This is a biased sampling predisposed to baseball cards, of course, and many have large investments into them that stand to gain from further growth that is promoted, but I’m a little surprised to see so many that think going all in on like this is a smart decision. It is going all in; if one is to the point that they are emptying 401K’s and IRA’s to pay for cards, they are not diversifying their portfolio. That’s an extreme step.
High end cards have skyrocketed since the opening of 2020. It’s fallen from the peak, but prices remain very high. Gambling your retirement that it will continue inexorably forward and continue to make huge percentage leaps is a very risky gamble. Retirement accounts are set up for very favorable taxation and stability, losing those tax benefits and taking the early withdrawal fees to invest in mass produced collectibles that are not set up for favorable taxation (if I sold a Mantle I’d owe close to 50% of my profit in taxes alone) is a titanic gamble. You don’t have to have your cards perform better than the stock market to profit from this, you have to beat it by a LOT.
One can gain a lot from large risk. Draining your retirement accounts to participate in the current collectibles fad is a large one. Whether it’s cards, crypto, beanie babies or GME, it can pay off big time. If I had bought into 52 Mantles and sold them now, or had bought more crypto in 2009, or drained my 401K to join the apes on WallStreetBets when they started the train on GME, I’d have made more than my index invested retirement accounts. There are also many such events where I would have gone broke if I followed the hype. Stocks may go up or down, but the market grows over time. If the market doesn’t grow over time, the US dollar collapses and your collectibles collapse too. Retirement accounts are set up favorably to enable responsibility and security for old age. I have a hard time seeing that risking a secure retirement in favor of going all the way in on baseball cards after a huge rush and pump is intelligent financial advice. Again, emptying retirement accounts to do it is very different from diversifying or putting some of one’s cash or income into it as a supplemental investment.
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