If you’re struggling to retire early, you’re not alone. A 2024 YouGov survey found that 22% of Generation Z and 30% of Millennials expect to retire between the ages of 51 and 60. (1) That’s still a young age, especially considering that Medicare eligibility typically doesn’t begin until age 65 and Social Security’s full retirement age for Gen Z and Millennials is 67.
If your goal is to retire early, you need to save aggressively and invest wisely early in your career. Financial luminary Jim Cramer has some guidance on this.
He told CNBC (2) that he has a “radical” approach to helping everyday investors grow their portfolios and achieve their financial goals. Here are three assets Cramer recommends investing in, and what you need to know about them.
Investing in index funds is a strategy recommended by many financial experts.
Index funds are passively managed funds designed to reflect the performance of a specific market benchmark. For example, an S&P 500 Index Fund will replicate the performance of the S&P 500 Index by matching its holdings and weightings.
They differ from actively managed funds in that they don’t have professionals hand-picking stocks. Active funds try to outperform the S&P 500 by picking a small number of stocks. Index funds, by contrast, don’t try to beat the market but rather enjoy earning returns.
Investing legend Warren Buffett has long recommended that everyday investors put their long-term savings into index funds. Research supports this theory. Index funds tend to outperform most fund managers tasked with picking stocks, especially given their lower fees.
For example, about 88% of actively managed large-cap funds underperformed the S&P 500 over the 15 years ending June 30, 2025, according to S&P Global. (3)
While some financial experts may recommend putting all or most of your investment dollars into index funds, Cramer says to keep it to about 45% to 50% of your portfolio.
His logic is that holding large amounts of index funds can help anchor and diversify your portfolio. But dabbling in other assets could potentially beat the market across the board and enjoy higher returns.
While investing in index funds can deliver strong returns for your portfolio, it won’t help you beat the market. You may want to do this if you want to retire early.
To do this, Cramer recommends allocating 45% to 50% of your portfolio to five different stocks. Most of these stocks should offer innovative products or services, have a durable competitive advantage over their peers, and be capable of sustained profitable growth for decades, he said.
If you’re relatively young, Cramer also suggests one or two of these stocks should be more speculative. Such stocks have greater upside potential, but also come with greater risk. Cramer added that if they go bankrupt, young people will at least have enough time to make money.
There are many individual stocks that have outperformed the stock market over the years. As of the end of trading on October 31, the S&P 500 had gained 95% in five years. On the other hand, Nvidia’s value has increased by approximately 1,291% during the same period.
This is just an example. The key is to be able to select individual stocks that outperform the overall stock market.
That said, Cramer suggests choosing just five stocks to invest in can be risky. If you invest roughly half of your portfolio in five stocks, each stock will account for nearly 10% of your total assets. This means that if a stock performs poorly, you could face huge losses.
If you plan to invest in individual stocks, you may want to go a little wider than Cramer recommends. If you’re only planning to hold five stocks, you may want to make sure they’re not all from the same part of the market.
One thing some investors don’t realize is that the S&P 500 is a cap-weighted index, meaning companies with higher market valuations have a greater impact on their performance.
If you then go and invest in one of these larger companies as one of your five stocks, your retirement savings could depend heavily on the performance of one of those companies.
Read more: Young millionaires are reconsidering stocks and relying instead on these assets in 2026 — here’s why older Americans should take note
While Cramer’s advice is to put the majority of investment capital into index funds and individual stocks, he also supports allocating 5% to 10% of a portfolio to what he calls “insurance” assets — investments that can serve as a hedge against a stock market downturn. Cramer’s two favorites in this category are gold and Bitcoin.
In February 2010, the price of gold was $1,112.50 per ounce. Fast forward to early November 2025, and the price has climbed to $4,032.70.
If you look at the price of gold over the past 100 years, you’ll see that it has increased significantly. Because gold has a limited supply, it has a tendency to retain its value, making it not only a good hedge against stock market fluctuations but also a hedge against inflation.
Of course, Bitcoin hasn’t been around as long as gold. When it was first launched in 2009, it was worth just a few cents. In October 2025, it hit an all-time high of just over $126,000.
But over the years, Bitcoin’s value has fluctuated wildly, and not always for the better. Bitcoin is considered an extremely risky investment for a number of reasons, including a lack of regulatory protection, sustainability issues, and extreme price volatility.
However, limiting it to a small portion of your portfolio allows you to enjoy some benefits without taking on too much overall risk.
Cramer’s approach to wealth creation is effective, but it also comes with certain risks. His guidance on the individual stock segment may result in a lack of diversification. Cryptoassets in general can be risky, not only because they are relatively new, but also because the crypto market remains highly unregulated.
If you’re going to follow Cramer’s guidance, be sure to research your individual stocks carefully and understand the risks of owning an asset like Bitcoin.
If you decide to use gold for expansion, make sure you get it from a reputable source and have a way to store it safely. If you don’t like holding physical gold, you can also consider gold ETFs.
We rely only on vetted sources and reliable third-party reports. For more information, see our Editorial Ethics and Guidelines.
Yugoff (1); CNBC (2); S&P Global (3).
This article provides information only and should not be considered advice. It is provided without any warranty of any kind.
