Five Questions for Jim Cramer

The rich keep getting richer, the market keeps soaring, and somehow the economy can’t quite make up its mind. “Inflation checks,” AI hype, boom-and-bust anxiety — it’s a lot. So what’s a regular investor supposed to do?

Jim Cramer has made a career out of helping the rest of us navigate that confusion. The Mad Money host and bestselling author is back with How to Make Money in Any Market — a clear-eyed, practical guide to investing when the headlines make you want to hide your wallet.

Before he takes the 92NY stage on Mon, Nov 18, we asked Cramer five questions about keeping calm, finding clarity, and making your money work a little harder.

1. If you’re looking to retire in the next five years, what’s the smartest thing you can do right now to protect what you’ve built — and maybe even grow it a little without taking on big risks?

Retirement dates mean less to me than most. Too many people sell everything to make it so they have less risk, but they end up having a huge amount of risk if they have a long life. They won’t be able to afford it. Keep 50% of your money in stocks at a minimum. I would prefer 65%; the rest can be in cash. But this way you will be earning money off your money even as you are not earning money from a job. The biggest risk is often what is perceived to be the safest.

2. What’s your advice for someone who’s graduating from college soon and is just starting out financially — especially when rent, student loans, and living costs are so high?

This is when you can take the biggest risks. You should have 50% of your money in index funds and then you should pick five stocks of which two should be risky growth stocks. You need your money to get big and the supergrowth stocks might allow it to do so. Remember as a young person, you have your whole lives to make back what they lose if your supergrowth stocks go bad. Time to TAKE risks. You can’t do that later.

3. If you’re in your 20s or 30s and don’t have much extra money, what’s actually worth doing right now — investing, paying off debt, saving for a down payment — and what can wait?

Rates are low. Invest a little bit of money in the stock market each month and cut back your spending. It never makes sense to cut back your saving, ever. You need to make it so that you have the opportunity to retire. The people who don’t save end up working until they die because they haven’t put enough away.

4. Everyone’s talking about AI. For younger investors who want to feel part of the next big thing, how do you tell the difference between real opportunity and the kind of hype that burns people?

You need to know which companies have a pedigree, which companies have a balance sheet with cash on it, which companies have products that people are paying for and that SAVE money for customers. When you do it that way only a few surface as winners. Don’t buy the “hot” AIs with no earnings. They most likely won’t make it.

5. There’s so much uncertainty in politics and the economy right now. For someone just getting started — trying to save, maybe invest a little — how do you stay calm when everything feels unpredictable?

Growth stocks, the kind that I recommend in How to Make Money in Any Market, can triumph over the economy or politics. Take a look at the company’s record. Has it made money in hard times? Does it have a decent balance sheet as I describe in my book?  If you invest in growth companies that grow in good times and bad you don’t need to concern yourself with politics OR the economy. That’s the way to go.

Join Jim Cramer for more sound advice on Mon, Nov 18 at 92NY.