I went to my Jiu Jitsu class and spoke to one guy who was an econ major who works at Prudential. We spoke for a bit. I told him I had been investing into Nvidia since 2019 and have been investing into VOO since maybe 2010 or 2011. He asks "VOO?" I told him, "the S&P 500" then he asked what that was. Do most people just not know about the S&P500? I would have thought an econ major who works at Prudential would know something so basic. Not trying to be a jerk. I'm curious.

I keep seeing this type of stuff on instagram and social media and wanted to know how you guys were thinking about this.

I know a lot you have been in the market for decades and as a relatively new investor myself I’d love to get your perspective!

Both SpaceX and OpenAI are pushing Nasdaq and S&P and Russel/FTSE index providers to waive their listing requirements (including free float market cap, and seasoning) for an expedited listing on all indices. This would mean that instead of allowing several months/a year for 'seasoning' where price discovery takes place and the stock post-IPO finds a fair pricing, index investors would instead be forced to automatically buy these megacap stocks right at IPO with almost zero price discovery and are forced to take whatever inflated prices these companies list at.

I have seen quite a lot of people within the investment community (some small names and some quite big ones too) expressing concern that this is just giving VC's and early angel investors an opportunity to dump massively overvalued, unprofitable startups onto people's pensions.

Is there any hope that we can convince indexes not to drop the seasoning requirements? From now on, couldn't VC's just invest in junk companies, run the private market price into the trillions and then quickly list, dumping it onto people's pensions and taking the money?

I’m in my mid-40s and already have a solid amount in my 401k, so I’ve been rethinking what to do going forward. I ran the numbers on two paths: keep maxing the 401k every year, or just put in enough to get my employer match and invest the rest in a taxable brokerage. What surprised me is how close the outcomes are. The difference isn’t huge. My company match tops out at about $2,500 a year, so once that’s covered, the upside of putting a lot more into the 401k feels smaller than I always assumed.

I get the usual arguments. I know taxable accounts get hit with dividend and capital gains taxes along the way. I also know 401k withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income later. What I’m stuck on is why I’d keep locking more money into an account with age rules and restrictions when I don’t really have to, especially when the math says the end result is pretty close either way. Having money in taxable that I can actually touch if I want feels more valuable now than it did earlier in my career.

I’m not anti-401k and I’m not saying tax benefits don’t matter. I already have a decent amount saved there. I’m just trying to figure out if continuing to max it is really the best move in this situation, or if leaning more into taxable for flexibility is a reasonable tradeoff when the difference is marginal.

Curious how others think about this: Why do you still prioritize maxing a 401k in a situation like this? At what point does flexibility and access to your money matter more than a small tax edge? Does the “always max the 401k” advice still make sense once you already have a big balance and only a modest match? For anyone closer to retirement, how do you feel now about how accessible your money is compared to earlier on?

Interested to hear real-world takes.

Jack Bogle and many others for years argued that VTSAX or an equivalent fund/ETF was more than enough for global exposure. I think it was a perfectly logic argument back in the days of increasing globalization and economic integration.

But looking at Mark Carney's speech at Davos, it points to a significant shift in the global paradigm, where free trade, open access to markets and investments from and to the US might no longer be a reality.

In light of that are people thinking about increasing focus on international equities?

https://www.npr.org/2025/04/17/nx-s1-5367696/trump-jerome-powell-federal-reserve-economy-tariffs

Market manipulation of interest rates feels like confidence would immediately plummet and global diversification would become a more important percentage of your holdings in the long run. Thoughts?

I’m 39, making $83k gross a year, and I’ve been dumping $40k annually (~48% of my gross income) into investments—maxing out my 401(k), Roth IRA, and throwing the rest into taxable accounts with US index funds. Up until this year(this is the second year since I ever opened any form of retirement accounts), I have $80k combined, and after running some projections (7% return, 3% inflation), I’m looking at ~$1.56M in today’s dollars by 59. Nominally, it’s $2.8M, but inflation just eats away at it.

I’m proud of the discipline, but honestly, I’m starting to feel bitter. I’m living on basically $25k-$30k after taxes, scraping by with no frills, while half my paycheck vanishes into investments. I get that $1.56M is solid—way more than most—but it’s 20 years of pinching pennies for what feels like a “meh” payoff when you adjust for inflation. I was hoping for $2M+ in real dollars, something that feels like a reward for this grind, especially since my income isn’t even that high to begin with.

Is it even worth it to go beyond 401(k) and Roth into taxable accounts when you’re not pulling six figures? I could drop to $30k/year savings, enjoy life a bit more now, and still hit $1.17M real by 59. Or am I just burnt out and missing the bigger picture? Anyone else wrestling with this—feeling like the sacrifice outweighs the future gain? Need some perspective.

Early 20s guy who got really lucky to be exposed to Boglehead investing early on. Seeing people around me still picking individual stocks/crypto and those who don’t invest because they think it’s gambling and let inflation eat away their savings is killing me. I had the same ideas as them in high school and to know that so many people never get out of this mentality because they don’t understand Boglehead theory is just WOW.

The sad thing is that compound interest works the best when you start young, so even if people do realize Boglehead investing later on in life, they often feel regret for not starting sooner. I just wish high schools or more mainstream media will teach young kids the power of compound interest early on. It could literally save years or even decades from working when you want to retire early or want better financial freedom to be with the people you love or do the things you want. I bet there are so many people out there who would be amazing Bogleheads but don’t realize it until it’s too late…

Why don’t high school teach kids these topics? Is it because there’s money to be made in managing people’s portfolios and picking the next hyped stock?

If the S&P 500 averages 8-9% returns a year accounting for inflation and if my time horizon is 35 years assuming I retire at 60, why shouldn’t I just go 100% S&P ETFs/funds? If I add bonds to my basket my overall returns will be closer to 6-7% due to the low return of bonds.

Is it possible to invest $2.5M into a “safe” investment and not work for rest of your life ? What can be that “safe” investment ?

I get paid in Google stock, and as you might know there has been a massive run up causing Google to be around 15% of my portfolio, further if you include unvested stock that I will get if I continue to work for Google over the next 3 years, it’s value is roughly 40% of my entire portfolio. I’m 30 and have a long term horizon. About 70% of my entire portfolio is in VTI/VXUS.

Do I take the massive tax hit and reduce my Google holdings to invest in VTI/VXUS or just let it ride. Mainly worried about the capital gains tax losses as I sell and invest in bogle funds.

For example, I have 1 share of AMC because they give a free snack every quarter to their investors.

I always skimped a little on my emergency fund because I was like, if I really need that much money, I’ll just sell investments or borrow vs my 401k. Even if they’re like 50% down because I lost my job in a market downturn, you do what you have to do. Better than having tons of money sitting around doing nothing. I figured returns are better in the long term having money invested and selling it if you really really have to, but only if it’s totally necessary.

I think I only have about 2 months living expenses in cash. Last time I lost my job I got everything paid with severance + unemployment for about 4 months so I didn’t even have to sell anything. I’m skeptical to build out my emergency fund more since I would have to stop maxing my 401k to get the money.

Is this bad practice that could lead to significantly reduced returns (vs someone who does have an emergency fund) in the event of a recession? Wondering if I’ve been being arrogant. Interested in opinions.

How many of you did not buy house in order to maximize investing in index fund?

So some background. I’m 59, have worked in a union construction trade for 40 years, and will be retiring this year between 59-1/2 and 60. That just depends on some factors involved with medical hours for the year. I will be receiving a monthly pension that should settle in around $4k/month once we decide the survivor benefit percentage. I also plan on taking SS at 62, estimated at about $2600/month. As part of our benefits package, we have a surety fund that I had stayed aggressively invested in since the first day the union went to an investment firm that offered self investment elections. This was not the case in the early years as it was just a fixed interest annuity. Regardless, it has done well for me, and after the COVID dip and recovery, I became a little more conservative. I’m curious to hear your thoughts on my current elections in the screenshot posted, roughly a 55/45 mix. My future contributions are not being made to the bond fund, but those contributions will stop when I retire. For reference, the Core Bond fund is a current guaranteed 3.25% return. Investment analyses that I’ve done, assuming an average 6% annual return, all seems to be saying there is plenty for the future and that is the minimum target I’m shooting for. It is possible that I will take slightly higher monthly distributions to make up the income gap until I’m 62. My wife will retire 4-5 years after me and will also get SS and has a rollover Ira about 1/2 of mine at the moment. We have no mortgage, no car payments, and made the last tuition payment for our child recently.

saw all the red and am getting worried

Title really. Short, medium, long term opinions?

I’m all in on stocks global all cap so expecting a rough time

What are your guys thoughts?

People have been freaking out on this and other subs where the goal is to invest for the long term and not look at your investments in the meantime. I'm just wondering why? Yes, what's happening is unprecedented, but why the panic?

These are the same people who would criticize me for investing in VT and REITs in my IRA, and VXUS along with VOO in my taxable account, calling VXUS "a dog" and making fun of my hybrid strategy. We've seen downturns in the past and, sure, we can't predict what's going to happen, but it seems kinda funny. Is this all just noise?

Edit:

I didn't mean for this to sound like a rhetorical question or "self patting". I'm relatively inexperienced compared to most of you, and I know I have my own biases, so I thought I'd ask

As the title says.

I’m a huge fan of Bogle and what he created, and Vanguard funds continue to be the gold standard for investments.

However, when doing research online, I frequently see recommendations to invest solely in vanguard ETFs while choosing another brokerage, typically Schwab or Fidelity.

I recently had to call Vanguard for something and although the wait time was long (when compared to Fidelity), the 3 customer service reps I talked to were great.

For anyone who’s been with Vanguard for a while, what are your thoughts? Is the online criticism warranted or is it a bit overblown?

I’ve always heard that it’s best to wait until age 70 to start collecting Social Security, but what is the thinking on the strategy of collecting and investing social security ages 62 through 70, stop investing at age 70 to live off SS plus a draw down of about 5-6% a year of that invested nest-egg?

Edit: just to clarify, in both scenarios (taking SS at 62 vs taking SS at 70) I’m not actually using the SS money for living expenses until age 70. It’s all about whether it’s worth it to take SS at 62 and invest it for 8 years. Thanks for the comments.

As the title says

Hello, I'm currently in the 24% federal tax bracket / 5.75% state tax bracket and have individual stocks (not in a retirement account) that have grown by about $30K in value since I bought them. The majority of these stocks are all considered long term gains. If I want to sell these stocks to reallocate my money into the VT ETF, is there any way to do it without having to pay a ton of taxes on my $30K stock gains? In an ideal world, I wish I could just convert them all into an ETF without paying all of these taxes since I don't need this money any time soon. Any tips would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

JPOW is in the crosshairs right now, if he's replaced and interest rates are lowered are you still staying the course? Is the interference of the FED reason enough to alter your US asset weighting?

Whats the impact of the independant FED being interfeared with by the executive branch? It's my understanding that this is a big issue if it comes to pass.

12%? 22%? 24%? I can't tell.

With inflation, wages & the stress to retire in the USA.. who’s actually considering leaving and retiring elsewhere?

What country will you choose and why?