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Dr. Gaius Baltar posted:Diversification reducing returns whilst reducing risk seems like a fair tradeoff. Are there any calculators or other such tools that will guide me through reducing the risk in my portfolio through diversification, without too great a decrease in returns? Or is the whole concept flawed due to it being based on past information? At some point, you still need to look at past data and truly the best you can hope for is stationarity, that is, stable statistical parameters (i.e., mean and standard deviation are constant over time) and the probability distribution (empirically or some a priori distribution) you've observed in the past is to some degree good going forward (note this is different from saying oh, a stock has earned 10% each year in past 5 years, so it's bound to earn 10% going forward). There's some notion of an efficient frontier between for a given risk, getting a certain return. There's a lot of academic literature relating to what is called Modern Portfolio Theory that might be a useful starting point. There's a notion of Post-Modern Portfolio Theory, but the former is a good first order. There are nuances to what I just mentioned. If you just do a bunch of ETFs, calculating the variance-covariance matrix isn't too bad, but as you scale up the number of instruments you potentially invest in, the covariance matrix becomes unstable. At which point, you might build a model to identify stable factors (PCA decomposition, hand picking factors) and build factor exposures against them (i.e., BARRA). This opens another can of worms, so I'll cut this short before it's opened. All that being said, a huge chunk of my 401k is put into a target retirement fund. In my taxable brokerage account, I do some tilting but not much. Not enough time to do all of this myself 
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Aug 30, 2011 04:04
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neuropunk, I think you have convinced me through your amazing vocabulary of twenty dollar words that I should just throw up my hands in surrender. This stuff is over my head. I should stop trying to build the perfect portfolio (I just don't have the training for it) and settle for a Vanguard 2050 fund (though, in ETF form, and equal parts international and domestic equities). 45% VTI 45% VXUS 10% BND
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Aug 30, 2011 05:49
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Dr. Gaius Baltar posted:Yesterday, Chin Strap was hinting at there being perils to value funds and small cap funds. I know the basics from googling for "value fund" and doing searches on investopedia. If there is more to it than can be explained there, could someone please recommend me a book on the subject (or provide me a link to other such educational material)? I already have "Unconventional Success", which 80k recommended, "The Only Guide You'll Ever Need for the Right Financial Plan", "Exchange Traded Funds for Dummies", and "Mutual Funds for Dummies, 6th edition", (which also deals with ETFs). It is only that the issue is more complicated than you think. I would hope you should understand the Fama French 3 factor model, understand the even larger volitality from small and value, etc. Not saying there is anything wrong with small or value tilts. However... quote:neuropunk, I think you have convinced me through your amazing vocabulary of twenty dollar words that I should just throw up my hands in surrender. This stuff is over my head. I should stop trying to build the perfect portfolio (I just don't have the training for it) and settle for a Vanguard 2050 fund (though, in ETF form, and equal parts international and domestic equities). I've done a lot of reading too, and in the end I've landed on a very similar portfolio for the exact same reason. So have a lot of other posters at Bogleheads who know way more than me. Simplicity is golden, and you should be happy with just good enough. Something like what you have suggested gets you a good 80% of the way there. My main difference is that I never felt like the 2050 fund had enough bonds. I tend to follow closer to the age in bonds rule, but that's a small difference.
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Aug 30, 2011 12:51
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Dr. Gaius Baltar posted:neuropunk, I think you have convinced me through your amazing vocabulary of twenty dollar words that I should just throw up my hands in surrender. This stuff is over my head. I should stop trying to build the perfect portfolio (I just don't have the training for it) and settle for a Vanguard 2050 fund (though, in ETF form, and equal parts international and domestic equities). A small/value tilt was not a bad idea... but this is still a great way to start while you learn. I wanted to warn you of the follies of using historical performance to build portfolios. I do think that for those still unfamiliar with investing, that 10% bonds is too little. If you want a very aggressive portfolio, 40/40/20 is a decent starting point.
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Aug 30, 2011 17:25
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80k posted:A small/value tilt was not a bad idea... but this is still a great way to start while you learn. I wanted to warn you of the follies of using historical performance to build portfolios. My new investment stratgey: AAPL. It's up 4087% over the past 10 years. That's about 45% a year annual return! Gravy train leaving the station! Choo! Choo!
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Aug 30, 2011 18:50
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Any thoughts on using a 529 as part of short-term savings for one's own grad school tuition? Where would that fall in with the traditional order of operations of 1) 401k Match, 2) Roth maximum, 3) 401k maximum, 4) taxable accounts, if it makes sense at all?
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Aug 30, 2011 19:02
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bam thwok posted:Any thoughts on using a 529 as part of short-term savings for one's own grad school tuition? Where would that fall in with the traditional order of operations of 1) 401k Match, 2) Roth maximum, 3) 401k maximum, 4) taxable accounts, if it makes sense at all? I'd say it depends on the state tax benefits, if any.
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Aug 30, 2011 19:17
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I just quit my call center job to do grad school full time, so I've got about ~2 grand and change in a 401k that I need to roll into something. I was thinking about just opening up an IRA with Wells Fargo since that's where I have my savings account, but this Vanguard place seems pretty popular. Can someone tell me some pro's and cons of going with someone like them instead of going through my bank? Is there any reason that I should look at cashing out instead of rolling it into something? I don't have any student loans to pay off, so I should be able to keep investing in the IRA close to as much as I put into my 401k, but I'm just wondering if there's any better options.
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Sep 2, 2011 18:37
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80k posted:I'd say it depends on the state tax benefits, if any. Assuming that I am in a state that offers a tax deduction for plans that qualify, and I invest in a plan that qualifies, what would you say? Is this unusual? Are there any other strategies or financial/tax planning that goes into graduate school other than taking out a big rear end loan?
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Sep 2, 2011 19:25
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Mr. Despair posted:I just quit my call center job to do grad school full time, so I've got about ~2 grand and change in a 401k that I need to roll into something. I was thinking about just opening up an IRA with Wells Fargo since that's where I have my savings account, but this Vanguard place seems pretty popular. Can someone tell me some pro's and cons of going with someone like them instead of going through my bank? Is there any reason that I should look at cashing out instead of rolling it into something? Not sure what investment options wells iras have, but the benefits of vanguard are very solid passively managed mutual funds with extremely low expenses.
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Sep 2, 2011 19:39
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Mr. Despair posted:I just quit my call center job to do grad school full time, so I've got about ~2 grand and change in a 401k that I need to roll into something. I was thinking about just opening up an IRA This is a Roth IRA right? I assume your income is on the lower side of the tax bracket scale. Paying cheap taxes now so you don't have to pay expensive taxes later is worth it.
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Sep 3, 2011 15:09
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nelson posted:This is a Roth IRA right? I assume your income is on the lower side of the tax bracket scale. Paying cheap taxes now so you don't have to pay expensive taxes later is worth it. If s/he puts the money into a Roth from a 401K, taxes will have to be paid on the conversion.
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Sep 6, 2011 15:49
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I have the 401k now, mostly just deciding on whether to put it into a roth or a normal IRA. Wish I had gotten the paperwork from my old work before school started though, figuring this out took a back seat to classes so far :/
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Sep 6, 2011 17:30
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I currently have two Roth IRAs, one opened by my parents for me ages ago with American Funds and one opened by myself with Vanguard. I have only about $1,000 in the American Funds account and considerably more in the Vanguard. Should I consolidate them into the Vanguard account?
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Sep 6, 2011 20:43
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Mr. Despair posted:I have the 401k now, mostly just deciding on whether to put it into a roth or a normal IRA. Wish I had gotten the paperwork from my old work before school started though, figuring this out took a back seat to classes so far :/ Disclaimer: I am not a tax expert. But here's what I *think* you can do. Roll the 401k into a Roth next year. You won't have much if any non-rollover income so the conversion will be taxed at a low rate (it might even fit under the standard deduction, which would mean no taxes). If someone knows better, please correct me.
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Sep 7, 2011 07:31
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Some 401(k)s require you to roll over when you leave the job if the balance is below a certain amount. Or did. Back in, um, 2003? I had to roll over a 401(k) that had about $2000 in it within a month of leaving my old position. So, best check on that.
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Sep 7, 2011 23:52
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Leperflesh posted:Some 401(k)s require you to roll over when you leave the job if the balance is below a certain amount. Or did. Back in, um, 2003? I had to roll over a 401(k) that had about $2000 in it within a month of leaving my old position. e. actually I'm dumb and reread this notice, and it's saying that I have a minimum of 30 days to consider my decision to elect a direct rollover of my distribution, and that if I wait more than 180 days a new waiver will have to be signed by the company. Can't believe I misread that before. Dr. Despair fucked around with this message at 04:59 on Sep 8, 2011 |
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Sep 8, 2011 04:51
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I recently got control of my Roth IRA from a financial advisor my parents setup, into my sharebuilder account, and I want to setup automatic investing once a month. Their program gives you 12 trades a month for $12, so that gives me a lot of flexibility in terms of asset classes. What do you guys think of this setup, purchased monthly in these increments: VTI 6% US Stock, total RSP 6% US Stock, large cap VTV 7% US Stock, large cap value VB 10% US Stock, small cap VBR 12% US Stock, small cap value VGK 5% Europe VPL 5% Pacific EVF 5% International Value VWO 5% Emerging Market BSV 25% short term bond TIP 10% TIPs VNQ 4% REIT US Stock 41.00% Developed 15.00% Developing 5.00% REIT 4.00% Bonds 35.00% I went with as many low cost vanguard ETFs as possible. EVF is a little expensive, but the rest are very inexpensive. I created this portfolio after reading The Intelligent Asset Allocator, but it is possible I am doing something stupid. Total transaction costs will be $144/yr for 144 trades. Is this a good idea? I have RSP instead of VOO because my advisor had bought some of this before, so I figured I would keep the train going. I also have a 401k, but there are very few ETFs to choose from so its pretty simply divided between US stocks (total market), us bonds (total market) and international stocks
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Sep 11, 2011 20:52
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I'm sure this is not what you want to hear, but would you consider transferring the account to Vanguard? No fees for purchasing Vanguard ETFs, I think. Also, I think I prefer a bigger international allocation, but I have no real well-reasoned basis for that preference.
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Sep 11, 2011 21:53
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Yeah, if you're going to be purchasing so many Vanguard funds, you might as well move it to them and avoid the fees.
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Sep 11, 2011 22:37
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Is there any reason I should go with Vanguard over Fidelity, who has similar ETFs with free trading and a (generally) lower expense ratio?
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Sep 11, 2011 23:09
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gvibes posted:I'm sure this is not what you want to hear, but would you consider transferring the account to Vanguard? No fees for purchasing Vanguard ETFs, I think. I really like the "automatic investment" thing I have setup with sharebuilder, since you can buy a dollar amount of a stock. It makes keeping up with your specific asset allocation a lot easier. Also my bank is INGDirect, but that doesn't really matter. No fees as in totally free purchases? That would save me $144/yr and is definitely a bonus - I will look into their account setup. Thanks!
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Sep 12, 2011 02:37
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bacon! posted:I really like the "automatic investment" thing I have setup with sharebuilder, since you can buy a dollar amount of a stock. It makes keeping up with your specific asset allocation a lot easier. Also my bank is INGDirect, but that doesn't really matter. Can you clarify? I'm assuming you're talking about fractional shares when you mention buying "a dollar amount of a stock." Just about any mutual fund-Vanguard included-you can buy in fractional amounts, but there's nowhere you can get fractional shares of any publicly traded stock. And as far as asset allocation, once you know the dollar value of your holdings in each stock, isn't a simple bit of math to view your asset allocation in a spreadsheet? Does sharebuilder do something particularly special here?
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Sep 12, 2011 05:46
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El_Elegante posted:Can you clarify? I'm assuming you're talking about fractional shares when you mention buying "a dollar amount of a stock." Just about any mutual fund-Vanguard included-you can buy in fractional amounts, but there's nowhere you can get fractional shares of any publicly traded stock. Yes, I mean exactly owning a fractional share of a stock. With the automatic investing, say you want to invest $100/mo across ten different assets, each at 10%. You buy $10 of each stock every month, regardless of the current price. This applies to any sort of regularly traded stock or ETF. You're right, a spreadsheet is fine for that, but with sharebuilder I was planning on a "set it and forget it" by adding funds monthly and just rebalance it once year. If I didn't use sharebuilder, I'd have to perform a little more complicated monthly calculation to do this, basically figuring out which asset types were under their target allocation. Sharebuilder lets me dollar/cost average up to 12 asset types at exactly the same ratio every month, regardless of how much money I'm contributing.
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Sep 12, 2011 14:31
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bacon! posted:No fees as in totally free purchases? That would save me $144/yr and is definitely a bonus - I will look into their account setup. Thanks!
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Sep 12, 2011 18:41
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gvibes posted:Yeah, I am pretty sure that purchases of Vanguard ETFs and funds from a Vanguard brokerage account are totally free. ...and I'm positive they are. Unless you're investing beaucoup bucks and $144 a year is a drop in the bucket, I'd move and/or open a second trading account.
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Sep 12, 2011 21:17
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T0MSERV0 posted:...and I'm positive they are. Unless you're investing beaucoup bucks and $144 a year is a drop in the bucket, I'd move and/or open a second trading account. He said it was for a Roth IRA, so transaction fees on a maxed-out year would be 2.88%.
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Sep 13, 2011 14:28
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bam thwok posted:He said it was for a Roth IRA, so transaction fees on a maxed-out year would be 2.88%. Yes, exactly. I hadn't really thought about it like that - nearly 3% is very significant. I'm going to call Vanguard today and see what kind of setup they have. Thanks guys! This thread just saved me a crapload of future money
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Sep 13, 2011 14:32
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bacon! posted:I recently got control of my Roth IRA from a financial advisor my parents setup, into my sharebuilder account, and I want to setup automatic investing once a month. Their program gives you 12 trades a month for $12, so that gives me a lot of flexibility in terms of asset classes. What do you guys think of this setup, purchased monthly in these increments: You can simplify your portfolio, especially if your portfolio size is still small. For instance, RSP is a pseudo-midcap/value tilted fund (using equal-weighting as a methodology to access value and size premiums). You got that going with the value and small tilt of your other funds. The Europe and Pacific can be combined into a single fund (VEA). Also EFV may not diversify much vs something like VSS (vanguard internatioanl small cap). Eliminating RSP and EFV lets you avoid transaction fees since only Vanguard ETF's qualify for free trades at Vanguard. Maybe use VIPSX intead of TIP. I buy individual TIPS myself rather than pay an ER for a fund or ETF.
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Sep 13, 2011 18:30
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I just have a simple question, nothing too cosmic- Every month I contribute this: 500 to VWIGX (large cap int'l) 500 to VFSVX (small cap int'l) ($5000/12) to VFORX as a Roth IRA 1000 to VWELX My investment strategy is simple, I put away about 2500 a month, 1000 to international equities, and 1500 towards more conservative, domestic equities (although I'm aware that VFORX has some int'l exposure also). Current total allocation is 50% domestic/33% int'l/14% bonds/3% cash. I can't shake the feeling that I should split that 500 between the two international guys, and feed that other 500 into an S&P index fund. I've been getting my rear end kicked on the international stocks, while the domestic stocks have been bouncing back nicely. I'm definitely not going to pull out of them, but rather just adjust where I put my monthly contributions. But back to the question at hand -- is Europe simply undervalued, or is it turning into a bad choice for the long term? Should I pack it in and root for the home team?
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Sep 14, 2011 00:27
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Wickerman posted:Is there any reason I should go with Vanguard over Fidelity, who has similar ETFs with free trading and a (generally) lower expense ratio? Vanguard also has free trading, and AFAIK, the expense ratios were lower at Vanguard last time I looked and I hated Fidelity's web UI (granted this was 2 years ago so it may have changed for better or worse). I'm also slightly biased because my company's 401k is also with Vanguard, so it'd take a lot to make me have to keep up with 2 different investment companies.
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Sep 14, 2011 08:57
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Rekinom posted:But back to the question at hand -- is Europe simply undervalued, or is it turning into a bad choice for the long term? This is not, logically, an either/or question, of course; it's entirely possible that Europe is neither undervalued, nor a bad choice for the long term; also it's possible that Europe is undervalued, and is also a bad choice for the long term. Or to put it another way: I'd say the first part has to do with immediate/short term prospects (which we don't care about in this thread because you shouldn't try to time the market with your retirement/long term investments). Whereas the second is very much our concern. What are europe's long-term prospects? Assuredly, several countries, and especially Greece, have serious structural problems that I believe will continue to plague the EU for the next decade. On the other hand, those problems existed five years ago too; and yet, five years ago, Europe was (or appeared to be) solvent and in good shape. My assessment then, is that good global economy was enough to compensate for its problems. Logically then, I can expect that when (if?) good global economic conditions return, Europe will do OK even if countries like Greece fail to address the deeply ingrained societal problems that are at the root of their economic distress. But; I also think that, strictly speaking, international investment shouldn't be all about europe (although it's obviously a large component). I know a lot less about (and am interested in) asia, south america, and even africa's long-term economic prospects. I'm 36, so I expect to have about 30 more years to accumulate retirement, and I am allocated significantly into international as well. So I'd love to hear others' opinions. quote:Should I pack it in and root for the home team? My job and my home are both already in the US: purely from an eggs/basket viewpoint, I think it'd be unwise to also tie my retirement too closely to the US. Even if there's significant risk to international, there's at least some chance that I'd preserve wealth that I'd otherwise lose in a US-specific crisis. But then, see above: I'm still somewhat optimistic about Europe's long-term prospects.
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Sep 14, 2011 19:47
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Okay, I've read through Motley Fool's intros to IRAs and 401ks, and I have a few questions. We are planning to begin investing for retirement in January. Why January, you ask. Well, because currently we have about 4200 in credit card debt that is at 16% interest because of bad choices we made in college. We have, however, worked out a budget that allows us to pay all of this off by Christmas. At that point we will begin investing. To start with, from what I can tell I should be opening both a 401k with my employer and a Roth IRA for myself. I we are both 23, soon 24, so we're getting a nice early start on this. I currently do not have access to a 401k as my position is a contract position. However, there is an option for me to be hired at 38k a yer pre-taxes at the end of my contract, which will be in late January. I won't know what 401k options are open to me until then. My wife, on the other hand, is currently a full-time employee of Bed Bath and Beyond, who does offer a 401k plan. The only problem is that she is currently seeking better employment and there is a 5-year vesting period on BB&B's plan. If my wife is regularly getting to second interviews and we feel like she is getting close to finding a new job, is it worth it to start in on the 401k at her current job, or is that money we're better off putting straight into our IRA for now since we won't get to keep the employer contributions if she switches jobs? Second, what's the best way to start a Roth IRA. From what I could garner from Motley Fool's site, you can open one with basically any of the online stock trading websites. If I just want to open a plan that indexes the S&P500 and then just put in my contributions each month and forget about it, what's the cheapest, best way to do that? Is it as simple as going to E*Trade.com, handing them $300 dollars and saying "Open me an S&P indexed Roth IRA"? If so, I don't understand how people aren't investing in retirement, because that's way too easy. We want to retire as young as possible. We're thinking 50-55. I understand that you can withdraw your initial payments into your Roth at any time without penalty, just not the interest, so we were thinking that if we have enough in our retirement at that time between Roth and 401ks, that we would live on the non-penalty money from the Roth until we can start withdrawing the rest and the 401k money at 59.5. A third question. I see things indicating that the max amount you can put into a Roth is 5k per year and the max in a 401k is around 15k per year. Is that per individual, or is that the max we can put in as a couple? We're in a fortunate situation in that we will be living rent, utility, property-tax, cable-bill, etc. free for as long as we need thanks to the generosity of my in-laws, so now is a great time for us to "prime" our retirement savings with big investments up front, and I'd like to be able to plan our budget next year accordingly. Frankly, looking at my past expenditures, like 70% of our disposable income gets blown on fast food, which we only buy when we feel like we have money, so if we set things up in such a way that the money's going straight into our savings instead of touching our checking account, it should be pretty easy for us to hit the maximums. Hopefully these aren't stupid questions. We both come from families that are poor and we're actually the first in our families to even look at opening retirement savings, so a lot of this stuff is kinda foreign and brand new to me. Just having an interest-bearing free checking account has historically been considered the height of fiscal ingenuity in my family. edit: I should mention that we both have student loans, but they're all 6% or less interest and we should pretty easily be able to handle those while simultaneously investing in retirement. Also, I thought of another question. Do we each have to open our own IRA, or can we contribute to a single IRA as a couple to reap even more of those sweet compound interest fruits? mobn fucked around with this message at 20:22 on Sep 14, 2011 |
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Sep 14, 2011 20:19
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mobn posted:A third question. I see things indicating that the max amount you can put into a Roth is 5k per year and the max in a 401k is around 15k per year. Is that per individual, or is that the max we can put in as a couple? We're in a fortunate situation in that we will be living rent, utility, property-tax, cable-bill, etc. free for as long as we need thanks to the generosity of my in-laws, so now is a great time for us to "prime" our retirement savings with big investments up front, and I'd like to be able to plan our budget next year accordingly. The current limit for IRAs is 5,000, and 16,500 for 401Ks per person, so you can each contribute these amounts. This could change for 2012 though, depending on inflation. You each have to open your own IRA, but it doesn't change anything, 2 accounts with 5K is the same as one with 10K for compounding purposes. Also, many people here recommend Vanguard for IRAs because they have very low expense ratios. The downside is that they have a minimum of $1,000 to invest in their STAR fund, or $3,000 to invest in other funds. They're a good company if you can save up that money in a savings account or something though.
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Sep 14, 2011 20:35
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Inept posted:The current limit for IRAs is 5,000, and 16,500 for 401Ks per person, so you can each contribute these amounts. This could change for 2012 though, depending on inflation. Once the credit cards are paid off we could save up $1000 in two months. What is their STAR fund?
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Sep 14, 2011 21:05
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zmcnulty posted:...
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Sep 16, 2011 03:20
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80k posted:You can simplify your portfolio, especially if your portfolio size is still small. For instance, RSP is a pseudo-midcap/value tilted fund (using equal-weighting as a methodology to access value and size premiums). You got that going with the value and small tilt of your other funds. The Europe and Pacific can be combined into a single fund (VEA). Also EFV may not diversify much vs something like VSS (vanguard internatioanl small cap). Eliminating RSP and EFV lets you avoid transaction fees since only Vanguard ETF's qualify for free trades at Vanguard. Maybe use VIPSX intead of TIP. I buy individual TIPS myself rather than pay an ER for a fund or ETF. You had mentioned earlier about how you felt the target funds were too heavily invested in equities. Looking through mine, I tend to agree. So I was wondering if you had any solutions for this. I doubt I have enough in there to buy 15 different funds and be diverse. So I'm wondering if I should just keep the target fund and pick up a total bond fund as well. Maybe allocate 10% of the IRA to that total bond fund which would bulk up the allocation in bonds throughout the IRA. Or would you suggest moving up the target date instead as they tend to shift more towards bonds the closer the target date gets (although I was surprised at how little it shifted).
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Sep 16, 2011 07:33
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Niwrad posted:You had mentioned earlier about how you felt the target funds were too heavily invested in equities. Looking through mine, I tend to agree. So I was wondering if you had any solutions for this. You don't have to have 15 different funds to be diverse. You can just do something like the three or four fund portfolios here: http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Lazy_Portfolios In fact the three fund portfolio is exactly what the Target Retirement funds are until it gets really close to the target date when it starts to add inflation protected funds and money markets. But for most of the time it is just Total Stock Market, Total International Stock, and Total Bond in varying proportions. So you can just get those three funds and adjust the stock/bond ratio yourself.
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Sep 16, 2011 13:55
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I'm kind of at a loss for what to do right now and was hoping for some advice. Age: 26 Income: $2500/mo after taxes/medical/etc Expenses: ~$1500/mo, this varies a little but I try to save $1k/mo Cash/Savings: $14,995 Investment: $4572 (2010 Roth maxed) Debt: $595 on my CC, I pay this monthly I have a Smarty Pig account setup where I have two goals setup, my emergency fund and my Roth IRA for 2011. The emergency fund will hit $10k on October 1st and that is where the goal is set to finish. I just created the Roth IRA goal because you always need to have an active goal in smarty pig. If I wanted to I could fund my 2011 Roth IRA fully in November probably without affecting the emergency fund or my liquidity but right now I have SP set to withdraw $697/mo which will get me to $5,000 by April (counting the initial deposit). I'm also owed between $0 and $7,000 in bonus right now and I'm about to hit between $0 and $8,500. I need to talk to my boss about this, but assuming I get at least half of the max that will be a decent amount of income that I basically don't plan for in my budgeting. I plan to continue maxing my Roth IRA every year and potentially start contributing to the 401k even though it is non-match. I want to maintain my $10k e-fund, ~$2k as a buffer in checking, and max my 2011 Roth. After that I don't really know where to go and that is where I was hoping for some advice. The only thing I can think of is to start contributing to the company 401k but if memory serves the options are fairly crappy and there is no match. I'd also like to start saving for life events such as buying a house, getting married, etc. It seems like just holding those medium term investments in cash right now is the best idea though?
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Sep 18, 2011 16:38
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I called up Vanguard this week and got the rundown on their mutual funds, how the automatic investing works, etc. It seems great, but most of the funds have a minimum of $3000 ($10,000 for admiral) and I've only got about 30k in my IRA right now meaning I can't get by with a portfolio of mutual funds as diverse as the one I posted above with just ETFs. Option 1: Buy 3 funds, admiral shares (total us stock (VTSAX), short term bonds (VBIRX), international (VTIAX) ) Option 2: Buy regular funds, about 6, non-admiral shares. More diversification, higher expense fees Option 3: Use my ETF portfolio (probably not a good option given how I want to invest monthly) Either way, I'm switching to vanguard. The dude on the phone was extremely helpful and seemed very committed to low cost, indexed investing.
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Sep 18, 2011 20:42
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