From looking at the 5 points in the summary, it sounds like similar advice. It's been all I needed to do realistically well for myself, and once you set things up, if you've been honest with yourself in your risk levels, you set it and forget it for a couple decades, since so many sites let you automate everything.

It really doesn't need to be hard, I think a lot of people think it's going to be and just flat out don't want to learn, even when I try to ELI5 to them. I'm honest with them and will show them my balance and holdings to show I'm not blowing smoke, but I don't know if anyone but my wife and ex have ever listened, and even then I think it was just so they didn't need to listen to it anymore. 🙄

I'm sure there are genuine WallStreetBets types that would be thrilled to have some of these zanier options available. I've known some reasonably fiscally intelligent people put money into gold, crypto mining funds, supposed collectibles, etc. A company wishing to give people what they want, even if it is stupid, is something that makes sense in that context. I wouldn't put these things quite up to Nigerian prince levels of scammy, but if someone asked me if they were good investments picks, it'd be an easy no from me.

I have no issue with them being barred from being options in 401(k)s, because even if you do know all the ins and outs of trading these things, a 401(k) is a personal pension plan, and since that is supposed to be your personal safety net, I don't support people making that safety not of questionable quality ropes, but I also know people foolish with money are going to do so no matter how foolproof you try to make something. I'm mid 40s and almost 100% in all stocks, which some people would consider overly risky, but I am comfortable with it. If someone wants to be what I consider greedy, it's still within their right to bet on crazy stuff. I'd be mad if 401(k) money could only go into treasuries to be super safe.

There's always risk in every part of the market, and I think we as a society do a disservice to people not teaching better financial literacy early in life when it can have the greatest impact, but what foolish stuff we spend it on should still really only be our own business. With that said though, now that places are auto-enrolling people into 401(k)s, anyone who would auto-enroll someone into a higher than average risk fund is a prick and should be punished.

When do worship services end, when the singing starts or whenever you're done with the holier-than-thou, limited sympathy shtick for every man, woman, and child not taking the time out of their attention starved lives to read every 500 page thick prospectus? What about every Form 10-K? Let's just grind the whole dang world to a halt so that everyone can be forced to read all the EULAs, terms of service, company handbooks, and warranty terms for every single thing that touches our lives. "You're a citizen of this city in this state in this country? Ok recite every single ordinance and law of each from memory bro." Most Christians haven't even read the whole Bible, are they still Christians? Are they still called Christians? What about the Bhagavad Gita, did you make sure everyone who offers incense at a shrine has read the entire thing? Do you even speak English if you can't recite the entirety of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales?" Let's calm tf down. Professional investors don't even read the prospectus. If you want to give ppl the limited-sympathy, r/iamverysmart treatment then mandatory voting would be a more productive place to start but even that has some serious issues too. Isn't there enough suffering and injustice in the world that we don't have to look for reasons to justify misfortune when it happens to others with petty "well if they can't inform themselves I can't be bothered to have sympathy for my fellow human beings" statements?