That is why I suggested him to buy ASIC because you can get your ROI fast compared on mining altcoin. Why not he buy ASIC first then after block halving start mining altcoin then hold so that he doesn't waste the opportunity to make a profit these months. Block halving still too far so this is the best choice that I know if he is looking for a profit and become rich after block-halving.
i agree with the altcoin mining risks, i sometimes forget to mention them since they are too obvious to me.
but regarding ASICs i have to say in my opinion it depends on what ASIC you are buying. if it is bitcoin (SHA256) ASIC then i don't think it is a good idea to mine an altcoin with it. sticking to bitcoin has lower risks too. in order to choose an altcoin to mine that has to be a lot more profitable than bitcoin and according to
https://www.coinwarz.com/miningprofitability/sha-256 nothing satisfies that condition.
but if it is an altcoin ASIC (like scrypt, or keccak,... ASICs) then again you would be subjecting yourself to the high altcoin risks and you would have an ASIC that could only be used for that altcoin and not much else specially not for bitcoin.