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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   1629 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for November 16, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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I am an inveterate saver, and due to a dirt-poor upbringing I am probably more financially conservative than 90% of the people on this board.

That said, I am trying to change that, and I'd like to take a few grand of my savings and put them to better work.

If you had ~$3,000 right now that you could use to try and get a better than 3.8% return from, what would you do with it?

Right now I can get 4.10% from a 9 month CD. I could, in theory, invest it, but I have some concerns about the economic fundamentals of the market right now.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Buy VTI with all of it as soon as you can. You should own assets, not dollars, unless you think the USD is going to deflate meaningfully in your lifetime.

I have some concerns about the economic fundamentals of the market right now.

People have been saying this since the instant the major indexes broke through the dot-com highs in 2013 or so. I (and many others!) have more than tripled what I socked away during the 2016 election cycle when others who are too smart for their own good were concerned about what Trump would do to the economy.

My sister sold everything in November 2016 and she is much poorer for it.

I gave aiislove similar advice, and I really hope he took it.

Yes I decided to just trim a tiny bit of my portfolio to pump my cash a little bit (I’m fine with about 8% of my portfolio in cash earning 3.5% interest as a very safe segment of my wealth even as I see cash as a pretty bad investment generally but I can’t stomach being 100% out of cash either.)

I am still squeamish about the market and the AI bubble as well as the commercial housing market but I am humble enough not to try to time the market and at my age I can just wait out any downturn or crash that isn’t completely apocalyptic

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