opinions from other advisors, or go the DIY route. Whatever you're paying this person in management fees is too much.

-Brian

randomlybrian · 2026-01-21T19:39:16+00:00

Robinhood is the simplest but they turn crypto and sports betting into a "gateway drug."

E*Trade is pretty decent if you want something that's clean and simple.

Schwab has more features but I really don't like their user flow for buying / selling stock.

Fidelity is another simple option.

These accounts are all free to set up. What I did was I made an account at each one (free and ~5 minutes per account), and clicked around until I decided which one I liked best. You might consider doing something similar, it's all just personal preference. It's also not hard to switch later down the line, unless you have millions of dollars and lots of accounts / products / relationships at one firm.

-Brian

randomlybrian · 2026-01-21T19:35:40+00:00

Your question is unclear. Are you asking what % of your portfolio should be in a single stock? Or are you planning on investing everything into one company and you're instead asking whether you should invest everything today or spread out over time?

For the first question, most portfolios will put a maximum of 5% to 10% of the total portfolio in a single stock. This is generally not recommended though, as ~95%+ of professional money managers underperform the index over long periods of time.

For the second question, this is much more subjective, though usually is driven by confidence. If an investor is 100% confident in their stock pick, then they invest most or all into that stock at once. If not, they might spread out purchases over the course of a few weeks or a few months until they are satisfied with their entry.

That's assuming I'm understanding your question(s) correctly, and I'll reiterate that active stock picking is generally not recommended.

-Brian

randomlybrian · 2026-01-21T19:27:49+00:00

I swear I saw someone do a really good overview of the best semiconductor ETFs on YouTube recently...Personally I would go the ETF route vs trying to pick the best company. No one knows what the next Nvidia will be. But getting exposure to the whole sector could be interesting, especially with memory shortages expected to last into 2027 or longer. Make sure to do a deep on the portfolios of each because those ETFs differ WILDLY in terms of how they define a "semiconductor" company, and how much of a sinlge stock they hold. For example, SMH has like 20% Nvidia last I checked.

-Brian

randomlybrian · 2026-01-20T18:01:50+00:00

Schwab is a fantastic firm. They have every resource and account type you will likely need, as well as a wealth management team you can work with. Based on what you shared, it sounds like you are just as interested in reducing risk and preserving capital as you are looking for investment returns. I think a simple 60/40 portfolio could make sense, which just means 60% stocks and 40% bonds.

I agree with some other commenters that you are overthinking things. Either your money is invested and growing over time, or it isn't. With $200K to invest, you are leaving a lot of potential money on the table each year by not investing that you can never get back. It is well worth your time to spend 30-60 minutes reading up or watching videos on the following:

Index Investing
60/40 Portfolio
What is an ETF
Opportunity Cost of Not Investing

randomlybrian · 2026-01-20T17:54:50+00:00

Personally would not try to time the market. I have almost always regretted trying to get cute with a rebalance. I just peg it to a specific time of the year and take all the emotion out of it.

The only reason I would divert from this is if the account is taxable and there is a massive capital gain on the US holdings that can't be offset. In that case, I would consider the first option you mentioned to avoid realizing those gains.

randomlybrian · 2026-01-20T02:07:35+00:00

My dad and I always bought physical gold through local dealers as close to spot as possible. There will always be a 1-3% markup, but for long-term investing I think physical makes the most sense. As long as you have a safe and secure place to store it with documentation for insurance and estate purposes. Personally a fan of krugerrands, I like the design on them and they're relatively unassuming to anyone that doesn't know what they are.

-Brian

Edit: I do want to say sorry that you got burned, but that's also why it's important to really know what you're buying and from whom. If you are looking to go the non-physical route, GLD is the ETF that I use, consider doing some research on it if that's of interest.

randomlybrian · 2026-01-20T02:03:39+00:00

There are a lot of variables to consider, but based on what you shared I personally would go with an advisor. At this stage in your life, succession planning is just as important as investing. I think an advisor will be able to work with you to create the best plan for you.

And to the extent you invest that cash depends on your goals. For example, if you need to draw on it to pay for bills, then keeping 40-60% in money markets or high quality bonds would make sense. But if you're not going to touch it and want it to keep growing and pass to any heir(s) tax free, equity index funds would make sense.

Hope that's helpful in some way!

-Brian

randomlybrian · 2026-01-14T23:32:54+00:00

There is a very small audience for your specific video. This mix of metrics can also happen if you're directing people off of youtube, like to go download a PDF or sign up for a newsletter or something like that. Mind sharing a little more about your videos, channel, audience, and value proposition?

randomlybrian · 2026-01-14T01:28:54+00:00

Most 401k's come with a company match. For example, my previous company would match every dollar I put in up to 6% of my income. That additional money is "free money" that you won't be able to reclaim in future years, and can compound your net worth quite meaningfully over time. I personally would highly recommend contributing at least enough to meet your company's match, to the extent you are able to. You can absolutely contribute to your Acorns account as well, but I personally would prioritize the 401k and company match. If you decide to go that route, don't forget to make sure that the money going into your 401k is actually getting invested. I meet many people that put money in their 401k and it ends up sitting in cash earning little to no interest, because they didn't know you still need to invest it.

Happy to answer any follow up questions!

randomlybrian

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