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Individual investors usually have terrible investment habits. They buy trendy stocks after hearing about them on the news, and then sell after they crash This

Individual investors usually have terrible investment habits. They buy trendy stocks after hearing about them on the news, and then sell after they crash This same crowd gets interested in Bitcoin at every ATH because of the news coverage. I got so many people asking me how to buy Bitcoin when it hit 20k in 2017 and 60k in 2021. That's when the vast majority of people buy. Yes, if you put money in your 401k and don't take it out until retirement you will make money. That doesn't describe the vast majority of investors though

retrac 4y ago
> That doesn't describe the vast majority of investors though Doesn't it? My mother did it that way. Made regular payments into her selected cooperative low-risk mutual fund that built up a reasonable retirement pension. I know a lot of people that do that. I suppose the difference is that they don't think of themselves as investors.
deleted 4y ago
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cortesoft 4y ago
> That doesn't describe the vast majority of investors though I think you have a skewed view of the average investor. About 58% of Americans own stock, but only 35% of Americans own any outside their 401k. That means 40% of investors only have money in their 401k. I couldn’t find the numbers for how many of those investing outside of their 401k just owned index or mutual funds, but I even if it was only a small percentage it would mean a majority of investors aren’t buying individual stocks. There is a vocal minority who invest speculatively. It makes sense that this number would seem larger than it actually is, because they are the ones who talk about investing. You don’t see questions or posts from people just investing in their 401k and index funds, but there are more of them than the speculators. https://news.gallup.com/poll/266807/percentage-americans-owns-stock.aspx https://news.gallup.com/poll/266807/percentage-americans-own... https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/09/25/few-in-u-s-owned-stocks-outside-of-401ks-in-2019-fewer-said-market-had-a-big-impact-on-their-view-of-economy/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/09/25/few-in-u-s-...

retrac 4y ago

> That doesn't describe the vast majority of investors though Doesn't it? My mother did it that way. Made regular payments into her selected cooperative low-risk mutual fund that built up a reasonable retirement pension. I know a lot of people that do that. I suppose the difference is that they don't think of themselves as investors.

deleted 4y ago

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cortesoft 4y ago

> That doesn't describe the vast majority of investors though I think you have a skewed view of the average investor. About 58% of Americans own stock, but only 35% of Americans own any outside their 401k. That means 40% of investors only have money in their 401k. I couldn’t find the numbers for how many of those investing outside of their 401k just owned index or mutual funds, but I even if it was only a small percentage it would mean a majority of investors aren’t buying individual stocks. There is a vocal minority who invest speculatively. It makes sense that this number would seem larger than it actually is, because they are the ones who talk about investing. You don’t see questions or posts from people just investing in their 401k and index funds, but there are more of them than the speculators. https://news.gallup.com/poll/266807/percentage-americans-owns-stock.aspx https://news.gallup.com/poll/266807/percentage-americans-own... https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/09/25/few-in-u-s-owned-stocks-outside-of-401ks-in-2019-fewer-said-market-had-a-big-impact-on-their-view-of-economy/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/09/25/few-in-u-s-...