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Need advice on best retirement investment for sudden windfall ($40K) | mid-forties and no retirement savings

301 90 January 5, 2025 at 05:32 PM in Finance (4)
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Current financial situation:

45 yo old, unemployed. living w/ parents and receiving financial help. I don't have any retirement savings
cash ready to invest: $40K
can invest further $400 - $600 each month after expenses.

From what I understand, I'm not eligible for any IRA's since I don't have any taxable income. The help I get falls under 'gifts' and is much less than the $18,000/yr threshold that must be reported to the IRS.

The only option I see is to open a brokerage account and put all my money in an index fund like the S&P 500. This is for my retirement so I don't intend to touch the money for at least 20 years.

If anyone has better ideas, I'm all ears. TIA!

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Joined Jun 2005
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
> bubble2 8,673 Posts
3,128 Reputation
komondor
08-04-2025 at 01:32 PM.
08-04-2025 at 01:32 PM.
Without going into the reason for being unemployed if you do see yourself being employed at some time then going with a job now so you can put the money in a ROTH IRA but if you don't see yourself having any income to speak of for the next 40+ years a ROTH will really not have much of an advantage as when the money grows each year you will not be paying any taxes on the growth. So not paying taxes when you use the money will not help you. By keeping it in a regular account it will be more available if you should need the funds for something.
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Joined Feb 2007
L10: Grand Master
> bubble2 7,606 Posts
WindySummer
08-05-2025 at 07:49 AM.
08-05-2025 at 07:49 AM.
Investing in Ethereum may not be your thing. I haven't yet, but I do know there are two major players and ETFs
(BMNR) Bitmine Immersion Technologies and (SBET) Sharplink Gaming.

Try to figure out from a long term perspective which Ethereum treasury has the best shot of emulating (MicroStrategy) for a long term Investment.

BMNR Chairman Tom Lee, Peter Thiel has a 9.1% stake, Cathie Wood's ARK invested 212.9 Million, Bill Miller III made a major investment, Stanley Druckenmiller.
SBET Chairman Joseph Lubin - Co-founder of ETHEREUM, Joseph Chalom left his position as BlackRock's Head of crypto assets last week
and is now co-CEO of SBET. He will be the CEO before year end.

Llowest cost Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF (ETH), next lowest (ETHW), and (ETHA).

Ethereum's upside is projected to be much higher than Bitcoin. Personally, I believe it's a long term buy at a price point you're comfortable with.
ETHEREUM is highly volatile and most financial advisors recommend it represent only a small percentage of your portfolio.


ETH/USD $3,567.00

(BMNR) $31.21
(SBET) $18.62
(ETH) $33.64
(ETHW) $25.57
(ETHA) $26.96
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Joined Jun 2006
L7: Teacher
> bubble2 2,062 Posts
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jcrash
08-06-2025 at 09:20 AM.
08-06-2025 at 09:20 AM.
In general, the advice is here is horrible.

My portfolio is up +318.47% in the past 3 years (and I've taken OUT easily 40% of the current balance in that time, so it is actually up 500%+)

You want Microstrategy, Bitcoin, Gold, and energy.
If you aren't going to touch it,
MSTR 8k,
FBTC 5K
GLD 5K,
QQQM 5K
XLE 5K
URA 5K
RING 4K
DAPP 3K

You should average a 30% return with that. The dollar is going to zero. These things will not.
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Joined Feb 2007
L10: Grand Master
> bubble2 7,606 Posts
WindySummer
08-06-2025 at 09:25 PM.
08-06-2025 at 09:25 PM.
Quote from jcrash :

My portfolio is up +318.47% in the past 3 years (and I've taken OUT easily 40% of the current balance in that time, so it is actually up 500%+)


You want Microstrategy, Bitcoin, Gold, and energy.

If you aren't going to touch it.
Do you believe BITCOIN will outperform ETHEREUM over the next 20 Years?
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Joined Jun 2006
L7: Teacher
> bubble2 2,062 Posts
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jcrash
08-07-2025 at 06:51 AM.
08-07-2025 at 06:51 AM.
Quote from WindySummer :
Do you believe BITCOIN will outperform ETHEREUM over the next 20 Years?
Ethereum could be something totally different in a few years. I don't want to invest in something that doesn't know what it is. I hold a small amount of ethereum, but it is less than 2% of my portfolio. Bitcoin, bitcoin treasuries, bitcoin etfs? Over 70%.

So you tell me what I think.
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Joined Feb 2007
L10: Grand Master
> bubble2 7,606 Posts
WindySummer
08-07-2025 at 08:27 AM.
08-07-2025 at 08:27 AM.
Quote from jcrash :
Ethereum could be something totally different in a few years. I don't want to invest in something that doesn't know what it is. I hold a small amount of ethereum, but it is less than 2% of my portfolio. Bitcoin, bitcoin treasuries, bitcoin etfs? Over 70%.

So you tell me what I think.
I don't know what you think.

I believe at this point in time Ethereum long term will easily be be 10x at a minimum.

Please recommend where I should invest Bitcoin at today's price. The symbol, etc.
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Joined Jun 2006
L7: Teacher
> bubble2 2,062 Posts
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jcrash
08-08-2025 at 08:12 AM.
08-08-2025 at 08:12 AM.
Quote from WindySummer :
I don't know what you think.

I believe at this point in time Ethereum long term will easily be be 10x at a minimum.

Please recommend where I should invest Bitcoin at today's price. The symbol, etc.
I cannot help you if you think Ethereum will outperform bitcoin.

It is centralized and controlled. They can choose to do whatever they want with it. The servers can go down. Sure, it is a commodity, but it really shouldn't be.

Where to buy bitcoin? CashApp has no spread or fees. Strike. River. Fidelity. Hell, my credit union WeStreet let's you buy it.

I would lean into the bitcoin treasuries. They will outperform bitcoin.

Go learn about Nostr. It is a new protocol for apps with bitcoin payments built in..instant, anonymous and new apps are appearing on it all the time. Ethereum? Nope.

I gave you a portfolio that will outperform the market by a multiple. If you think you can do better, go for it.

I think my returns are good enough. You really want to push for more than what I've been making? Pigs get slaughtered.
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Joined Nov 2006
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> bubble2 8,293 Posts
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LC2
08-17-2025 at 06:52 PM.
08-17-2025 at 06:52 PM.
Quote from REI877 :
Current financial situation:

45 yo old, unemployed. living w/ parents and receiving financial help. I don't have any retirement savings
cash ready to invest: $40K
can invest further $400 - $600 each month after expenses.

From what I understand, I'm not eligible for any IRA's since I don't have any taxable income. The help I get falls under 'gifts' and is much less than the $18,000/yr threshold that must be reported to the IRS.

The only option I see is to open a brokerage account and put all my money in an index fund like the S&P 500. This is for my retirement so I don't intend to touch the money for at least 20 years.

If anyone has better ideas, I'm all ears. TIA!

Well, I'm in a slightly similar situation. I'm older and never worked much due to disabilities. My situation is very complex. Zogo is a nice little app that pays you to learn about finances. There are others. You may need a code for that but can Google one. When you're older, investing in stocks is even riskier because you don't have as much time to earn back your losses.

Years ago, when not working, I set up a Roth IRA through Chase, using their self-directed investment account. You're supposed to have earned income from a job or self-employment, but you can work somewhere for a day and then set one up. Take the IRA and roll it over into a CD ladder. That way, you'll always have access to some of your funds. Structuring it will take careful consideration. Municipal bonds and treasury bills are also fairly safe.
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Joined Nov 2005
dark passenger
> bubble2 301 Posts
90 Reputation
Original Poster
REI877
08-20-2025 at 03:57 AM.
08-20-2025 at 03:57 AM.
Hi All,

I didn't think people would still be commenting on this post so I thought I'd give you guys a quick update.

First off, I realized I did have taxable income from odd jobs I'd been doing; mostly from basic car maintenance and installation of aftermarket parts. It never occurred to me to count that as 'income', probably because I always got paid in cash. But after I sat down and recalled all the jobs I'd done for friends and acquaintances, it came out to almost $8000 for 2024; much more than I realized. So I filed a tax return and had to pay over $600 in federal taxes, which sucked. However, I figured it would be worth it in the long run because it meant I could open a Roth IRA.

I read all of your replies and have been trying to learn as much about the market as possible. To keep things brief, I opened a Roth IRA and a standard investment account with Vanguard (I've since switch to Fidelity). I maxed out my Roth (for '24 and '25) and put the rest in the investment account. My financial situation hasn't improved much; I'm still only working the odd job here and there. However, thanks to having next to no expenses, I've been able to invest almost all of what I'm currently making.

But investing in tech-heavy ETFs, such as QQQ, and having a bit of luck with some other tech stocks, I've been able to grow my initial investment markedly. I've enclosed a summary of my current portfolios' performance. Not bad so far, I guess.

Thanks to everyone's suggestions.

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Last edited by REI877 August 20, 2025 at 04:06 AM.
Joined Jun 2006
L7: Teacher
> bubble2 2,062 Posts
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jcrash
10-06-2025 at 10:49 AM.
10-06-2025 at 10:49 AM.
Quote from jcrash :
In general, the advice is here is horrible.

My portfolio is up +318.47% in the past 3 years (and I've taken OUT easily 40% of the current balance in that time, so it is actually up 500%+)

You want Microstrategy, Bitcoin, Gold, and energy.
If you aren't going to touch it,
MSTR 8k,
FBTC 5K
GLD 5K,
QQQM 5K
XLE 5K
URA 5K
RING 4K
DAPP 3K

You should average a 30% return with that. The dollar is going to zero. These things will not.
Since it is two months, I ran the numbers on my recommendations.

Total return in 2 months on diversified portfolio: 15%

Worst Performer MSTR at -4%.
Best Performer DAPP at 48.7%

Annualized, that's 130% (1.15)^6​ -1
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