Should I invest my mother's retirement funds in ETFs or trade derivatives and crypto with it?

Great strategy if your end goal is to sever all ties with your mother.

50% s&p 500 40% fixed-income and 10% cash

pickingupthepieces:

I'm a believer of the EMH and I don't think you can beat the market through value or growth investing unless you get really lucky or get tips.

pickingupthepieces:

I watched some crypto/derivatives/penny stock traders on YouTube (see Tim Sykes) and I believe if I can just get a couple of good trades and get 15% return a year I'll be good, instead of buying and holding.

100% do not invest your mom's retirement in crypto/derivatives/penny stocks

General rule of thumb: If anyone is marketing a service that teaches you to trade or provides trade ideas (especially small caps), run as fast as you can. I'm with @hungy23 - not worth the personal risk unless you have experience managing real funds, dealing with positions under pressure, etc. Wait for a material market pullback, buy some large cap bellwethers on a discount and call it good. (Not investment advice, just an idea).

You believe in EMH (semi-strong, btw), and you also believe that a 15% return is out there for the taking if you can make "a couple of good trades."

I think you don't understand the implication of your first statement.

the market is 10% off the highs (right now trading 2585)...2200 on the S&P 500 would be the equiv of the bottom after the 1987 crash (feels like a long way from here). I would suggest waiting until we get to 2200 (or something close...maybe 2300) and then just put 50% into the SPY ETF, and 50% into a basket of high dividend paying stocks & REITs (BKCC, WPC, WPG, etc... ).

Shut up mom. I watched a few Tim Sykes videos. We're chill.

After tax you are talking 10% return. Just buy the index then. And if you are trading those prOducts you are really looking for 50% returns to justify the higher risks

good troll. i laughed.

How is this actually a thread. I really hope OP is trolling.

Sykes is a clown. Anyone who really gets how to make money on any sort of security will make a lot more money keeping it to themselves. Lose your own money, not your poor mother's.

Definitely put all of your mom's retirement into crypto

Your first bet on a lot of online sportsbooks is transaction cost-free (sometimes you even get a deposit bonus), I'd just spread it all around across different sites.

I saw the first half of a 30 for 30 on Jimmy the Greek, it worked out really well for him.

Ah yes, the time tested strategy of trading cryptos and penny stocks based on YouTube generated ideas. What could go wrong?

This is very nice strategy..!!

I think that it would be too risky to trade crypto and derivatives unless you are a professional.

Much better to open an etrade and buy random Emerging Market stocks. That way, you know that you are buying and holding. Don't be a sucker for those snakes that want to charge you a .0002% fee to manage an ETF. That is YOUR money goddamn it (after your mom dies) Don't just go giving it away to people who think just because they specialize in something and spend all their time paying attention to it, that you should pay them what amounts to a penny a week. I mean seriously! Just think about all the money you could have saved in a year!