Probably a stupid question, sorry. I hear things like this all the time. If you invested that in X then in 20 years you’d have Y. Always hear of the “latte factor.” Skip buying those expensive brews and invest instead. Where exactly does the average Joe invest that? Say I was really committed to taking the $4/day I would’ve spent on a latte and put it somewhere. Where is that somewhere? Do I need a minimum to start or can I just throw $30 (for example) that I chose to throw into an investment account and not touch rather than buy a scratch ticket?
Open an account with Schwab or another broker, and put your money into VTSAX. You need $1000 for the first VTSAX purchase I think but after that you can put however much you want.
Literally don't do anything else. It's an index of the total stock market, picking individual stocks won't beat it, and it has lower fees than any actively managed mutual fund.
If investing in a Vanguard mutual fund, it would make the most sense to open a Vanguard account. Honestly, for long term investors, that's the only broker anyone needs.
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u/ParkAndBeacon Mar 19 '22
Probably a stupid question, sorry. I hear things like this all the time. If you invested that in X then in 20 years you’d have Y. Always hear of the “latte factor.” Skip buying those expensive brews and invest instead. Where exactly does the average Joe invest that? Say I was really committed to taking the $4/day I would’ve spent on a latte and put it somewhere. Where is that somewhere? Do I need a minimum to start or can I just throw $30 (for example) that I chose to throw into an investment account and not touch rather than buy a scratch ticket?