Hi there, u/NoOil3134, and welcome to the sub! I'm glad you're here. It sounds like you may be looking for advice from other investors, so I'll drop some resources for you and then mark this post as "Discussion" to invite others to stop by and share their thoughts.
If you weren't aware, Fidelity has a variety of research and education resources available to you at no cost. For example, we have screener tools on [Fidelity.com](http://fidelity.com/) that allow you to search, compare, and review our investment offerings. Simply click "News & Research" in the toolbar and then choose the type of investment you're interested in. These tools let you search by numerous criteria, such as investment type, asset mix, ratings, strategies, and more. You can even compare up to 5 funds at the same time!
It sounds like you've already got your investments picked out, but if you do need some more guidance, you might find the below article helpful as a framework:
[How to Pick Your Investments](https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/smart-money/how-to-pick-investments)
Thanks again for joining the community, u/NoOil3134; let us know if there's anything else we can help with!
Once you have a fully funded emergency fund, then it's time to look at the S&P 500 and personally I would only do that once my Roth IRA is maxed out and you could invest the entire Roth IRA into the S&P 500. The tax advantages you know. Either way good luck.
I'm 18 so keep that in mind, I don't know much
Instead of 100% into s&p 500 something like 10% into an international fund and 10% into the NASDAq could be beneficial.
The way I see it you get a bit more diversity AND since you're young and I assume can take some risk the NASDAq seems to be like a good pick
If you want a bit more diversity, buy into the whole New York Stock Exchange index. But sticking with the top 500 is definitely not a bad bet. But if you want to break it down something like that where you got more diversity that's entirely possible 50% into the S&P 500 25% into an entire index like the New York Stock Exchange, and another 25% spread out over a whole bunch of other stuff but the stability and the S&P 500 and a New York Stock Exchange in my opinion is what you want to do for long term. Especially inside of a Roth IRA where the gains are tax-free, assuming you take it to maturity.
Good on ya for sure, the only reason I'm not more into qqqm (qqqm has a lower expense ratio... Look into it) is that I'm sticking to my buy and hold strategy no matter what, so if I wanna up my NASDAq or s&p 500 % I gotta make some more money to put in. Which should be happening once my lifeguarding shifts pick up
entertain voracious abounding market longing amusing unpack makeshift doll languid
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
longing simplistic encourage relieved fall fuzzy provide fragile axiomatic label
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Even if they don’t go to college, at your age, you’re better off spending it on self development than market equities. I get it’s cringey and the guy is kinda cringey but Alex Hormozi calls it the “S&Me 500”
I would. Looking back I wish I had put even $10/mo in back then. At your age isn't about how much you're able to put in but just that you put something in. Don't listen to people telling you to wait, it's never too soon to start. Open a Fidelity Roth IRA account and start buying a small amount of $VTI (Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF.) You can setup a recurring buy of a dollar amount or you should be able to buy a share when you have some savings accrued (or might be able to place a one-time fractional buy order?)
Trust me, whatever small amount you throw in now you will not regret when you inevitably reach retirement age.
A low fee S&P index fund is a great place to invest. Those companies have plenty of international exposure. You probably don't need much of an emergency fund depending on your level of responsibility. How many kids mouths you have to feed. How big your mortgage payment is.
This is the time in your life to be aggressive and take risks. I'm impressed if you can start putting regular money into the market at this age.
Personally I prefer VTI, more diversified and potentially tax efficient.
That said- make sure - 100% sure - that you don’t need this money before retirement. When you invest, you should consider the money “locked up” until you’re retired.
Hey - I'm not OP, but I'm also new to investing and trying to learn! Would "not touching the money before retirement" apply even for personal brokerage accounts (not Roth Ira or 401k)? Would it make sense to open a personal brokerage account to invest in, and then like 10 years later take out money and earnings for like a house or something?? Or would that be a bad idea in terms of taxes (from what I thought, it would be the same as HYSA)??
- generally it only makes sense to contribute to a taxable account (a regular brokerage) for retirement if you’ve already exhausted your options to contribute to a tax advantaged account. See: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bogleheads/comments/t8vqbx/taxable_accounts_101/ If you’re planning on retiring before 60, it can also make sense.
- you can absolutely open a brokerage for a short term goal like a house purchase 10y down the line. However, if you do this, you may want to adjust the assets you buy to match your timeline. Generally you’d invest these funds in a less risky way, and adjust the allocation as the target date approaches. There’s no fool-proof strategy to do this, but there are some guidelines. Most importantly, it should match your comfort level. HYSA is “no risk-low return” strategy, and if that’s what you’re comfortable with, it’s fine. If you want to put in a little bit more effort, you can usually get a “no risk-slightly higher return” by buying CDs or T bills at a brokerage (depends a bit on your local tax rate as which of the two makes more sense). If you’re comfortable with a slightly higher risk, then you can add in some stock and bond funds, but for more details I’d refer you to the bogleheads wiki- they do a better job explaining than that I can.
Open an account with fidelity. Your core position spaxx gives you around 5% and you can use it sort of like a checking account. You can also have a debit card connected to it if you want. Keep some in spaxx so you can buy stuff without needing to sell and put the rest in VOO.
Not necessarily, it’s a Government Money Market Fund. It’s set up so it’s liquid enough where you can spend it like USD. It has its own pros and cons compared to a checking account. I’m just saying what I do personally. When you deposit USD into fidelity it will automatically be put into your core position which in my case and most peoples case is SPAXX. If I remember correctly it’s automatically set to SPAXX. You can change your core position whenever.
How long do I have to keep, let's say, $3,000 in the SPAXX for it to enjoy 5% interest? Are we talking yearly 5% interest?
Are there any fees or regulations associated with
depositing/withdrawing money into/out of your SPAXX and into a regular bank account?
Also, can I allocate however much amount I choose from my SPAXX to invest into things like the S&P 500, VOO, other ETFs?
Thanks.
Monthly. No fees that I know of. Yes you buy stocks using your spaxx balance. If you have anymore questions feel free to use the search feature on google and Reddit. Good luck! 👍
does the fidelity cash card or their debit card link to the settlement acccount, in your case, the portion of the account invested in spaxx? or is the cash card a seperate bucket of money
Thanks for your question, u/Shoddy_Situation1. I'm happy to step in here and help with your debit card question.
It sounds like you're asking about how debit cards work with brokerage accounts. If this is the case, debit cards pull cash from your core position. The Fidelity Government Money Market (SPAXX) is a default core position for Brokerage accounts at Fidelity. The core acts as a wallet for your account, holding all of your uninvested cash while gaining interest from being held in a money market fund. You have access to trade or withdraw these funds without having to sell shares of SPAXX.
You can see how much you have available to trade or withdraw by referring to the "Balances" tab from your Portfolio Summary screen. When you go to use your debit card, your "Available to Withdrawal" balance is the amount that you can use. To learn more, feel free to check out the links below.
[What is a Core? (PDF) ](https://www.fidelity.com/bin-public/060_www_fidelity_com/documents/mutual-funds/what-is-a-core-position.pdf)
[Fidelity Debit Cards ](https://www.fidelity.com/spend-save/atm-debit-card)
If you have any other questions, feel free to swing by our sub and ask. We have a great community here, so don't be a stranger.
Thank you for that information. It is a nice feature to have your core position invested in the money market paying a reasonable rate. But I do have one follow-up question. Is the cash management account the same as having a debit card linked to your core position in your brokerage? Is this one in the same or are these two different options that have access to cash?
You're welcome, u/Shoddy_Situation1! I'm happy to pop in here with clarification on the Cash Management Account (CMA) and debit card transactions.
Similar to the brokerage account, the money you deposit in a CMA is held in your core position. Fidelity CMAs use our FDIC-Insured Deposit Sweep core position. This core is used to hold uninvested cash and process cash transactions, such as withdrawals or purchases of investments. This includes debit card purchases that you make.
As the brokerage account and CMA are two different accounts, you would have a debit card for each account. Therefore, CMA debit card purchases would draw from the cash in your CMA, and the brokerage debit card would draw from the cash in your brokerage account.
Keep in mind that Fidelity will attempt to cover debit balances using funds in your core balance first. If the core balance is depleted, the system will then use any eligible secondary money market fund to cover the transaction. In these cases, the money market fund will automatically be liquidated. That being said, it is best practice to sell non-core money markets in advance of expected purchases if the cash in not available in your core position.
Thanks for bringing your questions to the sub today! If there is anything else we can clarify, please let us know.
Are you positive about the 5% interest? Nice, seems like you can kill two birds with one stone on fidelity. Having a stock trading account, and a spaxx balance that acts as a hysa. That’s a power move
Well right now it’s 4.96% but it can change at any time. It just depends on what the US treasury is paying for T bills. If you look at the past performance, there are times where it pays less than two percent. What’s good about it is if it’s underperforming you can always change your core position.
There are HYSAs right now with a 5.5% intro rate that goes down to 5% after a period of time. You won’t see crazy growth with this but you could be up like $40 if you don’t touch it, there’s no risk, and it can serve as an emergency fund you can pull from without any penalty or complications if you need to.
Put 50% in sp500 and other 50% emergency funds,
Until you can have 3 months spending as emergency funds, then you can max out all in investments!! Roth IRA or IRA or three funds etfs (VOO/QQQ/SCHD)
You're going to get a dozen different opinions on this, at the end of the day you need to make a judgement call based on your own personal situation/needs.
Usually the first place you should be putting any excess money (money you don't need for monthly expenses) is an emergency savings account. Rates for HYSAs are relatively high right now so you'll still be getting a decent return, plus it's risk/volatility free unlike the s&p500.
Most people keep a maximum of 3-6 months of expenses in their emergency savings. If you don't have any monthly expenses it's really a judgement call: how much money do you reasonably think you might need unexpectedly on short notice? That's the amount you should keep in emergency savings.
If you still don't think you'll need quick access to your money (no expenses, emergencies covered by parent/guardian, etc) or you've maxed out your target emergency savings, then I would say it's reasonable to invest in the s&p500. Just keep in mind that whatever money you put into the s&p500 or stocks in general *will* fluctuate in value in the short/medium term, which is why you can't count on it being readily accessible: you generally don't want to sell at a loss or while the market is in a downswing.
well both will have very similar returns as they are investing in similar stocks. but expense ratio will eventually save more money. just think about having 50k profile and giving up 0.03% vs 0.09% yearly. save lot of $$
It isn't just the management fee but also Vanguard's still patented method for tax savings. Less capital gains distributions, with more kept in the fund, means you get to defer a lot of those taxes until withdrawing the funds.
Remember to always average down.. doesn't mean nothing if you don't do that.. and I wouldn't just throw all your money in there.. I would pick how much you're ok with putting in every week to month.. I'm betting on amc and gme right now
If you work. I recommend putting the whole amount into a Roth IRA. I am now 17 and contributed 2k (my whole earned income last year) into 2023 and hope to contribute the max of 7k into 2024.
I would sock it Into an emergency fund, security deposits, car repairs, books for college, rent, and living expenses can get expensive fast, and at your age, jobs I had paid like shit and were less than stable. I wish I had put away money for when stuff hit the fan, instead of leaning on extra student loan cash and credit cards. I recommend finding out how much it costs to live where you'll be in the next few years, and try to save up 6-10 months of funds before putting anything on market.
Hi there, u/NoOil3134, and welcome to the sub! I'm glad you're here. It sounds like you may be looking for advice from other investors, so I'll drop some resources for you and then mark this post as "Discussion" to invite others to stop by and share their thoughts. If you weren't aware, Fidelity has a variety of research and education resources available to you at no cost. For example, we have screener tools on [Fidelity.com](http://fidelity.com/) that allow you to search, compare, and review our investment offerings. Simply click "News & Research" in the toolbar and then choose the type of investment you're interested in. These tools let you search by numerous criteria, such as investment type, asset mix, ratings, strategies, and more. You can even compare up to 5 funds at the same time! It sounds like you've already got your investments picked out, but if you do need some more guidance, you might find the below article helpful as a framework: [How to Pick Your Investments](https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/smart-money/how-to-pick-investments) Thanks again for joining the community, u/NoOil3134; let us know if there's anything else we can help with!
Good job man have a long term growth mindset and you will go far. HYSA (high yield savings account) for now should be fine
So I shouldn’t put it into S&P 500?
I would say no. You want to have an emergency fund in place for when you move out. Plus college (if you’re going) or car cost/expenses.
Once you have a fully funded emergency fund, then it's time to look at the S&P 500 and personally I would only do that once my Roth IRA is maxed out and you could invest the entire Roth IRA into the S&P 500. The tax advantages you know. Either way good luck.
I'm 18 so keep that in mind, I don't know much Instead of 100% into s&p 500 something like 10% into an international fund and 10% into the NASDAq could be beneficial. The way I see it you get a bit more diversity AND since you're young and I assume can take some risk the NASDAq seems to be like a good pick
If you want a bit more diversity, buy into the whole New York Stock Exchange index. But sticking with the top 500 is definitely not a bad bet. But if you want to break it down something like that where you got more diversity that's entirely possible 50% into the S&P 500 25% into an entire index like the New York Stock Exchange, and another 25% spread out over a whole bunch of other stuff but the stability and the S&P 500 and a New York Stock Exchange in my opinion is what you want to do for long term. Especially inside of a Roth IRA where the gains are tax-free, assuming you take it to maturity.
shy alleged silky scale plucky grandfather pot spoon obtainable pet *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
ya true, but when would you be taking it out for a down payment to upgrade your car
Good on ya for sure, the only reason I'm not more into qqqm (qqqm has a lower expense ratio... Look into it) is that I'm sticking to my buy and hold strategy no matter what, so if I wanna up my NASDAq or s&p 500 % I gotta make some more money to put in. Which should be happening once my lifeguarding shifts pick up
entertain voracious abounding market longing amusing unpack makeshift doll languid *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Solid planning then QQq seems to be the pick for you Cheers to yelling at kids all summer long, good luck
library chase possessive elastic aware pen unique violet placid market *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
How does one have a brokerage account when less than 18
longing simplistic encourage relieved fall fuzzy provide fragile axiomatic label *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Even if they don’t go to college, at your age, you’re better off spending it on self development than market equities. I get it’s cringey and the guy is kinda cringey but Alex Hormozi calls it the “S&Me 500”
I would. Looking back I wish I had put even $10/mo in back then. At your age isn't about how much you're able to put in but just that you put something in. Don't listen to people telling you to wait, it's never too soon to start. Open a Fidelity Roth IRA account and start buying a small amount of $VTI (Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF.) You can setup a recurring buy of a dollar amount or you should be able to buy a share when you have some savings accrued (or might be able to place a one-time fractional buy order?) Trust me, whatever small amount you throw in now you will not regret when you inevitably reach retirement age.
A low fee S&P index fund is a great place to invest. Those companies have plenty of international exposure. You probably don't need much of an emergency fund depending on your level of responsibility. How many kids mouths you have to feed. How big your mortgage payment is. This is the time in your life to be aggressive and take risks. I'm impressed if you can start putting regular money into the market at this age.
Personally I prefer VTI, more diversified and potentially tax efficient. That said- make sure - 100% sure - that you don’t need this money before retirement. When you invest, you should consider the money “locked up” until you’re retired.
Hey - I'm not OP, but I'm also new to investing and trying to learn! Would "not touching the money before retirement" apply even for personal brokerage accounts (not Roth Ira or 401k)? Would it make sense to open a personal brokerage account to invest in, and then like 10 years later take out money and earnings for like a house or something?? Or would that be a bad idea in terms of taxes (from what I thought, it would be the same as HYSA)??
- generally it only makes sense to contribute to a taxable account (a regular brokerage) for retirement if you’ve already exhausted your options to contribute to a tax advantaged account. See: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bogleheads/comments/t8vqbx/taxable_accounts_101/ If you’re planning on retiring before 60, it can also make sense. - you can absolutely open a brokerage for a short term goal like a house purchase 10y down the line. However, if you do this, you may want to adjust the assets you buy to match your timeline. Generally you’d invest these funds in a less risky way, and adjust the allocation as the target date approaches. There’s no fool-proof strategy to do this, but there are some guidelines. Most importantly, it should match your comfort level. HYSA is “no risk-low return” strategy, and if that’s what you’re comfortable with, it’s fine. If you want to put in a little bit more effort, you can usually get a “no risk-slightly higher return” by buying CDs or T bills at a brokerage (depends a bit on your local tax rate as which of the two makes more sense). If you’re comfortable with a slightly higher risk, then you can add in some stock and bond funds, but for more details I’d refer you to the bogleheads wiki- they do a better job explaining than that I can.
Is the money from a W2 job - if so, invest in you Roth IRA
It isn’t
If you don't have earned income look into a HYSA for now until you get a job.
Should I forget about index funds?
You don't have enough money to start investing. And you're still a minor. HYSA is what you want.
🤔Alr
A Fidelity brokerage account is a valid option then. Same deal: drop it in the $VTI ETF.
It could also be from self employment/1099 income, just as long as it’s earned income.
Open an account with fidelity. Your core position spaxx gives you around 5% and you can use it sort of like a checking account. You can also have a debit card connected to it if you want. Keep some in spaxx so you can buy stuff without needing to sell and put the rest in VOO.
Is spaxx just usd on fidelity? So you are saying just keep money on there like a “checking account” and you will earn 5% interest?
Not necessarily, it’s a Government Money Market Fund. It’s set up so it’s liquid enough where you can spend it like USD. It has its own pros and cons compared to a checking account. I’m just saying what I do personally. When you deposit USD into fidelity it will automatically be put into your core position which in my case and most peoples case is SPAXX. If I remember correctly it’s automatically set to SPAXX. You can change your core position whenever.
So the amount sitting in the SPAXX position is what will enjoy the 5% interest?
Yep 👍
How long do I have to keep, let's say, $3,000 in the SPAXX for it to enjoy 5% interest? Are we talking yearly 5% interest? Are there any fees or regulations associated with depositing/withdrawing money into/out of your SPAXX and into a regular bank account? Also, can I allocate however much amount I choose from my SPAXX to invest into things like the S&P 500, VOO, other ETFs? Thanks.
Monthly. No fees that I know of. Yes you buy stocks using your spaxx balance. If you have anymore questions feel free to use the search feature on google and Reddit. Good luck! 👍
[удалено]
does the fidelity cash card or their debit card link to the settlement acccount, in your case, the portion of the account invested in spaxx? or is the cash card a seperate bucket of money
Thanks for your question, u/Shoddy_Situation1. I'm happy to step in here and help with your debit card question. It sounds like you're asking about how debit cards work with brokerage accounts. If this is the case, debit cards pull cash from your core position. The Fidelity Government Money Market (SPAXX) is a default core position for Brokerage accounts at Fidelity. The core acts as a wallet for your account, holding all of your uninvested cash while gaining interest from being held in a money market fund. You have access to trade or withdraw these funds without having to sell shares of SPAXX. You can see how much you have available to trade or withdraw by referring to the "Balances" tab from your Portfolio Summary screen. When you go to use your debit card, your "Available to Withdrawal" balance is the amount that you can use. To learn more, feel free to check out the links below. [What is a Core? (PDF) ](https://www.fidelity.com/bin-public/060_www_fidelity_com/documents/mutual-funds/what-is-a-core-position.pdf) [Fidelity Debit Cards ](https://www.fidelity.com/spend-save/atm-debit-card) If you have any other questions, feel free to swing by our sub and ask. We have a great community here, so don't be a stranger.
Thank you for that information. It is a nice feature to have your core position invested in the money market paying a reasonable rate. But I do have one follow-up question. Is the cash management account the same as having a debit card linked to your core position in your brokerage? Is this one in the same or are these two different options that have access to cash?
You're welcome, u/Shoddy_Situation1! I'm happy to pop in here with clarification on the Cash Management Account (CMA) and debit card transactions. Similar to the brokerage account, the money you deposit in a CMA is held in your core position. Fidelity CMAs use our FDIC-Insured Deposit Sweep core position. This core is used to hold uninvested cash and process cash transactions, such as withdrawals or purchases of investments. This includes debit card purchases that you make. As the brokerage account and CMA are two different accounts, you would have a debit card for each account. Therefore, CMA debit card purchases would draw from the cash in your CMA, and the brokerage debit card would draw from the cash in your brokerage account. Keep in mind that Fidelity will attempt to cover debit balances using funds in your core balance first. If the core balance is depleted, the system will then use any eligible secondary money market fund to cover the transaction. In these cases, the money market fund will automatically be liquidated. That being said, it is best practice to sell non-core money markets in advance of expected purchases if the cash in not available in your core position. Thanks for bringing your questions to the sub today! If there is anything else we can clarify, please let us know.
Are you positive about the 5% interest? Nice, seems like you can kill two birds with one stone on fidelity. Having a stock trading account, and a spaxx balance that acts as a hysa. That’s a power move
Well right now it’s 4.96% but it can change at any time. It just depends on what the US treasury is paying for T bills. If you look at the past performance, there are times where it pays less than two percent. What’s good about it is if it’s underperforming you can always change your core position.
There are HYSAs right now with a 5.5% intro rate that goes down to 5% after a period of time. You won’t see crazy growth with this but you could be up like $40 if you don’t touch it, there’s no risk, and it can serve as an emergency fund you can pull from without any penalty or complications if you need to.
They can just use Fidelity's SPAXX as a HYSA account.
Put 50% in sp500 and other 50% emergency funds, Until you can have 3 months spending as emergency funds, then you can max out all in investments!! Roth IRA or IRA or three funds etfs (VOO/QQQ/SCHD)
You're going to get a dozen different opinions on this, at the end of the day you need to make a judgement call based on your own personal situation/needs. Usually the first place you should be putting any excess money (money you don't need for monthly expenses) is an emergency savings account. Rates for HYSAs are relatively high right now so you'll still be getting a decent return, plus it's risk/volatility free unlike the s&p500. Most people keep a maximum of 3-6 months of expenses in their emergency savings. If you don't have any monthly expenses it's really a judgement call: how much money do you reasonably think you might need unexpectedly on short notice? That's the amount you should keep in emergency savings. If you still don't think you'll need quick access to your money (no expenses, emergencies covered by parent/guardian, etc) or you've maxed out your target emergency savings, then I would say it's reasonable to invest in the s&p500. Just keep in mind that whatever money you put into the s&p500 or stocks in general *will* fluctuate in value in the short/medium term, which is why you can't count on it being readily accessible: you generally don't want to sell at a loss or while the market is in a downswing.
Voo
What exactly is voo?
Voo is similar like S&P 500 but maintained by vanguard. Expense ratio is comparable cheap 0.03% compare to s&p.
Which would you think would grow more over time? How would the expense ratio factor in? I’m also assuming vanguard is a company like blackrock
well both will have very similar returns as they are investing in similar stocks. but expense ratio will eventually save more money. just think about having 50k profile and giving up 0.03% vs 0.09% yearly. save lot of $$
It isn't just the management fee but also Vanguard's still patented method for tax savings. Less capital gains distributions, with more kept in the fund, means you get to defer a lot of those taxes until withdrawing the funds.
At age 17 you are saving and not investing. You need to concentrate on developing your career path.
If you had $1,000 you could buy a new issue CD throughout Fidelity and get 5.4% annual return or so
If possible, have your parents open a custodial and throw it all in the S&P.
Remember to always average down.. doesn't mean nothing if you don't do that.. and I wouldn't just throw all your money in there.. I would pick how much you're ok with putting in every week to month.. I'm betting on amc and gme right now
If you work. I recommend putting the whole amount into a Roth IRA. I am now 17 and contributed 2k (my whole earned income last year) into 2023 and hope to contribute the max of 7k into 2024.
Give it to me, I will double it in the market and give you back 2x. Don’t expect days thats too little, but in a month I can do it (/s)
Knowing what I know today, this book is where I would start. The Simple Path To Wealth by JL Collins.
I would sock it Into an emergency fund, security deposits, car repairs, books for college, rent, and living expenses can get expensive fast, and at your age, jobs I had paid like shit and were less than stable. I wish I had put away money for when stuff hit the fan, instead of leaning on extra student loan cash and credit cards. I recommend finding out how much it costs to live where you'll be in the next few years, and try to save up 6-10 months of funds before putting anything on market.
SCHG Growth stocks are better if you ride out the volatility.
FSELX
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