Conflicted between using my young age to take higher risks for potentially higher returns, or just indexing for long term?

Hi OP, I'm in a similar position as you, so thought I'd share some personal thoughts about this! For me, I've currently been doing more LT indexing, but I'm slowly starting to transition into individual stocks. I was quite firm on my approach since the beginning, because I wanted to kickstart my investing process ASAP, but lacked the knowledge for it in the beginning. Thus, indexing allowing me to invest while I brush up my knowledge on investments. I personally believe in understanding what I'm investing in (which I have realized many people don't, they just rush into investing) so I took the time to read up on stock valuation approaches, fundamental analyses etc. After feeling more confident in my knowledge, I am now starting to look into stocks. Personally not into crypto at the moment as I don't understand it enough, but I would recommend putting <5% of your portfolio in it unless you truly understand it. While the returns can be promising, the downside risks and losses could be high too.

Well it depends on ur risk appetite, you're young so you have a longer time hoziron to do so. An example i would give would be perhaps investing $200 at your age right now to investing $200 at 45 when you're married and have kids. At your age right now, depending on your spending habbits $200 might mean lesser bubble tea or whatever you spend ur money on ... whereas $200 at 45 would mean phone bills or whatever important expense you might have to pay. In summary, I would say go with what matches your risk appetite and don't feel pressured about your surroundings. Idk whether this answers your question.

Hey there,

I wish I had the sense to even consider investing at 19! So good on you for even considering this at such a young age.

I think your decision would really depend on your knowledge and conviction of individual stocks and/or cryptos. I.e. what do you understand about the business as a whole, their business model, revenue model, the management, their financial position, their products, their risks.

There's nothing wrong in starting off with ETFs that track an index (i.e. SPY, QQQ) and moving on to individual stocks later on as you get more familiar and feel more confident. Picking individual stocks doesn't need to be risky, it can be the opposite sometimes, if you've done your necessary research.

All the best.

Why not both? Important thing is to get started. Don't fall into the trap of analysis paralysis :)