Late to the game: Investing in my late 20's

Keep the 3 months set aside as your "emergency fund". Take 20 bucks and buy Dave Ramsey's book "The Total Money Makeover" Should help you out a lot. Easy read.

If you have cash set aside and no debt in your late 20s then you’re not late to the game.
Job well done.

I am in pretty much the same exact situation as the OP.

Late 20s, good bit of money in a regular savings account, 8% into 401K, a little bit in cypto, no debt besides a credit card that I pay in full every month, but that is it. I want to invest. Bookmarking.

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I've got 3 months salary set aside for my "just in case fund". Should this money be invested at all? Seems wasteful to have that lump sum sitting in a savings account, but I guess it's also much less risky.

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I've never really understood the "x months salary saved up" approach. To me, it's how much you spend that's more important. I'd recommend about 4-6 months of living expenses in savings before investing. Just my opinion

To the OP:

The point of an emergency fund is so that you can handle things if something comes up. That may sound obvious, but stay with me for a second.

Having cash in savings is one way to do this, and has the advantage of being pretty damn simple. It has the disadvantage of tying up capital and not earning much with it.

You need to have the ability to obtain cash cheaply on short notice - that isn't the same thing as having cash in a low-interest savings account. For example, if you have a home and a steady income, it's quite feasible to just have a HELOC. If you suddenly need $5000, draw on that and divert some of your income stream to paying it down.

Get comfortable with having (and properly managing) low interest debt. It can make your financial life much easier and even enhance your net worth. Dave Ramsey's stuff is the financial equivalent of Alcoholics Anonymous - strong medicine for someone who can't handle money well. But if you can borrow cheaply and invest wisely, you can do very well for yourself. After all, that's how banks get rich.

20 something? You're not late. Don't seek credible advice here. Find an advisor and get started. Time goes faster than you think! Be diligent.

Your just in case fund should be in cash. It is an emergency fund and needs to be liquid.

Here are my thoughts: In a market dominated by machines and inside information, the individual trader is going to get slaughtered. Also, most investment accounts aren't so large as to be able to effectively diversify risk...and if you do split up your funds to that extent your trading costs on a percentage basis are quite high and the amount of surveillance you have to do expands exponentially.

I would recommend 1. Maxing out your 401k plan, 2. If you have disposable income left over finding am efficient fund family like Fidelity / Vanguard and invest in it.

The key is saving enough for long enough and on this basis you aren't late to the game. Always avoid consumer debt. Understand that the lifestyle available to you will be somewhat less than was available to your parents and grandparents because of the macroeconomic decisions tha have been been made over the last four or five decades. There are always exceptions, of course.

Try to get to 20 percent of your income and then 25. I would also try and get to a place where you have some (ten percent of your net worth) in physical gold.