this post was submitted on 23 Dec 2023
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Disclaimer: not financial advice, also the stuff mentioned here is specific to a certain country and to my mom's situation.
I'll share a slightly uplifting story I guess? My mom has asked me for advice after she asked me what I was doing with my money and found out I was doing well with it. It wasn't unsolicited advice so that probably helps. I don't have some crazy life hack or some crypto scheme. I just presented her the facts that stock market indexes (NASDAQ specifically) tend to avg around 10% YoY and it's an ok investment if you don't need the money for the next 5 to 10 years at least. I also disclosed risks and suggested bonds if it's too risky or at least open a high interest savings account with an insured bank (FDIC or CDIC).
I helped her set up a bank account with a bank that offered competitive high interest savings account and she agreed to the risk so we dumped the rest of her extra money into index funds. She's up 20% since she started so she's happy.
Honestly in my other comment I said never give investing advice, but as far as it goes, recommending investment in indexed funds is probably there exception with the caveat that it is a multi-year investment and there are dips.
Imagine suggesting that and they dump 20k and two month after the index does - 10% and they panic and sell.
Right. Which gets us full circle, to never give investment advice, lol. That being said, at some point someone may sincerely look too you for guidance and you need to make a call as to whether you want to take that risk, what advice you give, and are you sure it is good advice.
I used to mentor student employees years ago, and when they wanted advice I always told them to max out workplace matches first, and then after that if they can save more, put it in tax advantaged savings programs that let you buy into indexed funds and never sell. In those cases you usually can't even sell unless certain conditions are met and you sign disclosures, unlike most brokerages. Now, students you are giving them advice for the rest of there life and they likely don't have $40k to panic sell/buy/sell to zero.
Lmao. Yeah you have to be careful to make sure they understand the risks. They need to understand 10% average YoY is not the same as 10% every year. I've no background in finance so I don't know if I know enough to make sure I gave her the best advice but it was based on my understanding and prior experience.
Also, I think a friend of hers was trying to get her to sell covered calls. While well intentioned and technically low risk, it's complex. If you screw anything up setting up the covered calls it can end disastrous. Also it will complicate your taxes.