Investment advice

Id keep your speculative (gambled) investments to 10% of your taxable brokerage account holdings. Put the rest in index funds or “safer” etfs.

I’d subscribe to AT’s substack. He’s had a few bangers over the years.

You are on the right track. Maxing out your Roth at a young age is a good choice. As your income grows, you should also fund a traditional tax deferred account, which lowers current year taxes. It also provides tax diversification options for you down the road when you are pulling money out of retirement accounts.

Nothing wrong with using indexes, even in taxable accounts. The majority of my money is always in indexes for diversification. And they require less knowledge than investing in individual companies.

It is odd to only break even in the market we have been in for a while. You might need to use a financial advisor. I will say that investing in individual companies should increase your investing knowledge over time. That is a benefit in the long run. You might be chasing big profits thru risky choices. That could be why you aren't winning at it if you missed too often. You could try to stick with more proven winners with your individual stocks. You can make money with Google, Nvdia, Broadcom, Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Walmart, ... Don't try to be an expert stock picker; don't try to outsmart the market. Go where it tells you to go by jumping in on what the market already likes. There is usually a good reason why specific stocks are increasing. They are usually good companies and good investments. Good luck.