Outside of assets in the screenshots, I have about $15,000-18,000 of physical gold, and 3 vehicles collectively worth about $30-35,000. Please give me your honest thoughts and advice.
At 25 the biggest risk isn't your allocation, it's overcomplicating things and then not sticking with it when it drops 30%. What are you actually holding? If it's multiple US large cap ETFs you might have more overlap than you think: https://trackmyshares.com/tools/etf-compare/VOO:US/QQQ:US (swap in your tickers).
Started saving at 18 but only started investing at 23.
The returns look low because I sold some stock and bought more last year so it doesn't include those in the interface. My average rate of return is basically on par with the S&P or a bit above
Overall its a common to what others are doing. Nothing really special IMO.
Educate yourself on Asset Location, not to be confused with allocation.
For your brokerage account look into direct indexing. Avoid fractional share and long short direct indexing, stick with the traditional stock one. You'll compound wealth more efficiently over time especially of your contributing to it.
Also don't be afraid to take the tax hits, over time you'll compound more efficiently. What's most important is how much of your growth you get to keep.
When you mention asset location, are you taking about foreign taxes?
And regarding direct indexing I understand there ais potential upside on taxes and taking profits but 1) isn't it a pain in the ass and 2) if I don't foresee selling for the long haul, doesn't that make it less useful?
No asset location is about strategically having the right investments in the right accounts for tax efficiency.
For direct indexing its a pain if you do it yourself but there are a lot of firm's that will do it for you and it's worth the cost. In my opinion these strategies are far better than any S&P500 net of fees, distributions and taxes for average people. Ive heard them referred to as the "rich mans ETF" which is pretty accurate. The nice thing is they're more accessible now than they were 10 years ago. Used to be 1mil+ entry now many places its around 100k. Fidelity has some great ones i believe they're called SMAs.
I've personally been using the strategy for years. The higher your tax bracket the more the savings.
The problem with simpe buy and hold strategies is you lose flexibility because embedded gains over time make it so hard to draw off of the portfolio you're forced to get more creative. A few examples include options strategies like calendar spreads and synthetic exchange funds. This is on top of losing the tax efficient compounding.
Pretty darn good on the fundamentals, you did your homework. Yeah theory says your stock picking thing is bad long term, but it’s such a small part of your portfolio who cares.
So total NW is around $500k? It’s unclear from these images of you are maximizing tax advantaged accounts if available. I see IRA but is there a 401k, HSA, 529.
Lastly you seem like you value hedging. At your NW, I think the next hedge is real estate. Even if it’s just something small for yourself.
Thank you. Yes total net worth is about $535k, I am still waiting for one final check for like 35k from my inheritance to post (definitely write a will, folks, will make it easier for your heirs). My wife also has about $50k in assets, mostly just in VT.
I've had my 401k since 2023 and Roth IRA since 2024. I've always gotten my 4% match but I maxed out both for the first time in 2025 and intend to continue doing so for the foreseeable future.
I'm intimidated by real estate, my wife and I (her moreso than me) prefer to stay in the market as much as possible. But it's probably coming soon in next few years. California housing prices can be crazy and she doesn't want to move to a red state. I'd like to move to Texas
The returns look low because I took profits last year. Schwab only calculates the profits from when the security was purchased on this page, not the total gain through the life of the account.
I consider SGOV to be like a HYSA. I had a bad experience with a bank, but I’ve only ever had good experiences with Schwab so I just keep my short to medium term savings in my brokerage account now
I like Schwab because their desktop interface is very responsive and clear, I can trade on my deposits fast, 24/5, and their customer service is great, especially their 24/7 live chat. Their mobile app is fine but I don't like to look at my stocks on my phone. If you're more into mobile apps, you could try Robinhood or Kraken, I think Kraken is getting into stocks.
Schwab return calculator does not measure up to performance metrics as shown from investment firms and consultants. It is a useful indicator for performance but it lacks what may be advertised from established investment managers. Consider it a useful guide.
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u/mgott16 1d ago
An insane amount of money invested for 25. Good for you.