“One of my best friends went from wealthy retired to bankrupt Walmart greeter (really) after Enron so I think about what she told me years ago - do not trust them!”
The most important thing to know about investing, and it’s something all investment advisors tell you, is: DIVERSIFY! DIVERSIFY! DIVERSIFY!
People who had all their money in Enron stock did indeed lose all of it, but Enron 401Ks had options for investing in mutual funds, it’s not Enron’s fault that people didn’t have the common sense of a fly.
I hope in your attempts to “avoid Wall Street” you won’t end up falling for some scheme and lose it all — some unscrupulous people are taking advantage of exactly people like you — buy real estate in Timbuktu, etc....
I recommend rolling over your 401K into a Rollover IRA at a reputable, large brokerage firm, that offers multiple families of mutual funds and diversify among those.
Diversification was the goal but what I found out was all the diversification happens within a closed ecosystem. IOW, your 401k/IRA gives you the freedom to move money around but if you stop and thing about they set the boundaries - not me. In my case, I found out the “safest” harbor is not really safe at all, My Benny Bucks are still within the reach of the casino. There really is no way to say - cash me in - I’m going home.
I’m guessing that is true for everyone but what do I know? I am new to this situation.