Introduction

[Baldeagle721]

Hello fellow mustachians, I wanted to introduce myself as I've been lurking the forums for a while. I've been studying personal finance for around two years. I am 26 years young and currently live in Brooklyn, NY. I landed a really good job with the city about 2.5 years ago. This job offers a 6 figure salary, health benefits, a pension, and a 457 investment plan. The 457 is a 401k for government employees as I am eligible to retire in 20 years and have full access to it. During this time I have read multiple finance books and read through this whole blog a few times! I started with Dave Ramsey's book, JL Collins Simple Path to Wealth to name a few. These books have got me on what I seem to be on the right track. I still live in my parent's home which allowed me to pay off all my debt! I am currently saving money to move out and increase my savings account. The only investment I am in is my 457 VTSAX alternative plan. I am contributing 12% of my income weekly. My questions going forward as I have been having information overload from Youtube and other sites. Should I be investing in individual stocks recommended by a Motley fool site or something similar? After watching some videos online with Robert Kiyosaki he recommends trying to get into Real estate and buying Gold/Silver. Also, some advisors have been pushing the Bitcoin craze which I am totally confused about. This is my first post so I don't want to blabber too much but my last question is the City's "financial advisor" is pushing some type of Infinite Banking Concept in the form of High Cash Value Life Insurance. I am not sure how to feel about all these confusing things and would appreciate any advice!

[RWD]

Welcome!

You should not (by default, at least) be investing in individual stocks, precious metals, or bitcoin. Sticking with the JL Collins strategy is sufficient and going to be better for most people. Consider real estate if you have the interest and energy to learn and put in the necessary work.

We just had a thread on Infinite Banking yesterday, but suffice to say you should probably stay far away.
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/investor-alley/becoming-your-own-banker-infinite-banking/

[Baldeagle721]

Hey! Thanks! I'll look at those! What are your thoughts on Financial advisors as a whole?

[RWD]

Fee-only fiduciaries are fine but anyone that is charging you a percentage-based management fee or steering you towards front-loaded or otherwise high expense ratio funds should be avoided like the plague.

[mwulff]

I would suggest you start pouring money into the stock market in index funds.

First watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eikbQPldhPY - that's is the mindset right there.

Read this article: https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/12/18/your-money-or-your-life/

Very few financial advisors will give you advice with regards to FIRE.

I would recommend reading the entire MMM blog and Jacob Fiskers Early Retirement Extreme blog. They will give more good advice than 25 financial-advisors put together.

Forget about bitcoin, gold, silver and so on. I would recommend classic VSTAX and some bonds and maxing out tax advantaged accounts.

[Baldeagle721]

That video is awesome! I will be digging deeper into the blog and re-read JL Collins book. As I stated before I am contributing to my 457 through Voya which has something close to VTSAX @ 12% pre-tax. It comes to around 150-220 a week. I put 85-100$ in a HYSA. Should I open a Vanguard account so if I have money left over after expenses I put more money into VTSAX?

[mwulff]

I'm afraid I can't help you there. I'm in Europe so my investments are quite a bit different. But go the investor alley section of the forum and ask there. Tons of people can answer you better there than I can.

[Much Fishing to Do]

Welcome.

I'll not add to the information overload but rather have just one piece of advice.  At your age don't get too caught up in the fights over investing strategies, tax strategies, payoff debt versus leverage fights etc without first always realizing that every dollar you keep from spending right now is much much more important than what you do to grow that dollar/pay down debt etc.  By the time those other strategies become all that important you'll be an expert from hanging out with this crowd....

[John Galt incarnate!]

That video is awesome! I will be digging deeper into the blog and re-read JL Collins book. As I stated before I am contributing to my 457 through Voya which has something close to VTSAX @ 12% pre-tax. It comes to around 150-220 a week. I put 85-100$ in a HYSA. Should I open a Vanguard account so if I have money left over after expenses I put more money into VTSAX?

Greetings OP.

I majored in finance and am always pleased that others study the subject.

You live at home with your parents.

Having this advantage can you cut your spending and increase your weekly savings to $250 which = $1000 per month?

Saving and investing $1000 per month is pretty good for a beginning investor.

[Baldeagle721]

Sent you a PM