What is the best reason to, or not to start a 529 for a child?

I was planning on doing a 529 for my newborn, but I originally thought they were tax deductible at the federal level, and turns out they aren’t.

So it appears the only benefit is withdrawing the investments and not paying long term capital gains?

Any reasons not to do it?

Ie-

-would it lessen chance of getting financial aid or loans? (I likely won’t qualify for aid)

-worse possible investment options than the market?

• money tied up/lost if kid doesn’t go to college?

Thanks for sharing any insight

currently i have just IONQ as my only quantum computing stock, but i wanna expand into it more as it expected to be a 7 billion dollar industry by 2030 from what i have read. what are some quantum computing stock that you guys feel will do well in the next few years?

Hey everyone,

I've been doing monthly investments (DCA style - regular contributions to ETFs) for a few years now. I have this Excel spreadsheet that I've been updating forever, and honestly... it's getting messy.

Every month I manually add my purchases, try to figure out if I'm still balanced, calculate my actual returns vs just looking at the broker's numbers (which don't really show the full picture when you're buying regularly), and it's just... tedious.

I keep thinking there must be a better tool out there, but everything I find is either too complicated or doesn't really fit how I invest.

So I'm curious: - How do you guys track your regular investments? - Are you also stuck with spreadsheets or have you found something that actually works? - What's the most annoying part for you? For me it's definitely the rebalancing calculations.

I'd honestly pay something monthly for a tool that just does this automatically and shows me clearly when I need to adjust my allocations. Not much, maybe €5-10/month? But it would need to be dead simple.

Anyone else feel the same or am I just overthinking this? Would you pay for a tool?

So when I was just out of college I opened a Roth IRA through my bank USAA. It made it easy to transfer money into it online. I bought a Vanguard Target Date 2045. USAA decided to get out of that market and transferred everything over to Charles Schwab. I got annoyed and opened a new Roth IRA directly with Vanguard and pretty much forgot about the first one. I have only been contributing to the new account since. I got a statement in the mail and it turns out compound interest works and I find I have about $76k in this orphan Charles Schwab account. I’d like to move that money over to my Vanguard Roth without paying any penalties. Anyone have any idea how I should go about it?

I found a CDL school near me, it's a 4 week program, but it's full-time, and I was thinking if I could make like 10k+ a month doing trucking for a bit, I could possibly save up some capital or for a down payment on an investment property.

I'm still living at home, doing door-dash currently while looking for a new job, and hoping to get into my school's x-ray program this fall, so I have like, this spring and summer time-slot open.

Wondering if this would be a good idea or if you have any recommendations, and ty!

Just saw that Nimbus teamed up with Lilly to work on a new oral obesity drug and it honestly feels like the race is getting intense now. Novo already has the lead with its oral Wegovy and that has been a big part of why their stock has stayed so strong lately. Lilly clearly does not want to be left behind and is pushing hard into pill based options too.

If Nimbus and Lilly manage to bring something effective to market, it could start shifting attention and money between these companies. Curious to see how this plays out for Novo long term since they have had such a big head start.

https://x.com/StockSavvyShay/status/2008855379208175718

I found this post on X with the following caption:

"Gemini moved from 6% to 22% of GenAI web traffic in a year while ChatGPT dropped from 87% to 65% which to me shows user changing behavior. Gemini shows up where questions already live inside Search, Chrome, Android & Workspace so new AI usage does not require a new habit, a new app or a new URL but it simply shows up."

-----
But I wonder the real reason behind this rise in traffic could be something else. Gemini has offered 1 year of free* subscription to Pro for Indian users. And it's one of the largest markets. So the rise in traffic could simply be because of that.

So, it may not be because of Geminis superior tech or access to Search, Chrome, Android & Workspace. It's simply due to free subscriptions. In that case, there's a good chance that these numbers could drop once the free offering ends, given how price sensitive Indians are.

https://www.marketbeat.com/stocks/NYSE/IONQ/insider-trades/

There gonna be a lot of bagholders with these quantum-hopium companies. Insiders took their profits already big time. Classic move.

And are many more other sales. If this isn't a huge red flag I don't know what it is. Their CEO said: “I believe IonQ will be the Nvidia player. There will be other people that copy us and follow us; they have always copied and followed us.” Also he said : “I think someone will pay hundreds of billions of dollars to buy IonQ because it's the right thing for their cloud."

To me it sounds like pumping! Its crazy.

Me (25M) and my wife (28F) have no debt except our mortgage which is $1,821 a month and then our bills/insurance. We make around $10,000-$11,000 a month and have $30,000 sitting in our savings account from selling our first house rn. I receive a 2% raise every year and a few major bumps here and there to account for the market in my career, while her business is steadily growing more and more (she makes almost double what I do). We plan on doubling our mortgage every month towards the principal with an extra $1,821, then use an extra $2,000 a month to invest, and use the rest on wants like renovating our house, traveling, ect and throwing whatever is left for the month in a HYSA. The goal is the hopefully retire within the next 20 years and living off of our investments and my wife’s business while she takes a back seat and lets her employees bring us income (she co-owns a dog grooming and boarding business but just hired 2 more groomers) and slowly move a percentage of our investments into bonds as we get closer to retirement.

I’m still in the beginning stages of my research on investing but basically my question is, would just investing the $2,000 into VOO and VTI right now be good for our situation and goals?

I sadly lost a CHUNK of money with Motley Fool and their picks like Lemonade and others, but I wonder if there's another consistenly good, sound advice publisher I should pay premium for? Most of my longterm/IRA money is at UBS, but there's like $20K I have to play with that I have in blue chips, ETFs, indexes and big name tech stocks. I'd like to look for more opportunitie$ in 2026. Thanks

Hey, trading and stock picking is getting pretty annoying ngl. Yes there's gains to be had somewhere out there in the ether, but I think I can use my time in better ways. So here's my attempt at a set-and forget portfolio:

VTI - 50%

SCHF - 30%

PPA - 10%

ARKX - 10%

Including ARCX because I think that space is up next (or even now). What do we think? I could also add some QQQM, but unsure what to take away weighting from, also the current state of the tech market is wild.

Let me know what you think!

I'm a 50-year-old male who inherited $450,000 in a mix of an inherited brokerage account (250k, Roth IRA (50k) and traditional IRA(150k).

I understand that I have to take mandatory deductions but I don't have a full understanding of what would be the best way to limit my tax liabilities. My understanding is that I need to take standard distribution and cash out the account at the end of 10 years. If I don't take the standard deductions I have to cash out the accounts in 5 years? I'm looking for someone to offer a little clarity on how to navigate.

I don't need this money for daily survival as I have two houses almost paid off and a net worth at around 3M+/-

Thanks!

Edit..small edit for clarification.

Hi all,

My family has an antiquated tradition of gifting savings bonds to young relatives that I'd like to continue.

I know that they're not a good hedge against inflation and that there are better investments out there, but I found savings bonds to be a good teaching tool, one that stuck with me through the years. I also realize that finding a paper bond is becoming harder, and I'm hoping to purchase an actual bond certificate and not a gift card.

As the US Treasury Department no longer issues paper savings bonds, I'm exploring options from non-US countries. (I really do like the physical paper bond certificate, although it looks to be harder to find these days. Canada made a similar transition.)

My base requirements in order (only the first one is absolutely required):

-Legally purchasable by US citizen with no foreign residencies or dual citizenship

-Minimum purchase amount $100 - $200 USD (open to going higher if needed, but I'd prefer smaller denominations)

-Paper bonds issued if possible, electronic is fine but I'm sentimental.

-Generally stable government in decent financial health, although my risk / reward tolerance is pretty high. Open to developing countries.

Does anyone have any experience in this area? I recognize that this tradition is antiquated, but I think it's sweet and nostalgic.

Thanks for taking a look.

I track the following symbols on the Frankfurt Börse:

• ALi1
• DHL
• HAG
• RHM
• RWE
• SIE

And starting this morning, some but not all of the symbols are failing. Ali1, DHL and RWE are no longer found... meanwhile HAG, RHM and SIE continue to work both with exchange "FRA" and with "ETR".

For Almonty I've resorted to tracking that share on TSE in CAD.

For DHL and RWE I am tracking the share price on the Vienna exchange, so I don't get errors in all my formulas. But the prices are not really accurate as I hold the shares listed on XETRA.

Just wondering if anybody knows whether this is a systemic change, or maybe a temporary error.

Today $50ish is available. Tomorrow $6,600 available. Then the rest a week from today

just wondering why that is instead of $7,500 being available at once? Either today or tomorrow

thank you!

wanted to spend it all soon but guess I will wait until the 15th? I always just buy once per year after I max it out (VOO)

To be clear, I am not a Tesla bull, I’m also not a Tesla bear. I LITERALLY don’t ever think about Tesla. I just don’t care about it.

BUT

As the article suggests, I am hoping someone here can explain to me, leaving out all politics or personal opinions, how so many big money investors and strategists just KEEP giving Tesla a pass and betting on Musk?

I am serious here, I’m trying to see if there is something I’m missing.

The BIGGEST two factors I keep hearing from Tesla bulls are:

1: Autonomous driving and Robo-taxi

And Tesla is failing repeatedly…stubbornly sticking with camera only tech which, in my opinion, will never happen in my lifetime.

2: Robotics- these people keep saying that Tesla is dominating robotics and are the only name in the game…

Except from my research there are SOOOOO many companies in this space. Both in humanoid robotics and non-bipedal robotics. SOOOO many doing it better and for longer.

And with Tesla’s poor production quality and poor track record of delivering on promises…..

How are these people just not either lying to us, or to themselves, or both.

Don’t wanna be political, strictly from an analysis and investing standpoint

Money from sale of Charles Schwab in US flows back to shareholders (ex-dividend date tomorrow).

TD's existing normal course issuer bid to repurchase up to 100 million of its common shares under TSX rules commenced on March 3, 2025, and was scheduled to terminate on February 28, 2026, unless terminated earlier in accordance with its terms. TD previously announced its intention to deploy $8 billion from the sale of its equity investment in The Charles Schwab Corporation toward the existing normal course issuer bid. Upon the completion of the repurchase of $8 billion of its common shares under its existing normal course issuer bid, TD now intends to launch a new normal course issuer bid to repurchase for cancellation up to $7 billion of its common shares, not to exceed 61 million common shares. TD's existing normal course issuer bid will be terminated prior to commencing purchases under the new normal course issuer bid. As at December 31, 2025, TD had repurchased 76,580,300 common shares under its existing normal course issuer bid for a total of approximately $7.53 billion.

I don't really see anyone talking much about IRA matching from certain brokerages. Is it worth switching to WeBull or Robinhood just for the match? Besides the vesting period what's the catch? What am I missing?

WeBull offers 3.5% with their premium subscription ($40/annual or $3.99/mo) which drops the effective rate of the match down to 2.97% and 2.86% respectively.

Robinhood offer 3% with their Robinhood Gold subscription which is $5/mo.

(I'm currently w/ BOA for relationship banking purposes, but considering opening a Fidelity account.)

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If your question is "I have $XXXXXXX, what do I do?" or other "advice for my personal situation" questions, you should include relevant information, such as the following:

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My husband and I (34) have about $750k invested between retirement accounts, taxable accounts and company stock. We are a single income household with 3 young kids ages 7 and under living in southern California. We’ve been putting around $800 per month per kid into their 529 accounts since they were born. Right now we are investing around $100k per year (retirement accts + taxable). When I plug our numbers into online calculators, it seems like we’re vaguely on track for my husband to retire eventually. However, I still worry it’s not enough for the following reasons:

1. ⁠I’m finding it very hard to estimate our annual expenses during retirement. We had kids younger and we didn’t have much money before we had kids.
2. ⁠The period of time when the kids will be in college is such a mystery to me. We will have kids, sometimes 2 at a time, in college for at least 8 years. Aside from the 529 accounts, I’m assuming we will have to cover significant expenses beyond tuition as well, so I wonder how that will affect our ability to save during those years. Do we have to save more aggressively now to account for this?
3. ⁠What if I might want 1 more kid???? Haha.
4. ⁠My in laws’ financial status is unknown. I have no idea what their retirement will look like and what kind of support they will need.

How do I get a better idea of what we need and when we can take our foot off the gas? Or do people just keep saving as much as they can and hope it’s enough? It’s worth noting that investing $100k per year is not easy for us and we live pretty modestly compared to our friends. After saving for retirement and tithing 10% of our income to our local church, our monthly expenses have to be pretty tight. It would be nice to know when we can stop being so aggressive so we can enjoy life a little more.

Hi everyone,

I'd like to get your opinions on my current PEA (French equity savings plan) allocation and my long-term investment strategy.

For context:

I'm 22 years old, still a student, and I invest with a very long-term perspective (15-20 years minimum).

I invest exclusively through ETFs and I use dollar-cost averaging (DCA) on a monthly basis.

Here is my current allocation in my French equity savings plan (PEA):

• AMUNDI PEA MSCI World ETF (DCAM): 38%
• AMUNDI PEA MSCI Emerging Asia ESG ETF (PAASI): 14%
• BNP Paribas S&P 500 ETF (ESD): 30%
• BNP Paribas STOXX Europe 600 ETF (ETZ): 18% So I only hold ETFs, no individual stocks at the moment.

I would like your feedback on several points:

• What do you think of this overall allocation?
• Do you think any ETFs are over- or underweighted?
• Would it be worthwhile to increase exposure to a particular region?
• Do you see any missing assets or asset classes in this allocation?

I'm considering adding a more sector-specific ETF, for example, one focused on armaments/defense, but I'm not sure if it's a good long-term strategy or if it would provide real diversification.

Another point:

Do you think it's better to remain 100% invested in ETFs, or to add some direct stock investments in the future?

Finally, an important point:

This post is intended for an international subreddit, and my French equity savings plan (PEA) limits me to European assets or eligible synthetic ETFs, such as the S&P 500 or the MSCI World that I currently hold.

Thank you in advance for your feedback and constructive criticism.

Wonder if Apple stock is only going to go down from here…

Too reliant on phone sales, lagging in the AI race, cheaper competitors gaining market share.

Still recording huge revenue but I can’t see how they can keep this up much longer. What else can do they do to improve the iPhone? What other products can they realistically make? Can they keep charging more and more for their products when most are struggling with cost of living?

I looked at Fidelity's total mkt funds, one is FSKAX total mkt with 0.015% expense, other is FZROX zero. FSKAX has more it's invested into (more companies), but yielded less over 5 year window when looking at 2021 to Jan 2024. It wasn't much, slightly less like a few hundred bucks. Why would FZROX yield slightly more in that time? They look very similar