What're you doing with your money in 2023? Or what do you recommend others do?

[rob_s]

We pulled the bulk of our money out awhile back.

The conventional wisdom appears to be that when you do that it becomes difficult to figure out when to get back in. This is proving true. Particularly in todays economy where things aren’t fitting old molds/models.

That said, we are still “up” from that decision. In other words, the market as a whole has not yet recovered from when we took out and the overall trend appears still downward. Also comparing the cash to the investments we left in, in certain accounts or funds (like my 401(k)), those investments still haven’t recovered and seem on a continuing downward trend.

We are considering keeping the money out and putting it into real estate if there is a housing market crash before there is a stock market recovery.

[Azmarlin39a]

Paying down debt. I don’t have much, but I want it gone. I did buy a new Colt AR-15A4 rifle last week. Brandon convinced me I needed it.

[45dotACP]

I'm in my early 30s, so the 401k is still very aggressive, I have a less aggressive investment in mutual funds (which has experienced good growth as well) and the down-payment for the house my wife and I will purchase this year is in a high yield savings earning 4%

Investing in lead otherwise.

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[JclInAtx]

I like to treat my finances as separate buckets.
We rebalanced retirement accounts early on in covid times to 50/50 stocks/bonds all in low cost index and target date funds. My wife and I are in our 50s so retirement is still a ways away but we don't feel comfortable gambling too much and don't need to take the risk.
Daughter is in college so her 529 is in stable value and we're drawing down.
The only debt we carry is our mortgage which will be paid off in 4 years.
Cash accounts are about 6 months combined salary. I was let go last summer and while I did get a good severance it was comforting to have enough cash to not worry. Luckily I found employment before dipping much into the severance.

[Sig_Fiend]

This isn't financial advice and don't follow me. I'm probably an idiot. I just like to keep things simple in ways I can easily understand.

For me, it's guns, ammo, precious metals, and other tangible assets that are mostly unlikely to ever lose value.
I want physical possession so I can avoid as much loss as possible from the recurring, orchestrated, economical collapses.

Also, investing in creating side businesses that are fairly resistant to economical fluctuations (mostly internet-based).

Debt free for several years except for the mortgage, and it's paid down significantly to an easily sustainable level.

[JCS]

Bitcoin.

[LJP]

401k with employer match. Since my plan allows both, I will probably add a Roth to the mix. A small investment portfolio in which I only buy dividend stocks. It has done well with the that model, although progress is slow. Guns and ammo and other things that will be of value. Paying off debt has been a major focus.

[rob_s]

Curious to hear to what extent people are putting money into index funds these days?

Historically they have outperformed something like 75%+ of financial advisers, but they are getting a lot of press the past few years which leads me to believe maybe their time has come. I have a theory that if too many people are just buying index funds then that starts to flatten those index fund curve, but I’m not an economist so I can’t prove it.

I suppose it wouldn’t be there hard to look at historic rate of return on various index funds (vanguard being the oldest / biggest I know of) and compare it to inflation and the markets in general and see if they’ve flattened…

[David S.]

Early 40s.

Most of our retirement money is managed. The part I manage in my 401k is in a defensive position. I'd put it in cash if I could, but instead it's in a "stable" fund until the government starts making choices that are less destructive. Then it'll be moved back into more typical broad market index fund.

Otherwise, we're paying off debt and buying as much bitcoin as we can while it's down.

[shootist26]

Curious to hear to what extent people are putting money into index funds these days?

Historically they have outperformed something like 75%+ of financial advisers, but they are getting a lot of press the past few years which leads me to believe maybe their time has come. I have a theory that if too many people are just buying index funds then that starts to flatten those index fund curve, but I’m not an economist so I can’t prove it.

I suppose it wouldn’t be there hard to look at historic rate of return on various index funds (vanguard being the oldest / biggest I know of) and compare it to inflation and the markets in general and see if they’ve flattened…

Good explanation of why I'm not too concerned about that
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv0pJh8mFk0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltuqXTwWsZ8&t=63s