Investment planning is one of those things I pretend I have under control when I talk to my buddies, but if we’re being real—most weeks I’m just winging it and hoping the market doesn’t decide to yeet my savings into the sun.
I’m writing this from my little home office setup in North Carolina (Raleigh area, February 2026, it’s 68 degrees and muggy because why not), There’s a half-eaten Whataburger wrapper next to my keyboard and my dog keeps staring at me like I owe her treats for sitting here typing instead of walking her. Classic Thursday.
Why Investment Planning Advice Usually Makes Me Roll My Eyes
You open any finance blog or YouTube video and it’s all “diversify across asset classes” and “optimize your tax drag” like I have time to run Monte Carlo simulations between picking up my kid from soccer and figuring out why the dishwasher is leaking again.
8 Effective Strategies to Improve Employee Performance – Kiwi LMS
Meanwhile I’m over here googling “is it bad if my 401k is down 8% this month” at 11:47 pm while eating cold pizza straight from the box.
So yeah—this is investment planning for people who still use paper towels as napkins and occasionally forget to contribute until March because life happened.
How I Actually Started (and Immediately Messed Up)
I didn’t touch investing until I was like 29. Thought you needed to be rich or at least understand what a P/E ratio was. Opened a Roth IRA at Vanguard in… 2017? 2018? I don’t even remember. Put in like $1,000 from a tax refund and felt very adult.
Then I saw my first real dip in 2018. Panicked. Sold some. Bought back in like six months later at higher prices. Textbook “buy high sell low” move. I still wince when I look at the transaction history.
Biggest thing I learned the hard way: investment planning isn’t about being smart. It’s about being boring and consistent enough that your dumb emotions don’t ruin everything.
What My Setup Looks Like Right Now (Nothing Sexy)
- Company 401(k): getting the full match (4.5% I think), it’s all in target date 2055 fund because thinking is hard
- Roth IRA: maxed it for 2025 ($7k), mostly total stock market ETF and some international
- Taxable brokerage: whatever’s left after bills, mostly VTI and VXUS, tiny bit in SCHD because dividends make me feel responsible
- Emergency fund: Ally HYSA, sitting at like 4.3% which feels illegal in a good way
- Random dumb stuff: still holding 47 shares of Apple from 2013 because “it’s sentimental” (read: I’m stubborn)
No day trading, no crypto gambling (learned that lesson in 2021 thank you very much), no rental properties because I’d rather sleep than deal with tenants texting me at 2 a.m. about a leaky faucet.
Financial Advice From Tori Dunlap Her First 100k
This is literally the notebook page I was staring at last weekend. See how half the list is crossed out? That’s me giving up on “learn options trading” after 20 minutes of YouTube.
The Embarrassing Parts I Still Do
Last week the market dipped maybe 3% and I legit felt nauseous checking my phone during a meeting. Like full-on adult anxiety sweat. Didn’t sell anything… but I thought about it way too hard.
Also I still impulse-buy dumb stuff on Amazon when the portfolio is green for a week. New wireless earbuds? Sure, the market’s up 0.8%, treat yourself bro. Then it dips and I’m like cool I just spent future-me’s money on plastic I didn’t need.
Investment planning for real people includes these moments. We’re not robots.
Stuff That’s Actually Helped (So Far)
- Automation is king. I have $180 taken out every paycheck for the Roth before I even see it. If it’s not in checking, I can’t DoorDash it away.
- I check balances maybe twice a month now instead of twice a day. Huge difference in sanity.
- When I freak out I force myself to read the same three boring articles: Vanguard’s “Principles for Investing Success,” that Bogleheads wiki page on three-fund portfolio, and whatever Ramit Sethi posted recently. Same comfort food every time.
- Tiny celebrations. Hit a new $5k milestone in the Roth last fall? I bought myself a $12 six-pack of good beer. Felt ridiculous. Did it anyway.
Your approach is solid — paying yourself first via automation, limiting exposure to the accounts, leaning
Here’s the pie chart from last month. See how 82% is just boring US stocks? That’s the secret. No one’s impressed but my blood pressure is lower.
Wrapping It Up (Before I Start Rambling About My Dog Again)
Investment planning isn’t supposed to be glamorous or perfect. It’s just deciding you’d rather have some money later than zero money later, then doing the bare minimum to make that happen most of the time.
If you’re sitting there thinking “I should probably do something,” do the smallest possible version of something. Open the account. Link your bank. Put $25 in. Feel weird about it. That’s how it starts for most of us.
