I’ve spent a decade claiming to be able to pick stocks. I’ve picked some winners and some losers during that time, and my labors have resulted in a near wash. Today, I have officially given in to the mantra suggesting that I cannot, in fact, pick stocks better than the average retail investor. I dumped nearly all of my positions (kept 3 personal favorites) and invested 50% of the proceeds in VT and 50% in VOO. That’s it, I’m done stock picking. ETFs are the answer. I was wrong.
Today is the day I finally accepted the truth about stocks.
byu/TheAnswer1776 instocks
Posted by TheAnswer1776
24 Comments
ladies and gentlemen, we got em.
Sector ETFs for speculation
Cool. Now calculate all the potential lost gains you could have had instead since the last decade
bro listened to reddit for stock advice lmao
At least you can get upvotes for admitting you wasted a decade of investing.
The other issue is that even if you can successfully pick stocks, unpredictable and unforeseen future events can destroy an individual company almost overnight. So even if you bet on the winning horse, it can still pull up lame at the finishing line.
Why vt and voo. Vt already covers almost all
Of voo.
Glad u finally accepted the truth. I tried the stock picking for a year and came out even as well, all the “research “ and watching videos, discussions with people, all the efforts was just to get even again. Put all my money in voo and chill now, never made so much money
Set it and forget it is the only long term strategy for the average investor. Yes, some might get lucky. However, the reality is most lose money.
I learned this a couple of years ago. I make contributions to my 401(k) which is all total market funds and I play around with my brokerage account. Haven’t added to my brokerage account in 3~ years.
Seriously we know we can’t beat even a decent ETF but we insist that we can pick better. Is that a gambler mindset or what’s the psychology behind?
Another ETF glaze being posted in an individual stock picking forum.
Like you don’t even know where you are.
Mods, this is not r/indexfunds, please start shitcanning this garbage.
I made choices when I was younger that weren’t great. You’re still young enough to recover and still make good money.
Guess I’m just better than average at stock picking
You were wrong and yet you are still liquid. Well done. You doing better than most.
Yepp I picked a few for fun but mostly buying ETFs
Quitter
I learned the same lesson in 2012, after losing money between 2009-2012 picking my own. Literally during a recession rebound I found a way to lose money. Best decision of my life, I’m making returns hand over fist now and it takes zero effort on my part.
Remember, this is for young people, more connected to everything
ETFs wont make you rich. Maybe in 50 years but who wants to enjoy money when they are 90?
Stock picking and beating the market is a skill. It’s OK to admit you don’t have it.
ETF is not wrong but my portfolio is all individual stocks. Investing since April 2020. My paper gain is now at 251%
I personally like DFAI for international exposure. Smaller index, slightly higher risk, but higher returns. Worth looking into
It’s a tough lesson. It seems so easy to make money when you first get started, you don’t realize how it’s much much easier to lose money. Beating the market consistently takes a lot of skill, knowledge, work, and luck and there’s a reason why investors who can do it are filthy rich.
Unless you’re willing to dedicate 80 hours a week to learning the ins and outs and researching companies you’re better off sticking to the easy gains.