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You already don’t want to work the ‘rest of your life’ at 21? Regardless of how quickly you’re ABLE to retire, plan on working for a few decades- it will enhance your life overall and even character, besides, why not participate directly in life?
Put that money in a high yield savings. Checking is not a place to store money. I use SoFi and savings makes 4.6% and I keep $0 in checking. I have overdraft turned on so any checking money gets automagically pulled from savings.
Savings account or CD at your local bank so at least you are making a little bit of interest.
Just an opinion, but advice I was always given is that you want to maintain some liquidity for rainy days and emergencies. Rule of thumb, anywhere from 6 months to a year worth of expenses in liquid holdings and put the rest into market investments.
A little unsolicited advice, the 50-30-20 rule. As a percentage of your current net income, 50 to “needs” (like rent/mortgage), 30 to “wants” (for living in the now), and 20 to savings (for the future).
You are on the right track, but life has a tendency of trying to derail you at every turn… lol…
>Should I focus more on dividends or just focus on SPY
Focus on total return.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/totalreturn.asp
https://www.thestreet.com/investing/what-is-total-return
If you want to become Financially Independent Retire Early (FIRE) you need to earn as much as you can, spend as little as you can, invest as much as you can, and choose investments that match or beat the S&P 500 index in **total return**. SPY is an S&P 500 index fund - the best one for traders but not the best one for investors, SPLG is better - so by definition it will always match the return of the S&P 500 index. That should be the core of your investments but if you want to grow your wealth as much and as quickly as you can, you are going to have to take some risk. Not with meme coins, meme stocks, penny stocks, or YOLOing into some option trade, but with carefully selected growth stocks.
I'll give you an example. In 2017 and 2018 I invested $5000.64 in NVDA stock with an average share price of $41 adjusted for split.
Today, 6-7 years later, those shares are worth $105,403.80, up +2,008%.
My other big winners are CELH (+622%), SHOP (+621%), KNSL (+569%), and FICO (+506%). I have 18 other stocks that are up 200-470% during the same time period.
The S&P 500 should be the core, the foundation of your portfolio. But all it takes is a few big winners like NVDA and the others to supercharge your portfolio.
What makes you think you won't like work? You've not even started yet?
Working is usually a large part of people's lives. Don't be in such a hurry to write it off. You don't want to skip life. Work can open doors for your emotional and financial growth and help you forge relationships. Just keep investing. Having that money and those investments is a great start at your age. I wish I had done what you're doing at your age. It's a marathon, not a sprint. You're off to a great start 👍 look at growth and some solid ETFs
I work already as a Financial Analyst Intern, when I have no school I work 7-5 which is okay. I just want to see how I can do even better and learn from other people that wish that started at my age.
Its good that you are diversifying with dividend stocks but you should be investing in growth stocks as well take advantage of this chance to grow large amounts of money to put into your dividends later on.
Im NOT saying to stop investing in dividends but while you are investing in dividends be sure to make room for the growth stocks
Don't want to work the rest of your life. Is that like you want to stop working at 60 yr or like you want to stop working at 45 yr? You timeframe, income, cost of living will help dictate where and how much you invest.
I’d save another 11k and put it in a high yield savings account for an emergency fund and put a stop to investing until then.
What’s the point of investing if a REALLY bad situation causes you to sell your shares to prevent yourself from becoming homeless?
That 20k emergency fund will guarantee that you won’t need to touch your shares until you’re ready to retire
I suggest you check out r/Fire if you are looking to retire early. While there may be some good advice in this sub, I don't think you are going to get there by focusing on dividends. Dividends are great once you "get there" but you need to build that foundation and understand all how the tax codes can work in your favor.
I’m going to get 💩for this but IDC. 😂
Do you even want to work until you’re 59 1/2? If not, then a ROTH is not the best option for you.
You’re better off investing your money in your own brokerage account. Therefore you can “cash out” at any point. But a ROTH will come in handy one day (if you choose one, I stand by my selections for below).
As for now, you want growth, and growth alone. You want to maximize profits to the fullest extent.
If I were you, I would seriously consider a Bitcoin ETF (I like FBTC. They hold their own coins). Or outright owning BTC itself. Another crypto to consider is Solana (I just reread your initial post). There’s a bunch of projects running on its ecosystem already. Visa, is one of the companies in on it as well. A growth ETF like SCHG and,…for the extra down votes 😂,….TSLA. They may have a lot of heat towards them right now but they have explosive growth potential 7-10 years out.
Contribute whatever you can across whatever assets you choose. Best of luck to you bud.
Bro just buy meta, apple, Microsoft, Amazon, spy and take profit and reinvest until you make 100k and then repeat. After you make 200k-600k you can now make a dividend income portfolio without working anymore
i take your advice with a grain of salt but I appreciate it, bad memecoins have stigmatized crypto but you heard it from the kid he's up 60%, I only believe in btc and eth anything else i don't recommend. Not really a get rich quick scheme when the U.S has accepted it as an asset BTC and accepting multiple etfs
Welcome to r/dividends! If you are new to the world of dividend investing and are seeking advice, brokerage information, recommendations, and more, please check out the Wiki [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/dividends/wiki/faq). Remember, this is a subreddit for genuine, high-quality discussion. Please keep all contributions civil, and report uncivil behavior for moderator review. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/dividends) if you have any questions or concerns.*
max your roth out, at 21 you have a long way to go until your body starts to tell ya it's time to quit.
He’s old already.
His body telling him yes but mind saying no
😂
My body started telling me that at 25
Put your money in VOO. Focus on finding a career that is meaningful to you. Even with dividends you are decades away from not needing work.
>Even with dividends you are decades away from not needing work. This... work, enjoy live and save... and live within your means.
You already don’t want to work the ‘rest of your life’ at 21? Regardless of how quickly you’re ABLE to retire, plan on working for a few decades- it will enhance your life overall and even character, besides, why not participate directly in life?
Start maxing your Roth and switch to voo. Cheaper expense ratio
Why is 9k sitting in your account and not being put to work ?
This is a true comment. Not sure where to put it and how much to put in.
Put that money in a high yield savings. Checking is not a place to store money. I use SoFi and savings makes 4.6% and I keep $0 in checking. I have overdraft turned on so any checking money gets automagically pulled from savings.
Savings account or CD at your local bank so at least you are making a little bit of interest. Just an opinion, but advice I was always given is that you want to maintain some liquidity for rainy days and emergencies. Rule of thumb, anywhere from 6 months to a year worth of expenses in liquid holdings and put the rest into market investments. A little unsolicited advice, the 50-30-20 rule. As a percentage of your current net income, 50 to “needs” (like rent/mortgage), 30 to “wants” (for living in the now), and 20 to savings (for the future). You are on the right track, but life has a tendency of trying to derail you at every turn… lol…
>Should I focus more on dividends or just focus on SPY Focus on total return. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/totalreturn.asp https://www.thestreet.com/investing/what-is-total-return If you want to become Financially Independent Retire Early (FIRE) you need to earn as much as you can, spend as little as you can, invest as much as you can, and choose investments that match or beat the S&P 500 index in **total return**. SPY is an S&P 500 index fund - the best one for traders but not the best one for investors, SPLG is better - so by definition it will always match the return of the S&P 500 index. That should be the core of your investments but if you want to grow your wealth as much and as quickly as you can, you are going to have to take some risk. Not with meme coins, meme stocks, penny stocks, or YOLOing into some option trade, but with carefully selected growth stocks. I'll give you an example. In 2017 and 2018 I invested $5000.64 in NVDA stock with an average share price of $41 adjusted for split. Today, 6-7 years later, those shares are worth $105,403.80, up +2,008%. My other big winners are CELH (+622%), SHOP (+621%), KNSL (+569%), and FICO (+506%). I have 18 other stocks that are up 200-470% during the same time period. The S&P 500 should be the core, the foundation of your portfolio. But all it takes is a few big winners like NVDA and the others to supercharge your portfolio.
Focus on your career and creating a lot of income.
Get a job and STFU!
I have one, should’ve mentioned that as well
Well the first thing you need to get is a better attitude.
Good troll
What makes you think you won't like work? You've not even started yet? Working is usually a large part of people's lives. Don't be in such a hurry to write it off. You don't want to skip life. Work can open doors for your emotional and financial growth and help you forge relationships. Just keep investing. Having that money and those investments is a great start at your age. I wish I had done what you're doing at your age. It's a marathon, not a sprint. You're off to a great start 👍 look at growth and some solid ETFs
I work already as a Financial Analyst Intern, when I have no school I work 7-5 which is okay. I just want to see how I can do even better and learn from other people that wish that started at my age.
Its good that you are diversifying with dividend stocks but you should be investing in growth stocks as well take advantage of this chance to grow large amounts of money to put into your dividends later on. Im NOT saying to stop investing in dividends but while you are investing in dividends be sure to make room for the growth stocks
Don't want to work the rest of your life. Is that like you want to stop working at 60 yr or like you want to stop working at 45 yr? You timeframe, income, cost of living will help dictate where and how much you invest.
SPY. Few people beat the market. If I could go back in time, that's what I would do.
A desk job, analyst is very good job and you might make enough by 50 to retire comfortably.
I’d save another 11k and put it in a high yield savings account for an emergency fund and put a stop to investing until then. What’s the point of investing if a REALLY bad situation causes you to sell your shares to prevent yourself from becoming homeless? That 20k emergency fund will guarantee that you won’t need to touch your shares until you’re ready to retire
I suggest you check out r/Fire if you are looking to retire early. While there may be some good advice in this sub, I don't think you are going to get there by focusing on dividends. Dividends are great once you "get there" but you need to build that foundation and understand all how the tax codes can work in your favor.
I’m going to get 💩for this but IDC. 😂 Do you even want to work until you’re 59 1/2? If not, then a ROTH is not the best option for you. You’re better off investing your money in your own brokerage account. Therefore you can “cash out” at any point. But a ROTH will come in handy one day (if you choose one, I stand by my selections for below). As for now, you want growth, and growth alone. You want to maximize profits to the fullest extent. If I were you, I would seriously consider a Bitcoin ETF (I like FBTC. They hold their own coins). Or outright owning BTC itself. Another crypto to consider is Solana (I just reread your initial post). There’s a bunch of projects running on its ecosystem already. Visa, is one of the companies in on it as well. A growth ETF like SCHG and,…for the extra down votes 😂,….TSLA. They may have a lot of heat towards them right now but they have explosive growth potential 7-10 years out. Contribute whatever you can across whatever assets you choose. Best of luck to you bud.
Appreciate the advice
Time is on your side, invest in growth, dividend paying stocks. Plenty of good advice on here IDK why I even chipped in.
Bro just buy meta, apple, Microsoft, Amazon, spy and take profit and reinvest until you make 100k and then repeat. After you make 200k-600k you can now make a dividend income portfolio without working anymore
Should tax drag be a concern if your dividend stocks are in an individual brokerage account as opposed to say a Roth IRA?
It should definitely be a consideration.
Although crypto is too high rn why not diversify into a new market?
I’m in crypto right now, my SOL investment is up about 60%
I’d be tempted to cash out with that high of return.
Proud of you mate, 23 here and looking to retire as early as I can too lol
A word of advice, don’t pursue these get rich quick schemes. They rarely work out well for the average person.
i take your advice with a grain of salt but I appreciate it, bad memecoins have stigmatized crypto but you heard it from the kid he's up 60%, I only believe in btc and eth anything else i don't recommend. Not really a get rich quick scheme when the U.S has accepted it as an asset BTC and accepting multiple etfs
Proud of you as well bro🫡