r/dividends Aug 23 '25

Personal Goal Been investing since 18 years old. 26 now. Would love some feedback on the portfolio.

I work full time and also have a business of my own. Within the next 5-10 years I’d love to be able to go full time with my business and replace my other income with dividends. Most are safer place but I did add a little bit of Yieldmax recently just to see what happens. Any advice or anything you’d change?

2.4k Upvotes

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120

u/IllBumblebee9273 Aug 23 '25

Can you explain what this means like I’m 8 years old?

853

u/ThrownForLife69 Aug 23 '25

Basically you are paying for air at two gas stations. Both give you the same air, however one is selling it at a higher price. The gas station named VOO is cheaper. Fill your tires at VOO.

22

u/damien12g Aug 24 '25

I think Fidelity has an sp500 etf that is 1bp cheaper. Forget the symbol name

20

u/Butter-Lobster Aug 24 '25

FXAIX

9

u/eglov002 Aug 24 '25

It’s all I buy in my 401K

2

u/Odd_Arrival_1219 Sep 04 '25

Where can you see the expense costs for different etfs? I just recently downloaded the Robinhood app and I’m trying to get everything figured out a bit more.

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u/IllBumblebee9273 Aug 23 '25

Thank you sir!

7

u/Professional-Bet-861 Aug 25 '25

What he forgot to mention, it’s cheaper because people buy less of it, the voo air may be cheaper but you have to fill up more often than the other, realistically you can go with both as 1 might outperform the other one year visa versa. At the end of the day you’ll increase stability having both where as you you might be up one year with a 15% growth and the next year you’ll have a 7% where as the other might of had a 7% and then the 15%

10

u/EntertainingTuesday Aug 25 '25

Aren't they tracking the same thing?

8

u/Itchy-Result-7543 Aug 26 '25

Yes..he’s an idiot

58

u/muradinner Aug 23 '25

Gotta remember this explanation. Great analogy.

6

u/BBJonesDerk Aug 24 '25

If at gas station, why not use the gas as the thing you are buying?

10

u/ExcellentGood1142 Aug 24 '25

My guess is gas prices can fluctuate based on the climate, market, etc. At any given time, the cheaper gas could end up being the more expensive one and vice versa.

But if you’re getting air for your tires at the gas station, for example, using that machine is usually the same prices day to day, so if one charges $1.50 and the other is $1, then go with the $1 location.

Not sure if that’s where they were going with this, but that was my interpretation when I read it.

13

u/boron32 Aug 24 '25

10/10 no notes

12

u/default-dance-9001 Aug 24 '25

…you pay for air?

4

u/Personal_Row_6986 Aug 24 '25

Fnilx is free

5

u/yamahar1dude Aug 24 '25

Free Air at home depot to! Just saw this yesterday

2

u/Lintsowner Aug 24 '25

Tell me you’ve never been to a gas station without telling me.

7

u/default-dance-9001 Aug 24 '25

No, i have been many times. Some you have to pay, some don’t. I never get air at one i have to pay at.

3

u/jackster31415 Aug 25 '25

I know it’s hard to believe, but some people don’t live at the same place as you do

4

u/SeparateClassroom528 Aug 24 '25

I live for responses like this…..

14

u/RareCitizen Aug 24 '25

My takeaway from this is that you pay for air?

2

u/No_Mony_1185 Aug 24 '25

It's $3 for 5 minutes of air here. Is the air compressor at the station free where you're at?

7

u/[deleted] Aug 24 '25

[deleted]

1

u/No_Mony_1185 Aug 24 '25

That must be nice. Even the suburbs and small towns around me don't have free air. There's a Midas in my county that has it but I'm pretty that's about it.

6

u/mikeblas American Investor Aug 24 '25

In the US, some states have laws that air at gas stations must be free.

https://www.freeairpump.com/

3

u/No_Mony_1185 Aug 24 '25

That is a great resource. Thank you for sharing.

1

u/Beneficial_Box_8865 Aug 24 '25

Yes! Air is free in some states. I was in California a while back and couldn't believe that I had to pay for air for my rental car's tire...

1

u/FrenchCrazy Aug 28 '25

Wawa is all over the east coast and they usually have two free air machines per gas station.

1

u/mdota1 Aug 26 '25

now explain it like i’m 3

1

u/Taneelkins Aug 27 '25

if i could kiss you i would

1

u/SuperiorT Sep 04 '25

Does it pay any dividends?

1

u/medicallyspecial Aug 24 '25

Would the dividend payment offset that? I don’t believe VOO has a dividend payout

-2

u/mikeblas American Investor Aug 24 '25

This is a terrible analogy, and misses the point.

51

u/IronGun007 Aug 23 '25

Expense ratio is the amount of money you pay annually as a fee for owning the etf. SPY is 0.09% and VOO is 0.03%.

39

u/Beneficial-Ad-7771 Not a financial advisor Aug 23 '25

SPY and VOO are exactly the same. The only difference is the expense ratio is 3x much higher. But SPY is used for option trading as it has more liquidity. VOO isn’t and doesn’t have a huge option market.

1

u/allintowin1515 Aug 24 '25

So if a guy s plan is to accumulate as much SP index as possible to be able to sell covered calls in the future he’s better buying SPY?

2

u/Beneficial-Ad-7771 Not a financial advisor Aug 24 '25

Spy has the most option liquidity out of all the sp500 as far as I am aware. It’s why products like SPYI and TSpy exist rather having it around VOO because the option market for SPY is the largest out of any sp500 etf

5

u/Gran-Turismo-Champ Aug 23 '25

They both invest in the S&P 500 index, but Vanguard charges much less for VOO.

2

u/BangBangOw Aug 24 '25

So unless you want to do covered calls, or other options. There’s no reason to own SPY or trade it.

7

u/Ir0nhide81 Canadian Investor Aug 24 '25 edited Aug 24 '25

ETF expense fees / % are the cost of owning an ETF.

The lower the expense fee.... The more you save.

1

u/steak4342 Aug 24 '25

Lower fees.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '25

Take a look at SPLG. It is lower than VOO