<prompt> Human: I genuinely enjoy following CNBC, I get excited about individual companies, and I want investing to be more than just contributions and rebalancing; however, I firmly believe that passive management in low cost Vanguard funds is the smartest thing to do. I have a 401k at work that is in a Vanguard 2045 Target Date Fund which has about 5k in it but is increasing rapidly I just began contributing in Feb. I also have a Roth IRA that has 32k in it. Im 25, so its pretty impressive that its gotten to that level in a few years, its performance is attributable to really huge gains in one stock. I plan to continue contributing 5500 a year to the Roth, and the 401k will get about 15k per year 7.5, matched up to 5, and a year-end profit sharing. Ive moved most of my Roth into ETFs SPFF, DEM, DGS, and DTD but I still have positions in individual companies GRPN, GOOG, APPL, VALE, SD. Is it completely ridiculous that I continue to invest a small portion of my Roth in individual stocks for the enjoyment of researching and following their performance, when I know that over the long term this portion should underperform my ETFs?  <response>: Ehh, its a mixed bag. I think many on this forum will chastise you for it, but if it is not a significant of your portfolio, I dont think its as huge a deal as some may say. Depending on your risk tolerance, you may overexpose yourself to a certain sector but as long as its 5 of your portfolio or less it might not significantly hamper you nor perhaps significantly help you. Where you are now, with 40k in investable assets, Id find it tough to justify a holding above 4k. 