Good morning/afternoon/evening,
I would like to preface that I did not inherit anything. I got myself through college and found my own job. Lastly, I am not trying to make anyone feel bad or brag on Reddit.
As of today, I have:
Checking: 5,000
HYSA: 10,120
Brokerage: 149,690
Roth IRA: 81,895
401K: 38,190
Mortgage: 312k @ 5.75% cash flowing ~90 after all expenses
Debt: 23,828 @ 0.75%
I have never touched my HYSA and have a very stable job
24,500/12 into 401k monthly with a 5% match
Lump sum (7,500) Roth IRA at beginning of January
2,000 into Brokerage monthly
I treat my brokerage as another retirement account. Not to be touched and with only a couple ETFs.
I don’t own any individual stock. I stick to my budget. I don’t have a financial advisor and just go off of philosophy and strategy that I read and feel conviction in. It’s really boring and I recently hit the quarter million milestone but it was very anticlimactic. I do enjoy my money, I just have inexpensive hobbies and prefer running, surfing, working out, calling home, and hanging out with friends. I recently started buying something I like every weekend just because. Should I be more aggressive? Just a little bored and open minded to advice and reassurance from those with more experience and wisdom than me.
24, Seeking Knowledge, Guidance, or Reassurance
byu/Prestigious_Half_426 inpersonalfinance
Posted by Prestigious_Half_426
2 Comments
Your boredom is psychological not financial, don’t take bigger risky swings that’s how you derail a very good trajectory
two things worth flagging that nobody’s mentioned:
1. That 0.75% debt? don’t pay it off faster than the minimum. ever. it’s essentially free money — any dollar you throw at it is a guaranteed 0.75% return when your brokerage is compounding at multiples of that. just make the minimum payment and forget it exists.
2. the “should I be more aggressive” question is understandable but it might be the wrong frame. You’re already maxed on tax-advantaged + $2k/month into brokerage at 24. The real “aggressive” lever at your age isn’t portfolio allocation — it’s INCOME GROWTH. A 15-20% salary jump via a job change or promotion in your 20s compounds for 40 years and dwarfs any return difference between aggressive vs moderate portfolio. That’s where the energy goes.
The boredom thing is actually a feature not a bug. The people who NEED excitement from their portfolio are the ones panic-selling in March 2020 and missing the recovery. Feeling nothing when milestones hit means your emotions aren’t in the driver’s seat. That’s the behavioral edge that most people never develop.