Silicon Valley Investors Club - An Investment Community For Tech Professionals

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It's really not. Bitcoin has no intrinsic value, just like fiat. What's more, it's a deflationary asset, and inflation is super important for a currency. If you knew with 99% confidence that your coin will be worth more 5 years from now than today, why would you use it to buy a sandwich? Why would anyone actually spend Bitcoin?

2 days ago

Hi all! Really appreciate all the great discussion on here. Most of my experience with investing has been with real estate, stock options, and 401K so I’m learning a lot! I’m looking to open a custodial brokerage account for my niece and nephew to gift stocks for holidays, birthdays, etc. Will probably focus on index funds and/or EFTs in growth industries. I would love any input you all may have on which brokerage accounts would be best suited for this and any thoughts you may have on which industries to look into. I don’t plan on doing much trading so this will be more for long term holds. Of course, any additional advice on this is greatly appreciated as well. THANK YOU!! 🙂 ... See MoreSee Less

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When I was young, I had an aunt who worked for Merrill Lynch and advised me to buy a few utility stocks with dividend reinvestment. As a kid, it was intriguing to see the dividends and see the growth over time. As an adult, I think low cost life strategy is simplest. Why not a little of both? For the actual brokerage, they are all the same, but I might suggest you pick one that you already use for your own investing or 401k that is invested in it he index fund approach, such as Fidelity or Schwab. (Normally I would push Vanguard, but since these are kids, they might get something out of visiting a brick and mortar store.) Last point. If they are old enough to have actual jobs, why not offer to match their savings rate if the commit to put the money into a Roth IRA? If you match $1 for $1, the trick is that they get to keep 100% of their paycheck, with you putting the money into the Roth on their behalf. You can do this up to the limit of your budget (ie, up to $100 per kid). This really helps them connect the idea of saving at an early age.

Vanguard is great for "set it and forget it" investments with good long term funds. If you want an actual brokerage, most are pretty similar. I like Schwab and Ally Invest, myself

I'd suggest looking into a 529 (college fund) plan through e.g. vanguard - you can choose how your investments are structured and there are tax advantages for the recipients (if the funds are used for education related expenses)

I’m on the receiving end of the stock gifts, but my grandpa likes Fidelity for both him and me as he says it’s very easy to transfer stock to me if we are at the same brokerage.

I have set up Schwab custodial accounts for all of my nephews and neice. Every birthday/holiday I get them stocks that correspond to their gifts (e.g. I get them snowboarding lessons and Vail stock). I'm using it as a tool to eventually teach them about stock and time value of investments but having it relate to the gift to help them make a tangible connection. My oldest nephew is 10 and he's already showing interest. One thing to be aware of (or to look more into) is that custodial accounts have to be reported as assets of the child when the kids apply for college & financial aid (or at least that's my understanding).

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4 days ago

Has anyone invested in “turnkey investment properties?” Sounds almost too good to be true but would love to hear what to watch out for or if what the catch is if there are any. Ty!! ... See MoreSee Less

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First one was a dud, and I'll be lucky to walk away without the loan. Didn't do my research well and was too trigger happy to buy something. Second one was doing well with a section 8 tenant, but decided to sell it and invest in a single state rather than two to avoid the overhead. I'm currently trying out the whole BRRRR thing that's popular now. More risk, more reward...

It’s way more competitive now, and all the good turnkey operators are sold out... for the most part you would be lucky to get $100 cash flow given all the expenses and almost annual turn costs... but it’s still a property that is being paid off and appreciating (in the right market). If yuu do the BRRR yourself yuu can save a lot of $, and also spend way more time and potentially make more mistakes...

By the way, having done turnkey, group investments, renovation projects, and stock investing, feel free to DM me about my opinions on real estate investing. Besides one BRRRR that I'm doing, I'm also leaning towards more hands off syndications as an LP for several reasons (more hands off being the main one).

4 days ago

Hi all! Does anyone have experience investing in SPACs? They seem to be all the rage and my cursory research suggests that they're often quite successful with sizable pops once the target company is announced. Are there any unique risks to consider or things to think through if planning an investment in a SPAC? ... See MoreSee Less

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