Stocks, depends on the month: 1000-2000 on average.
Link: http://mays.co/i-made-6k-this-month-doing-nothing/
Webhosting: $20 (Mainly just pays for my VPS)
Launching soon: http://gymbrew.com (Subscription box service for protein goodies)
Webhosting: $20 (Mainly just pays for my VPS)
Launching soon: http://gymbrew.com (Subscription box service for protein goodies)
Should people invest? Yes. Should they invest in index funds instead of day-trading? Almost certainly. Should they expect $6k/month returns from whatever change they scraped from underneath the sofa cushions? No.
Edit: Btw, everything you said is true. And great advice for those trying to follow a similar path. I rarely even check my on my stocks, it's mostly set it and forget it. I simplified this for family members and friends who I think would benefit greatly from investing.
I saw what your investing allocation was from your blog post 60% VTSAX, 25% VTIAX, 10% VGSIX, & 5% VBTLX
Have you heard of betterment? https://www.betterment.com/portfolio/
What do you think of betterments portfolio strategy and allocation? For younger people they recommend 90% stocks 10% bonds.
I like lazy allocations, take a look at this: http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Lazy_portfolios
Also, keep in mind that any investment you do it is WAY better to do it in tax advantaged accounts (401k, roth ira, ira, etc). Typical advice goes like this
Max out 401k up to company match Max out roth ira (currently 5500 a year) Max out 401k fully (up to 22,500 a year) Invest in non tax advantaged accounts
When you contribute to 401k it lowers your taxable income, so if you make 80k, and contribute 20k to your 401k, you only pay taxes on 60k which can be great for tax savings.
They both do the same thing, tax loss harvesting and automatic rebalancing. That fee difference over 30 years assuming an investment of 20k per year and an 8% return could cost you like 400k - which is not chump change.
It seems to be roughly the same idea, but without any fees at all (I haven't used any of them, so I'm likely missing something)
While income from side jobs can be irregular, returns from investments mainly concentrated in equities can be more volatile.
Volatility in the S&P 500 (as measured by the VIX) has been relatively quite low for the past few years, other than a few marked events. (US debt ceiling crisis, etc.) A chart of the S&P 500 shows more-or-less an upward trend over the past five years; certainly since the beginning of 2013 there have hardly been any wild swings.
This can lull investors into a false sense of security about the distributions of returns; just because returns have been steady (i.e. low volatility) over the past few years does not mean things will remain this way.
I don't dispute the long-term average yearly return of ~8%. What I am saying is that, as with many other things, averages don't tell the true story. One year, you could be down 30-40% in equities and another you could be up 30%. Getting a constant 8% return every year is unlikely.
For some long-term investors, they aren't concerned about the volatility and this is a perfectly rational thing. However, there are some people who cannot bear the volatility of such investments and will be in constant worry. Such individuals would likely have to apportion a higher percentage of their to less risky assets and perhaps miss out on some overall return.
I heard of many people freaking out just because the mini-correction that happened in mid-October. These sorts of people aren't cut out to be investing like this as they will panic and sell during downswings.