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Show HN: StockNerd – A community for index fund investors
- snerdapp 9y agoWe made the app after having friends and family members get ripped off by financial advisors. The purpose of the app is to teach others about low fee index fund investing. Thanks!
- tachion 9y agoDon't get me wrong, but this is one of the worst product landing pages I've seen. Except for the short marketing line, there's NOTHING about the product there (why it exists, where does it work, how does it work, is it free, and so on), and it makes me NOT clicking that AppStore link for sure.
- snerdapp 9y agoSorry. We will work on improving it.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- joshaidan 9y ago> The purpose of the app is to teach others about low fee index fund investing. How does the app accomplish this goal?
- snhelper 9y agoWe have a discussion area and a leaderboard, plus you can build a simple index fund portfolio and track it inside the app. I hope this helps explain, thanks!
- hoopism 9y ago"and a leaderboard" This is not the idea you are looking for... You have identified a well known area of interest... but you are not solving a problem. If a problem can't be solved with conversation with a trusted friend or relative then it's a slim chance an app and leaderboard are the right answer.
- mrtimo 9y agolooks like something I'd enjoy. Looking for android version.
- snhelper 9y agoWorking on it!
- mholmes680 9y agoHurry up! :)
- parthdesai 9y ago> to teach others about low fee index fund investing. I would love to use it or learn about index fund investing but there is no web-app or android app :(.
- cschmidt 9y agoWhy an app rather than a website? I don't want to read on something that small.
- eeZah7Ux 9y agoIndeed, why using a phone for index fund management? You want to do that on a large screen in a quiet room.
- homarp 9y agoit's an app, not a community.
- swalsh 9y agoI like the idea.... why should I trust you for financial advice? How are you licensed? How do I know you're not using my data for trading, How do I know you're not feeding me false data you've already traded on?
- snhelper 9y agoGood question. We don't give financial advice. The app allows you to make a simple index fund portfolio with stock data, then monitor other user portfolios if you want. You can discuss indexing with other index fund investors in the "discuss" area. Our other account got rate limited and says "you are submitting too fast" so we made this one.
- mholmes680 9y agoIs this social motif?
- astannard 9y agoI will check it out. I have been reading Tony Robbins - 'Master The Game' which talks about index funds as a better alternative to high fee managed funds. This sounds like it could be a good source of info for picking them
- r3pl4y 9y agoiOS only... Not useful to me
- mvexel 9y agoFails when trying to create a profile. Nothing happens. Either after 1/2 second or a few seconds.
- snhelp2 9y agoPlease try now, I think we fixed it.
- che_shirecat 9y agoso... stocktwits? I don't see the value here. what would I possibly gain from following the portfolios of random shmucks who are more likely than not losing money?
- mi100hael 9y agoYeah or bogleheads. There's no shortage of information on this topic, you just have to be willing to read it instead of overpaying some financial advisor.
- jonathanjaeger 9y agoIf this is about index funds specifically, that is definitely not clear. If anything I think this is NOT about index funds, but individual stocks. Index funds are basically set it and forget it, so why would I want to continuously use this app? Just buy some $SCHB, $SPY, $VTI, or whatever combo of index funds you want and that's it. Daytraders, swing traders, and people buying individual stocks would want to use an app on the regular.
- objclxt 9y ago> Index funds are basically set it and forget it, so why would I want to continuously use this app? Just buy some $SCHB, $SPY, $VTI, or whatever combo of index funds you want and that's it. Because of re-balancing. Say you invest in three index funds at a 70/20/10 split. One of those funds performs much better than the others over time, leaving you with a distorted ratio. So you re-balance to get back to your original 70/20/10. Typically you'd re-balance one or two times a year. Ideally you want to avoid selling to rebalance, so if you're investing regularly (once a month, for example) you want to know exactly which funds to put your money in to each time to maintain your percentage split.
- jonathanjaeger 9y agoFair enough, that being said, I'm not sure I need an app/community for that (i.e. a Stocktwits clone for index funds).
- baccredited 9y agoWarren Buffet tells his heirs to go 90% SP500 and 10% Bonds. So just buy VOO and BND, rebalance yearly and you are done. OR do a 3 fund portfolio like: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund_portfolio https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund_portfolio OR buy a target retirement fund from Vanguard: https://investor.vanguard.com/search/?query=Vanguard%20target%20retirement https://investor.vanguard.com/search/?query=Vanguard%20targe... OR fill out a risk profile on Wealthfront/Betterment and invest there. Bottom line is pick an approach and don't ever touch a damn thing. I believe this advice can fit on a single web page and doesn't need an app, a community or otherwise.
- hkmurakami 9y agoI'm opposed to your Wealthfront suggestion since their version of high risk (at least in the past) meant high commodities exposure.
- snhelp2 9y agoGood info! Sorry, our accounts keep getting rate limited. I personally like to follow my own index fund portfolio. Then when I first started index investing there was about a 90 day period where I had to research and figure out what I wanted my own portfolio to be. Also index funds do change over time. For example if you have more taxable income you will want a more tax advantaged index fund portfolio. You'll also want a special portfolio for your retirement accounts, and maybe something for your kid's 529 plan, etc... There are many popular index fund communities for these reasons, plus lots of people find investing fun and interesting and like to learn more about it and help others.
- goldenkey 9y agoJust because something is fun and interesting doesn't make it any better of an investment. You are passing the novice buck onto others
- larrydag 9y agoCouch Potato investor. 50 percent Vanguard Total Market Index, 50 percent Vanguard Inflation Protected Securities. Rebalance yearly. https://assetbuilder.com/lazy-portfolios https://assetbuilder.com/lazy-portfolios
- sealthedeal 9y agoWhat is so hard about picking an index fund?
- Uroboric 9y agoSomething that's never made sense to me about stocks: Unless you're extremely wealthy, any money you are able to save (outside of retirement money) is probably money you are going to want to use for something to improve your life in the semi-near future. Buying a house or car (or just a better one) for example. With that assumption in place, under what circumstances does investing in index funds make any sense whatsoever? The entire market crashes on occasion due to herd mentality, and yet even given that level of risk index funds still take many years to appreciate in value significantly. It seems like an absolutely terrible place to put money that isn't specifically intended for retirement or something like a 529 plan.
- hamstercat 9y agoIt's pretty popular in the Financial Independence crowd, where the goal is to get enough money to be able to live on interest alone. It's not for the extremely wealthy, rather the somewhat high-income middle class. You can even make it work with less income if you can manage to cut your expense. Most people adjusts (ie: increases) their spending when they get additional income, but it doesn't have to be that way. In the end it's a lot about trade-off, like for exemple do you prefer stuff like going out to restaurant, owning a car, etc.
- pc86 9y agoThe FI crowd is 90% expense management and 10% investment. It seems like most folks there have a goal to stop working but are willing to do that and live like a pauper the rest of their lives. If that works for them, great, but I'd much rather work at a job I love, make very good money, and enjoy my life, rather than "retire" at 35 and live on $24k/yr in interest for the rest of my life. I'd love to see a Financial Independence plan around growing [a] business(es) and retiring early but not crazy early (40-55) and living on a substantial middle/upper-middle income for several decades.
- hamstercat 9y agoThat's one way of doing it, but there's no one-size-fit-all solution. Some do what you said and just stop spending anything. Not everyone retires either, it's just that they do work they like because they can afford it rather than having to. It's really a personal experience, I know myself I don't feel like my life is missing anything even if I'm putting money aside to my future. I'm still traveling at least once a year, and I eat pretty good food all the time. At the same time, I don't have a car and rent one whenever I need one.
- colinbartlett 9y agoI'm sad to see there's no signup via email. I don't have Facebook or Twitter and, although I do have a Google account, I prefer not to use it to authenticate services.
- bluesign 9y agoThis looks more like a fantasy stock league, especially with leaderboard. Also it is good to point out leaderboard means nothing, it is totally pointless. This is like playing poker with infinite fantasy stack. If you are good investor you will never be on this leaderboard :)
- DrSayre 9y agoAnybody having issues trying to login using Twitter? It says "Creating Profile" and does nothing.
- sergiotapia 9y agoyou should show some screenshots before asking for a download
- austenallred 9y agoI'm a little confused about what to do with a community for index fund investors. "So, you letting your investments sit there, not touching them?" "Yup, you?" "Same"
- notfried 9y agoWell, if you are on a trajectory of a 30-year career job at one company with little to no changes in your income but adjustments and raises, then you probably don't need such a community. But judging based on Boggleheads forums, there's a need. Yearly re-balancing, changing your goals, windfalls, unplanned expenses, adjusting for tax efficiency, switching jobs, re-doing your portfolio because you did it horribly when you started, helping others who have a messy portfolio, and of course, the many questions every n00b has when they start. Of course, Boggleheads would do just fine for any of these, but more options never hurt.
- yolo66 9y agoNicely executed, I'll use it!
- hoopism 9y agoThe example images are absolutely hilarious as a parody of exactly what discuss would occur in an app like this: TomLevelhead: "Index funds are sensible and smart." MarySmartpants: "I too enjoy the consistency and moderate growth inherit in a diversified index"
- dharness 9y agoThere's basically no chance I'm going to download an iOS app for this, and I'm not super sure why it isn't just a web page.. But the landing is nice! (except I really wish this was an svg https://www.stocknerd.com/assets/img/logo.png https://www.stocknerd.com/assets/img/logo.png)
- sfblah 9y agoI worry the popularity of index funds portends something bad.
- it_learnses 9y agoyou would think that something with "nerd" in their name would have a web app or at least an android app...
- mergesort 9y agoThis looks great! Looks very polished and like something I'd really be interested in, but I'd love to be able to see what it's about before signing in. Will you be adding a way to do that, or at least login with email? Thanks!
- unixhero 9y agoNo Android Bah. I want to try it! :)