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What advice would you give to yourself if you were 18 again in 2026?
    #29454536 -

So, I've been learning about investing for a few months now, dabbled in some daytrading just to try it out, all that stuff. I'm studying for a job, and I'm looking to make the most of the money I earn, how would you guys go about it? Since I'm still pretty young, I have no debts to pay off, no rent, no desire for a relationship and no nothing to spend my money on. I still live with my parents but I'm planning to leave at 23/24, so about 5-6 years from now. From my observations, I should invest majority of my earnings into silver and S&P500, wait until the predicted ai bubble pops and then try to scoop up some stocks for cheap. What changes would y'all make to my plan?


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Trapped in a blue bubble in the infinite void of space

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Re: What advice would you give to yourself if you were 18 again in 2026? [Re: Oddboss] * 2
    #29454577 -

Invest consistently.  Automate it.  Dollar cost average.  DRIP.  Dividends are powerful.  It's boring AF, but Index funds (SPY if you want to go with the S&P 500 and has my vote), ETFs, etc seem to be the way to go.

Then forget about it...

I have heard the above most of my life, but I had to fuck around and find out before I could even come close to following it.

:leocheers:

Oh, and stay away from silver.


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Edited by father_fungi (01/13/26 05:13 PM)

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Re: What advice would you give to yourself if you were 18 again in 2026? [Re: Oddboss] * 1
    #29454585 -

Daytrading is brutal business.  You should really only be doing it AFTER you have maxed out other more stable solutions.  The risk is high as is the dopamine hit of hitting a winner, but the inevitable crash when you fail sucks a lot more  It can absolutely ruin you. 

Commodities like gold/silver/etc can be good for long term holding.  I would recommend getting into an ETF for them if you do and avoiding physical material.  Mostly because its a bit annoying to buy/sell actual bars of gold or silver.  Much easier to trade it digitally.

You should be dumping into a 401k / Roth retirement account.  You will regret it when you hit your 40s and 50s if you are behind.  It may seem far away now, but trust me, it is not.  Because the growth is exponential over time and offers various tax benefits it has great long term potential and also be a windfall late in life. 

Put money into the S&P 500 / NASDAQ / etc. Not for day trading, but long term growth.

Toss money into a high yield savings account.  This is emergency money.  You should ideally have a windfall that can last you about a year if everything goes to shit and I promise you that at some point, especially when you first move out, something will go to shit.  Life can spiral really quickly and much more so when you are young and lack the stability of a career. 

The big thing regardless of what investment vehicles you choose is to have a good mixed portfolio to help weather bad events and to be building wealth exponentially over time.  Set aside X dollars each check/month/whatever that is investment money.  Then split that money across multiple vehicles.  Make sure you manage your exposure and risk.  I use crypto as my 'play money' type of investment because it is so volatile and risky.  I don't daytrade it though and generally buy/sell when we are in big highs and lows..  I never let crypto money get mixed in with things like my 401k.  If crypto were to crash out of existence today it would suck but it would not change my lifestyle, bill payments, or anything else.  If my retirement somehow goes to zero then shit is really going to suck when I hit 67.

In the end you want your money making you more money over time and helping you live the lifesyte you want, without losing the house and the car along the way.  Odds are generally not favorable to the average day trader in stocks or crypto and no matter how good you get at reading charts you cannot see the future.  It only takes one flu pandemic to crash the entire worlds economy.  One war to destroy support networks, etc.

Good luck!


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Nothing says love like grannies prolapsed anus!

quote]Urb said:
I know... Its fucked up... Ill fix it minyana..[/quote]

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Re: What advice would you give to yourself if you were 18 again in 2026? [Re: mndfreeze]
    #29454863 -

Start now, at 18, with systematically putting money aside every month if possible, as compounding over the decades will add up BIGTIME.

You got to take the dollar going on its ass into the equation.

China is fire-selling their US Treasury Bonds, what they are buying is precious metals and strategic elements and materials. If you got ETF's that deal with those, you likely will see gains, as there is mass hoarding of those going on. No point in forklifting Dysprosium and Tantalum into your garage :smirk: but ETF's dealing with strategic metals etc will do good, Silver has been reclassified a strategic metal recently, so that would be covered in the ETF package.


If you want to own precious metals as a hedge, https://www.bullionvault.com/ is a great option. It is a bullion "bank" but not part of the international banking system, so if that goes, bullionvault stays up. What they have is vaults all over the world where you can allocate precious metals by the gram, and sell them, and have the money in your bank account in 24 hours. It has the convenience of a savings account but your money is converted to offshore precious metals. Should you suddenly have to relocate for whatever reason, no need to drag metal around, login where you are and deposit or withdraw.


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:nyan: LGBT - Love God Before Tradition :nyan:

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Re: What advice would you give to yourself if you were 18 again in 2026? [Re: Asante]
    #29455464 -

Buy gold . When I was 18 an ounce could be had for around 800 or so . Now it’s in the thousands . Golds steadily always gone up in value and is accepted currency everywhere .

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Re: What advice would you give to yourself if you were 18 again in 2026? [Re: Oddboss]
    #29455603 -

What are your goals? Where do you want to be financially when you’re 24 and move out of your parents house?


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notapillow said: "you are going about this endeavor all wrong. clear your mind of useless fear and concern. buy the ticket, take the ride, and all that.... "

ChrisWho said: "It's all about the journey, not the destination."

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Re: What advice would you give to yourself if you were 18 again in 2026? [Re: Mickalopagus]
    #29455732 -

My first goal is to have a buffer for when I move out, second, longer term goal is to be able to retire early with a good amount of money in my fund.


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Trapped in a blue bubble in the infinite void of space

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Re: What advice would you give to yourself if you were 18 again in 2026? [Re: Oddboss]
    #29455813 -

useful tips from a middle aged guy who became a millionaire in his 20s



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Omnicyclion.org
personal empowerment for the world

:nyan: LGBT - Love God Before Tradition :nyan:

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Re: What advice would you give to yourself if you were 18 again in 2026? [Re: Oddboss]
    #29456280 -

Oddboss said:
My first goal is to have a buffer for when I move out, second, longer term goal is to be able to retire early with a good amount of money in my fund.


https://www.nerdwallet.com/investing/calculators/retirement-calculator

Have you ever used tools like this before? Gives a nice picture of what your future savings could snowball into with all that time on your side. Very good takeaway is the longer that money sits, the bigger it gets, and 30-40 years from now (when youre in youre 50s, or early 60s), that could be a pretty sizeable number, based on your contributions.

Another fantastic tool is just having a conversation with Chat GPT - it can run some calculations to help you further refine your trading/saving plan.

Are you currently employed/earning income? My advice to you would be to get a job, while youre studying for the job you want to get. If you arent already employed, the quickest way to start saving is by earning anything at all. Since your cost is low living at home, you can stash nearly all of your income into interest bearing accounts, as well as a bit of diversification across PMS/Crypto/youname it..

Deciding on what in particular you want to invest in, I would urge you to read the Stonks thread here, as well as talk with Chat GPT (or whatever AI you like to use). Disclaimer: I use the paid version of Chat, and am pretty happy with the responses, I cannot vouch for any free AI tools out there.


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notapillow said: "you are going about this endeavor all wrong. clear your mind of useless fear and concern. buy the ticket, take the ride, and all that.... "

ChrisWho said: "It's all about the journey, not the destination."

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Re: What advice would you give to yourself if you were 18 again in 2026? [Re: Mickalopagus]
    #29459436 -

After expenses, save 30% cash. 30% retirement stuff, in Canada RRSP and FHSA.
The other 40% in investments. Some into high dividend stuff, some into REITs, some into gold and a small slice into higher risk stuff. Maybe some crypto when you see it heating up.
Follow the trends, what industries are supporting strong growth? For example data centers are all the rage. These need copper, memory chips, software, real estate.
New battery tech is coming.
To my 18 year old self: investing is better than drugs in the long run 🤣


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Re: What advice would you give to yourself if you were 18 again in 2026? [Re: thirdeyewild]
    #29459568 -

To my 18 year old self . I advice to marry that rich girl that I blow, but as market wise I tell me to use roath ria retirement 10% every year and get into farm future markets trading.


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Re: What advice would you give to yourself if you were 18 again in 2026? [Re: thirdeyewild] * 1
    #29460044 -

Honestly I'd do things exactly the way I did them and use all my money for fun and experiences for awhile. Years aren't promised and a comfortable retirement or future is a pipe dream relying on a whole bunch of factors beyond your control ending up right, you'll never feel physically (and often mentally) better than in your late teens and early 20s so enjoy the shit out of it but in a way that you can make up for it later.

I travelled and partied (along with a lot of hard work) from 18 to about 24 then hit the books for awhile for a degree, got a job I love that makes ok money and in the unlikely event the US economy stays stable my wife and I are right about on track for a great retirement income. If I'd been worried about tucking money away I would have missed out on most of the best memories of my life

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Re: What advice would you give to yourself if you were 18 again in 2026? [Re: feevers]
    #29460744 -

You can do both.  You dont have to give up your entire income for retirement at 18,  but you can definitely start good habits of money management and toss a little each check into some investments and savings.  In that early adult stage there are a lot of big purchases a person may want, like their first home, or a car, etc.  Kids usually also come along in peoples 20s and 30s. They are the most expensive thing you can have. 

Def go out, do shit, have experiences but start building a safety net and some basic investment stuff early. That way you have emergency funds and your investments will grow exponentially.


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Nothing says love like grannies prolapsed anus!

quote]Urb said:
I know... Its fucked up... Ill fix it minyana..[/quote]

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Re: What advice would you give to yourself if you were 18 again in 2026? [Re: mndfreeze]
    #29460779 -

Having an emergency fund is definitely good for a lot of reasons if possible. I think the most important thing is thinking about what you want your future (short and long term) to look like and setting goals based on that. If money is tight and you're young IMO there are very often better investments than financial/savings based ones, the kinds of things people usually end up regretting missing out on down the line and that can lead to their own unique opportunities

It's obviously different for everyone, some people do want to jump right into the house and family life, some want to retire early etc. In my area though I feel like any 18 year old who wants to buy a house and have kids in their 20s better have started saving like 20 years ago :lol:

Edited by feevers (01/21/26 01:59 PM)

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Re: What advice would you give to yourself if you were 18 again in 2026? [Re: feevers]
    #29460855 -

Was mostly pointing out that yeah at 18 no one is thnking of that shit, but when you are 18 being 25 or 30 seems "forever away" and then people don't plan at all.  Even if you are working a dead end starter job as a fresh adult you should still work on some sort of safety net, and throwing even just 20 bucks a check or whatever into some sort of growth fund is a great idea.  20 bucks is like 2 starbucks coffees.  Not going to miss out on any epic experiences cutting back on a small treat.  By the time they hit their late 20s and 30s they might have cashola saved up for that FHA downpayment on a small house, or a car, etc.

Definitely not saying someone who's 18 should be dumping 50% of their earnings into a 401kp or anything.  Lotta time for that still, but also dont pass  up free money from employer match and easy growth with a tiny pittance tossed into the market every check or something. 

I definitely recommend people WAIT for kids if they have em at all for sure.  But realistically thats just not the way she goes.


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Nothing says love like grannies prolapsed anus!

quote]Urb said:
I know... Its fucked up... Ill fix it minyana..[/quote]

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Re: What advice would you give to yourself if you were 18 again in 2026? [Re: Oddboss]
    #29608703 -

"The costs of not having a credit card outweigh the risk. By a lot".


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Time is nature's way of making sure that everything doesn't happen at once.

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Re: What advice would you give to yourself if you were 18 again in 2026? [Re: towndaze] * 1
    #29609668 -

I suggest to 18 year old to invest high dividend paying REITs and some strong ETFs and do it consistently and maybe in the future the compound will work for you.

Build up strong portfolio over time and at the same time you will learn to manage it.

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General Interest > Money Matters
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