Ask HN: How Do You Invest?

#1

Post by chuhahaha » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 2:06 AM UTC

What’s your age and investment strategy? I am far more conservative with money than people at my age (mid-30s). I missed 2020 investment opportunities and as well as crypto ride.

Is there any recourse now? I am not sure if I should invest in BTC, ETH now at this high point or not.

How do you invest and how do you maximize gains over 5,10, 15 year period?

Re: Ask HN: How Do You Invest?

#2

Post by xkeysc0re » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 3:23 AM UTC

36 years old, life savings in GME

Re: Ask HN: How Do You Invest?

#3

Post by theungoga » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 4:12 AM UTC

I am not a financial advisor but I will tell you what I would do if I were in my mid-30s, with some money saved up.

Crypto:

Before I tell you my approach to crypto, I will always say the best strategy is to buy and hold. But, I would learn to swing trade crypto over long period of time (2-4 years). Trading daily or even monthly time frames is very dangerous and most people lose money. To start learning I recommend watching Datadash on Youtube. I have made a lot of money in crypto learning from him and try to help other people as well. There is a lot of free money in crypto, don't think it's too late. Here are some things I would also learn:

- Bitcoin Cycles - Altcoin Cycles - Money flow: Fiat -> Bitcoin -> Altcoins - Bitcoins Logarithmic Regression - Bull/Bear Markets Definition - How to use uniswap - Basics: how to send crypto, how to set up a wallet, how to set limit orders.

Re: Ask HN: How Do You Invest?

#4

Post by muzani » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 4:53 AM UTC

xkeysc0re wrote: post #2

36 years old, life savings in GME

Still better risk/reward than a casino.

Re: Ask HN: How Do You Invest?

#5

Post by nelsonmandela » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 4:57 AM UTC

50k Chainlink and a dream

Re: Ask HN: How Do You Invest?

#6

Post by TheGrkIntrprtr » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 6:32 AM UTC

I'd recommend signing up for a guest account at https://www.valueinvestorsclub.com/, where the likes of Michael Burry and other famous professional investors have posted (see Mike's posts here: https://valueinvestorsclub.com/member/michael99/1219). Mike makes it look easy in some of his posts, but there was no doubt a great deal of analysis and thinking involved. The reason I suggest this is to get some sense of what can be involved in selecting individual securities to invest in. If you're still considering a style involving picking a handful of stocks, go and read some CFA level II CBOK material on equity valuation, and consider whether it makes sense for you to try it as an individual investor. This would be very time consuming, but consider the time invested into earning the funds in the first place - if you really think you're skilled enough to choose a concentrated portfolio, you owe it yourself to invest some time into becoming familiar with common methods of analysis, and to think about what edge you have VS the seller of shares when you purchase them.

The point of doing this is mostly to dispel the extremely common Dunning-Kruger effect among amateur investors. Maybe my advice will be unsatisfying for you, but there is no single right answer to how one should invest. Reading a bit about how to think about valuation, risk adjusted returns etc.[0] should help you form some opinion on an investment strategy that you will feel most comfortable with, which will be important for you to keep in mind when facing the vicissitudes of the market.

[0] A great book on how to think about investing, by Howard Marks: https://www.amazon.com/Most-Important-Thing-Illuminated-Thou...

Re: Ask HN: How Do You Invest?

#7

Post by muzani » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 7:41 AM UTC

35 year old. I make about the top 20% salary in my country, but don't have much disposable income. I think until I hit a salary cap somewhere, it's best to just invest in my own skills - things like books, classes, experiments and side projects. I've had an average of 21% salary increase year on year for the last 9 years, which is much higher than if I had put my non-existent savings on anything. Once it's unlikely I could make at least 10% more from a better job or freelance work, I might look into other forms of investment.

Re: Ask HN: How Do You Invest?

#8

Post by dewlinedew2 » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 7:51 AM UTC

badly

Re: Ask HN: How Do You Invest?

#9

Post by 0x008 » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 8:15 AM UTC

Ordered by priority (as in what to do first, not as in how much money to put in each)

1. pay off debt

2. Cash reserve for 12-18 months of living

3. Any state sponsored retirement savings accounts

4. Employer sponsored retirement savings accounts or investments

5. ETF / bond portfolio with dollar cost averaging

6. Fancy ETFs / crypto / stocks whatever you like

Re: Ask HN: How Do You Invest?

#10

Post by fiftyacorn » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 9:00 AM UTC

0x008 wrote: post #9

Ordered by priority (as in what to do first, not as in how much money to put in each) 1. pay off debt 2. Cash reserve for 12-18 months of living 3. Any state sponsored retirement savings accounts 4. Employer sponsored retirement savings accounts or investments 5. ETF / bond portfolio with dollar cost averaging 6. Fancy ETFs / crypto / stocks whatever you like

Pay off all but the cheapest debt. So don't pay off interest free or mortgages as your investment should outstrip the interest fees