34 years old, started investing seriously at 33, now wondering what to do next.
One of my biggest financial regrets is not starting earlier, especially in my early 20s.
I was always afraid of investing. Partly because I didn't know enough and partly because I was afraid of losing money. Instead, I kept saving cash in my bank account where it earned basically nothing.
My original plan was always to buy real estate. I spent years saving and waiting for the "right" property, but I never found one that made sense. As a result, my money just sat there.
I did play around with crypto a little over the years, but never with serious amounts of money and never as a long-term strategy.
Finally, on August 20, 2025, I opened my first brokerage account and made my first serious investments:
\- Vanguard FTSE All-World ETF: €24,364
\- EUWAX Gold II: €3,590
**Current situation:**
* Brokerage account: €34,287
* Bank account: €46,000
**Current gains:**
* Vanguard FTSE All-World ETF: +€5,395
* EUWAX Gold II: +€938
Total: +€6,333
Now I'm wondering what to do next.
Option 1:
Keep things simple and continue investing mainly into the Vanguard FTSE All-World ETF until I eventually reach €100k+ and beyond.
Option 2:
Keep the ETF and gold positions as they are and start building positions in individual stocks such as:
* ASML
* Nvidia
* Amazon
* Tesla
* SpaceX
* Take-Two Interactive
I'm also curious what you think about gold, silver, Bitcoin, crypto, or simply sticking with a broad ETF.
Personally, I'm not a huge believer in Bitcoin as an investment, although I find blockchain technology interesting.
If you were in my position today with:
* €34,287 invested
* €46,000 in cash
A long-term investment horizon
What would you do and why?