news.ycombinator.com• Jul 24, 2023• 1 min read
Ask HN: Do you put most of your money in stocks?It's rather shocking to me that 9 of 12 friends of mine I've asked recently have zero direct exposure to the stock market, whereas about 80% of my savings is in stocks/mutual funds/etc. Of said friends, the most common reason (besides that they don't feel like they know what to invest in) is a general feeling that "the market's gotta crash one day". I respond with, "but FOMO". (Neither one is a valid argument).The two wealthiest people I know are completely invested in real estate and neither of them gets anywhere near the stock market.Yet... I was brought up on this concept that the best way to preserve and increase wealth is to buy stocks that have a history of increasing their dividends, and dripping them. That that is better than any sort of CD or mutual fund. Mostly utilities where there's a firewall to competition. Which, granted, is a curiously conservative form of investment (but still a pretty radical form of saving, from the perspective of most of my friends).I'm curious how