Retirement is one of those things we don’t always think about ahead of time. But one day, if we’re lucky enough to keep living, we’re going to get old. It’s no fun being broke while you’re young, but imagine being 65 or 70 and having to work as hard as you are now. You need to plan ahead right now. There is no escaping this.
This article was written for my wife’s friend who was interested in how to get started with investing. I was going to write this up in a text message, but honestly there’s a lot of ground to cover. These words should not be the end all advice, but rather a launching pad into how to think about investment.
Disclaimer
First and foremost, I do not provide personal investment advice and I am not a qualified licensed investment advisor. I am an amateur investor. This information simply exists because I want to share what I’ve discovered so far. Please do your own research before investing. I am not responsible for any losses.
All information found here, including any ideas, opinions, views, predictions, forecasts, commentaries, suggestions, or stock picks, expressed or implied herein, are for informational, entertainment or educational purposes only and should not be construed as personal investment advice. While the information provided is believed to be accurate, it may include errors or inaccuracies.
I will not and cannot be held liable for any actions you take as a result of anything you read here.
Retirement Investment Tips
There are really only three things I would suggest.
One, is to max out your employer contributions. Two is to get a Roth IRA. Three is a general tip: don’t believe anyone (including me).
1. Max out your employer contributions
If your employers matches 401k contributions, put the max they offer in every paycheck. For example, if they match 3%, put in 3% of your paycheck into their retirement funds. If they match 4%, put in 4%. This is free money that will build up over time, and they typically make safe stock picks.
This one’s easy.
Put as much money as you can into your employee retirement plan, especially to the point where they match your contributions.
2. Put money into a Roth IRA
A Roth IRA is like a cheat code for retirement earnings.
Put some money in it every month. Even if it’s $100 starting out.
You will need a “broker” to handle these transactions. Schwab is a decent broker to do this with, but you can use any. I just ended up with Schwab and they are ok. Avoid the gimicky ones with mobile phone apps. You need a serious broker, and you need to do this on a computer so you’re not tempted to watch the price go up and down all day. THIS IS NOT GAMBLING. There is no such thing as a get rich quick scheme, and if you believe in getting rich quick for even a second, you will be at risk of losing everything. Abandon all hope of that now. What you are doing is putting a little money into something slow and steady.
There is a yearly limit of how much you’re allowed to contribute to your IRA accounts, so do not go over $7,000 in 2025. This max number changes sometimes, and typically goes up every year. Know that this limit applies to BOTH Roth IRAs and Traditional IRAs combined. Your employer 401k does not count towards this limit. DO NOT GO OVER THIS LIMIT or you will owe the government lots of money.
Make sure it’s a “Roth” IRA, and not a regular IRA.
Why a Roth IRA? It’s a cheat code for tax savings. You don’t get any tax advantages immediately, like you do with a Traditional IRA. But, with a Roth IRA you do not pay a single penny of tax on the gains you make when you go to cash out in retirement. The money you put into a Roth IRA you have already paid tax on. With a Traditional IRA, when you retire and go to take your money out, you pay taxes on all of it PLUS any interest or stock gains you’ve earned. That’s a lot of money in taxes. With a Roth IRA, you are buying stocks and mututal funds, etc. with money you’ve earned at work. You already paid taxes on this money. When you go to retire, all the earnings over the many years of the stocks rising will all be in your pocket, and you won’t pay any taxes on it.
What and when to buy
Once you put money into the broker, you still need to buy stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, etc. so you can actually invest it.
What stocks/funds should you buy? I am not an expert on this. This is not financial advice. You need to do your own research. What I can say is, play it safe and don’t try to beat the market.
IMPORTANT: You need to get used to putting money into safe investments, and letting it sit there. Resist the temptation to take it out. Don’t watch it. “Time in the market is better than timing the market.” Just let it sit there. It will go up and it will crash down, and it will go back up again. If you panic and try to buy low, sell high all the time, then you will lose all your hard-earned money. You will waste all your money and feel terrible. Trust me. DO NOT GAMBLE YOUR LIFE SAVINGS. You need to be slow and steady, and trust the process.
Stocks go up. Stocks go down.
If you invest long term, and don’t panic sell, it’s very likely that you will make money over many years. Stocks typically go up over time. Just look at the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF over the course of like 15 years:
You see the dips?
You see how it goes up and down?
Those are the moments you need to be strong.
Look at the big picture. Hold onto your picks and ride them out. The little dips on this chart look like nothing, but let me tell you… it’s rough watching hundreds and even thousands of dollars dip down. Look at it this way though, you only lose if you sell. Do not sell. Make intelligent picks and stick with them. Over time, generally, stocks only go up. But it’s a wild ride to get there.
Don’t buy individual stocks. They are more risky. It’s like putting all your eggs in one basket. It’s like gambling. Unless you do this for a living and have studies markets and have millions to waste, don’t do it. You can pick maybe a handful of fun stocks to buy, but don’t get carried away. For example, I bought a few Sony, Nvidia, Intel, and Google stocks, but only 2 or 3 stocks each.
Instead, stick with ETFs and mutual funds, and are basically bundles of stocks. These bundles are picked by people smarter than me; people that do this for a living. Make sure you at least read what stocks are in each one. Understand what you are investing in. And again, don’t believe the hype!
ETFs
VT is an easy pick. It’s the Vanguard Total World Stock ETF. You are investing in both foreign and U.S. stocks. If you don’t want to think about balancing US and foreign stocks, just pick this one and ride with it. VT is sort of like well balanced mix of VTI and VXUS.
VTI is what I’ve invested heavily in. It’s like VT, but VTI only includes companies in the United States.
VXUS is another one I invest in heavily. Again, it’s like VT, but only includes countries that are NOT the United States. Investing in this one is investing in the rest of the world. I feel that world markets will do better than the US by the time I retire, so it’s a gamble I’m taking.
VOO is another top contender. It follows stocks in the S&P 500 Index, representing 500 of the largest U.S. companies. Companies like Apple, NVIDIA, Microsoft, Amazon, etc. VOO is a little expensive though. It’s around $550 at the time of writing this article. That means if you want to buy one stock of it every month, you’ll need at least that amount, or whatever the going rate is.
QQQ seems like a good pick as well, but I’m more skeptical of it, because it gets a lot of hype. I’ve invested a little in this one.
Mutual Funds
BREFX is Baron Real Estate Fund Retail Shares. It’s a risky one, but I bought some just to spend the odd amounts in my account. The nice thing about this one is that you can pay any amount and buy partials. Unlike ETFs, which you typically have to buy an entire share.
I should add more ideas to this list, but I haven’t really picked out many mutual funds in my portfolio yet.
3. Don’t believe anyone
Avoid getting caught up in the hype.
Reddit is not not good financial advice.
The latest stock craze is not a fast pass to luxurious living.
Pump and dump schemes will make you broke.
You need to take everything with a grain of salt and do your own research.
If you start feeling excited about making money with quick easy routes, take a deep breath and remember these words: don’t believe anyone.
Maybe trust a certified financial advisor. Run if you see someone selling only annuities. Understand that everyone with money has one goal, and that is to take your money and make it theirs. This world is a cruel machine that devours the innocent. You need to stay vigilant and do lots of research to avoid getting taken advantage of.
Invest wisely and without passion.
Trust nobody.
Research.
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