Do you put most of your money in stocks?

Question

It's rather shocking to me that 9 of 12 friends of mine I've asked recently have zero direct exposure to the stock market, whereas about 80% of my savings is in stocks/mutual funds/etc. Of said friends, the most common reason (besides that they don't feel like they know what to invest in) is a general feeling that "the market's gotta crash one day". I respond with, "but FOMO". (Neither one is a valid argument).The two wealthiest people I know are completely invested in real estate and neither of them gets anywhere near the stock market.Yet... I was brought up on this concept that the best way to preserve and increase wealth is to buy stocks that have a history of increasing their dividends, and dripping them. That that is better than any sort of CD or mutual fund. Mostly utilities where there's a firewall to competition. Which, granted, is a curiously conservative form of investment (but still a pretty radical form of saving, from the perspective of most of my friends).I'm curious how many people around here actually put most of their money in the market, or what your view is on it.

kerrsclyde · Accepted Answer

As a result of being a bit obsessed with fool.com around the turn of the millenium I invested some money into Index Funds. I still have these investments now and they have tripled in value.
My wife and I have made far more money via house sales however, due to the rise in UK house prices in recent years.
I'd agree most people I know don't directly invest in the stock market. You use to hear much more small talk about stock market investing 20 years ago than you do now.
Maybe:
Less money to invest (price of housing / cost of living etc)
Difficulty focusing on the longer time frame required for stock market investing
Big push in the UK on investing into pensions

dxs · Answer

Overall, the best strategy is to invest in everything. You get some winners and some losers. The winners increase your value and the losers vanish. Over time, you win.
Four principles: (1) Asset allocation, (2) Diversification, (3) Rebalancing, (4) Time.
Info: Bogleheads.org, Investing Advice Inspired by Jack Bogle: https://www.bogleheads.org/

didip · Answer

I am 75% in individual tech stocks and VTI. The other 25% is in real estate.
I think the 25% is a pretty good ratio to hedge against the tech stocks. Also, the high rate is making profitable RE investing very difficult.
Almost all of my peers are near all-in tech stocks. We are all still fairly young to use a conservative strategy like all-in VTI/VTSAX/VOO.

keernan · Answer

History says 99 of 100 people will never beat the Vanguard total stock market index fund (or better yet the Target Retirement Fund)&hellip; so long as they purchase regularly and never sell before age 65.And not having the funds is just an excuse. Start with $100 a month buying etf shares. And never stop.

bhaney · Answer

I have 50% of my money in an S&P 500 index and the other 50% in high yield savings accounts.I know I should have more in the stock market and I probably will once interest rates decline.

ssss11 · Answer

Real estate is so expensive these days I have a mountain of debt just to own a home. If I had spare cash lying around I&rsquo;d put it in shares.

JumpinJack_Cash · Answer

Making money is not about the stuff as much as it is about the people who deal the stuff.
In the stock market you cannot hunt fools, whereas in entrepreneurship, real estate, resturants, garage sales etc. you can be predatory all you want if your morals allow you to.
You can hunt for misinformed people and rip them off while laughing all the way to bank.

Do you put most of your money in stocks?

I have 50% of my money in an S&P 500 index and the other 50% in high yield savings accounts.
I know I should have more in the stock market and I probably will once interest rates decline.

Real estate is so expensive these days I have a mountain of debt just to own a home. If I had spare cash lying around I’d put it in shares.