I have a theory

[ehanes7612]

When I was 16/17 (1982/83) , I was obsessed about three things..Amazing Spiderman comics , Astronomy and computers. I figured that once computers combined word processing and accounting with the power of video game attributes (graphics and networking), that there would be one in every home. I collected spiderman comics for partly as an investment and I knew astronomy images would be a daily thing one day. 30 plus years later and spiderman is the most popular comic book ever (my collection that I spent 1000 dollars on in 1980's would be worth 50 times that now), astronomy is in the golden age and computers are everywhere. As cliche' as it may sound, when I was a teenager, I could count on one hand, the number of people I knew that shared at least one of these insights and these were all gamers. Everyone else ignored me or gave me weird looks, a few laughed at me and called me delusional. But to TBH , I was just going with my passions, and usually my passions included things that no one else around me cared about .. IDK, maybe if you are thinking about investing in the future , you should look to your kids for investment ideas.

 

[Ray]

My son works for Prudential Financial, and I do have an annuity with them. (Which was a total coincidence.)

My attitude has always been "go with what you know".

Back when you were 16/17, I was averaging 13 flights a week, primarily on Eastern Airlines. They hit a rough spot, value-wise, but their daily operation seemed solid and the flights were full (thank goodness for the "Executive Traveler" program; I flew first class the vast majority of the time), so I bought a bunch of their stock. I sold out when the value had more than quadrupled, months before it ended up tanking altogether.

Likewise, while I was very actively building and selling RO systems, I bought GE stock because they were, at the time, the biggest player in water purification, and clean water is certainly the next "oil". During the big recession, while most folks lost half their portfolio value, that stock held its own, only dipping a little. Had to sell all of that when we moved and a bunch of my home sale proceeds got locked up in escrow, but it was at its peak then...

 

[ehanes7612]

13 flights a week? damn

 

[ehanes7612]

I would imagine social media apps are a thing to look into..Facebook especially (now that they have instagram and whatsapp) and will probably keep acquiring others. I was in Menlo Park/Fremont last week...the Facebook complex is pretty crazy...that whole area is very surreal, Ebay, Tesla etc. All those young people but everything shuts down by ten pm...even the gas stations lock their doors. Ultra weird vibes in that area. Much different vibe than when I lived there in early 90's. Couldn't pay me to live there now. Very sterile too...but I will keep using their apps

 

[Ray]

13 flights a week? damn

Yep. Did that for 3.5 years - all around the US, plus Toronto and Montreal.

I was home for 3 weeks the whole time my wife was pregnant with our son - made me VERY popular... At least I was home most weekends. Typically, I'd drive to CHS about 4 pm on a Sunday or 4 am on a Monday and traipse around all week, taking the Friday midnight flight from ATL to CHS with all of the Parris Island recruits, getting home about 2 am. Do laundry, pack, repeat.

2 of those 3 weeks were after my son was born, then off I went again. We relocated from SC to corporate HQ in NJ when he was 1 year old, when I was promoted and then hired a staff of 6 to cover those accounts - and expanded my territory to North-, Central- and South America, Japan and China. I didn't travel as often, but when I did, it was for 3-4 weeks at a time.

 

[Ozpaph]

invest in tangible things you understand (Buffet-esque).
Social media doesnt fit that bill IMHO.