Been saving cash for years instead of investing. What would you do now?

34 years old, started investing seriously at 33, now wondering what to do next.

One of my biggest financial regrets is not starting earlier, especially in my early 20s.

I was always afraid of investing. Partly because I didn't know enough and partly because I was afraid of losing money. Instead, I kept saving cash in my bank account where it earned basically nothing.

My original plan was always to buy real estate. I spent years saving and waiting for the "right" property, but I never found one that made sense. As a result, my money just sat there.

I did play around with crypto a little over the years, but never with serious amounts of money and never as a long-term strategy.

Finally, on August 20, 2025, I opened my first brokerage account and made my first serious investments:

\- Vanguard FTSE All-World ETF: €24,364

\- EUWAX Gold II: €3,590

Current situation:

• Brokerage account: €34,287
• Bank account: €46,000

Current gains:

• Vanguard FTSE All-World ETF: +€5,395
• EUWAX Gold II: +€938

Total: +€6,333

Now I'm wondering what to do next.

Option 1:

Keep things simple and continue investing mainly into the Vanguard FTSE All-World ETF until I eventually reach €100k+ and beyond.

Option 2:

Keep the ETF and gold positions as they are and start building positions in individual stocks such as:

• ASML
• Nvidia
• Amazon
• Tesla
• SpaceX
• Take-Two Interactive

I'm also curious what you think about gold, silver, Bitcoin, crypto, or simply sticking with a broad ETF.

Personally, I'm not a huge believer in Bitcoin as an investment, although I find blockchain technology interesting.

If you were in my position today with:

• €34,316 invested
• €46,000 in cash

A long-term investment horizon

What would you do and why?