Thanks. I gave up smoking about 2 years ago and now i gave up gambling. One thing that really bothers me is that my dad is really good at science and I was basically raised to think those were the good jobs. chemist,phycisist , mathematicians and stuff so I wasted a lot of time trying to be good at those things but have no aptitude for them - poker falls into the same category. Like I wasted a lot of time on computer science stuff when im terrible at it.

So now i'm doing things i enjoy and am not worried about money. but this is actually problematic because i make just enough to get by but am too lazy or don't know a good way to jump from 1400 a month to 3-4k a month.

ok so i have money in multiple iras. They are mostly traditional iras and not roth iras. one of my accounts is a traditional ira with the ability to invest money in stocks.

part of the reason im stuck in a 1400 a month job is because I always assumed i would either a. win abunch of money playing poker or b. graduate college or c. one of plans i made whilst manic would work but none of those thing s happened and normal people would say well keep working to that degree but college is def not for me . I hate college more than poker or smoking for me.

No.

Active investments in real estate or private equity, venture capital, etc. could be best depending on his skill set and network. But if we're only considering stocks, he should go >100% (with margin) and overweight emerging markets, and probably small cap too. Plus picking individual stocks is more aggressive but has higher expected returns if he's smart about it.

Consider adding SOXX (etf) or SMH (mutual) tracking semi conductors. Hot sector today and near future.

I believe he said "without being stupid" or something similar in his question.

I don't understand how doing what you enjoy and not being worried about money is a problem, even if you use lots of words...

Care to elaborate on how it's stupid? Should be entertaining.

He asked a question about finance on a poker bulletin board, so "could be best depending on his skill set and network" wouldn't pass his "not stupid" test.

Choosing higher volatility without compensation (emerging markets) or a factor that stopped working a while back due to changes in liquidity (small stocks) also doesn't pass his test.

Picking individual stocks "if he is smart at it" assumes a skill set that he certainly doesn't have (see above). If he has a time machine, it would be a great idea. He didn't specifically include in his post that he doesn't have a time machine, but since he didn't mention it, I'm assuming that he does not have one.

This is right

The problem is the question. One mans hyper aggressive is another mans stupid. Someone might say go 100% bit coin. I say that's stupid, go 100% S&P. Someone else says, that's stupid, 80 /20 is the most risk someone should take, etc.

Sounds about right, lots of hand-waving and random assumptions. Emerging market and liquidity premiums are well-documented, and most smart people seem to think they'll persist. Though you're probably right that something like DFSCX would be better than a generic small cap index fund.

Picking individual stocks isn't rocket science. The ability to tax-loss harvest alone makes it +EV vs just buying VT. Add in some basic value investing screens, plus the fact that your trading fees should be less than VT's 0.11%, and even an idiot can come out ahead if he's disciplined. Obviously you lose a lot of diversification, so you'd still want a large chunk in index funds too, but 100% VT is clearly suboptimal. Hell, even VTI+VXUS gives you more diversification at lower cost than VT.

Which fund do you manage then?

What I mean is it's problematic because in the long run 1400 a month isn't enough and I need to do things to get a job that is enough at 3-4K but I'm not motivated enough because I just do fun stuff and the people around me will just say go to college for another 10 years.

Think you've got this wrong.

With a Roth, you can withdraw your contributions without tax or penalties at any time. You will likely have to pay tax and penalties on earnings - although there are some exceptions.

I was not the correct amount drunk when I wrote that one. I said it entirely backwards.

I don't have any useful advice for that sort of problem.

Bryce have you ever considered marrying someone who makes about 2k a month? Then you could combine your incomes to have 3-4k a month.

Im not sure if its clear from my last sentence but what I meant by they would just say go to college for another 10 years is the people who i trust don't know how to give advice about this because they would just say when you finish your degree youll have a better job but i already went to 3 colleges it doesnt work for me. since they all have degrees it's like
me at
32: once you finish your degree you can get a real job
35: once you finish your degree you can get a real job
40: once you finish your degree you can get a real job
75: now you can pay your tuition money with social security

**** that i want to have fun.
I think about the bolded all the time as for the rest i can't tell if you're making fun of me or not

Sometimes you have to sacrifice short term comfort for long term goals. growth is hard. Also college can be lots of fun.

College degrees in the non hard sciences/engineering are just farcical. A whole lot of bull****. And this is from someone who likes academic stuff. I finished because finishing is what you do, otherwise you end up

a) getting in the habit of not finishing things, which is close to a guarantee you''ll live the life of a loser.
b) aimless
c) without a backup if things go wrong

It you can't do college I totally understand. It's a joke and you need to be a little dead inside to find the academic aspects tolerable.

If that's how you feel then wipe college from your radar. It's no longer an option. Done. Now make your way without the crutch/potential higher pay of a degree. Degrees don't exist for you; you have to do well in life purely on your wits and skills you can develop. Now what? There are a lot of options left: learn a trade which makes good money (this is an excellent option if you're hands on), find someone to go into business with (although you might not have the steady temperament for that - not sure, I don't know you), try to get a high paying, fly in/fly out job - the discipline would be excellent for you as a person, I think). Start your own little side business doing something you're good at. Many, many more options.

Like a lot of low-discipline people, you've been stuck in a trap for over a decade where the losers in your life (your parents, perhaps, well meaning friends) have been telling you to do something you don't want to do, and you've been taking it on board, all the while sabotaging it. It happens to a lot of people. So stop internalizing the "you have to do college" - the people who tell you that are ****wits who don't understand either you or life - and just wipe college as an option. And then figure out what to do once that's off the radar. And decide if a happy low paying job is good enough for you, If it's not, trying some of the above. With work and discipline (and plenty of time for fun), there's a solution to your problems that doesn't involve doing something you can't stomach/complete (college).

We should probably move this to your blog.

spaceman,

Have you ever considered that given your personality and preferences that you are basically going to be poor forever?

This. No skills, no ambition and parents still doing your tax return at the age of 31 scream slacker to me. Really tough to turn it around at this point, imho.

I'm at work so I just wanted to say thanks for the thoughtful response toothsayer.

That's not entirely true I do have ambition. And a lot of soft skills.

I thought he might have special needs when I read that parents do his taxes at age 31.