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Comment by dgacmu

2 months ago

I have net managed to beat the market.

My estimate is that I've earned approximately $3/hour for the time I've spent doing so. And I was trading in such thinly traded options that it wasn't a matter of "scaling up" - I was literally only able to make money because I was picking up the pennies nobody else cared about.

(And/or trading on events that were were rare, obvious, and in an area I understood, which also doesn't scale)

Good fun and educational. Not quitting my day job. Because, of course, if you do the math on it, I've lost money playing the market relative to almost any other use of my time unless you consider it an investment in education and entertainment.

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dgacmu

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jncfhnb  2 months ago

Folks have an unhealthy mentality about beating the market, imo. You don’t need to beat the market if you’re not a fund manager trying to advertise your record. You just need to do well.

The market is up 27% YTD. Most global trends suggest, to me, a greater centralization of wealth into the US. Just dumping everything into the SP500 is likely more than great for 99% of people for the near future.

  • dgacmu  2 months ago

    I completely agree. Diversified low cost index funds are amazing. Matching "the market" has been a spectacular risk/return for a long time now.

    (And to be clear, I keep approximately all of our investments there. But I have a small puddle I play with to remind myself not to play with real money. :-)

  • JKCalhoun  2 months ago

    You are correct. You just need to beat inflation. (So 27% vs. 2.7%? Pretty sure anyone can be a Wall Street wolf these days.)

  • whiplash451  2 months ago

    Just because the SP500 did +27% this year does not mean it will continue to do so.

    Historical data shows a more nuanced picture.