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Stan Dup, Great job reading about approximating the Total Stock Market and asset allocation. Yes, your strategy will work. I have a couple of suggestions that I think may help you. First, with $80,000 in your Traditional IRA, you qualify for the lower-cost admiral shares for all three funds. Second,...

Parasky, I think bdpb makes good points. I'd put US and International stocks in the 401k, and buy the Total Bond Market in your Roth. But here's another idea: If you'd like to approximate the Total US Stock Market , you can use these 3 funds. FUSEX - 81% PESPX - 11% DISSX - 8% If you do this, you'd ...

Hey alexnk,

I think hoppy08520 hit the nail on the head. If you want to follow the 3-fund portfolio, add TRBIX as well. With 83% of your US stock allocation in TRSPX and 17% in TRBIX, you'll approximate the US total stock market.

Check this out: Approximating Total Stock Market

I agree with BBL. But if you do this in a taxable account, VEU may be a good replacement fund if you tax-loss harvest.

Hey Onyxmeth, Regarding your first two questions, due to the high fees, I'd stick to the S&P 500 Index fund in your 401k. Regarding your last two questions I'd open up a Roth IRA. Like the others have mentioned, 10% in bonds seems too risky, and 20% seems more appropriate. Default User BR gave a...

Hey InvestorNewb,

The only things I can think of - for purposes of tax efficiency - are municipal bonds or tax-exempt money market funds.

Municipal Bonds

Hi RAWR, Welcome to the forums. You have a good-sized portfolio for your age. For your 401k from your previous job, I'd move it to a company where you'll get lower-cost funds, such as Fidelity or Vanguard. Since your Roth is already at Fidelity, maybe Fidelity is the better choice, to keep the numbe...

Hey itengineer, Welcome to the forums. If you provide more information, you'll get a much better response. Have you read these resources first? Investment Planning http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=6211 Asking Portfolio Questions http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...

Hi clpett, Have you heard of the Core Four Portfolio? It somewhat resembles the allocation you have, and has the four-fund requirement you're after. http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Lazy_Portfolios What do you mean by rebalancing to a non-moving target allocation? Normally, people manually add more bo...

Hi mojave, You can start a Roth at Vanguard with $1,000. As mhc mentioned, Vanguard's Target Retirement funds have a $1,000 minimum.If you're currently in a Target 2050 fund, and your husband is more risk adverse, maybe he could consider the Target 2025 fund, which is 70% stocks/30% bonds. https://p...

Hey spowsincharge, Welcome to the forums. Here are my thoughts. 1) Yes, definitely consolidate. You can transfer both of his Rollover IRA's, and his Roth IRA, to Vanguard. Then you'll pay less money in fees, and have them in one location with just one login/password to remember. Do the same thing wi...

Hey Stephen03, I think you've received great insight from BolderBoy and LadyGeek. Specifically, consider simplifying your holdings using the 3 fund porfolio, and increasing your allocation to bonds. Personally, since your 31 years old, I'd suggest a minimum of 20% in bonds. FYI, you can approximate ...

Hey jonathansm, Welcome to the forums. 1) As you mention in your second question, I think the 3 fund portfolio would be easier and cheaper for you to manage. You can approximate the Total Stock Market with a combination of 82% VINIX and 18% VSGIX. 2) If you are going to implement the 3 fund portfoli...

Hi neophyte, 1) As mhc mentioned, it's easy and free to set up automatic contributions to a mutual fund from an external checking account. 2) As nydad mentioned, purchasing Vanguard mutual funds is free. Vanguard ETF's are also free. Check out this page for more info. https://personal.vanguard.com/u...

Hi darthvader747, If you want to simplify and follow the 3 fund portfolio with 70% stocks, 30% bonds, and international stocks making up 20% of your stock allocation, this is what your allocation would look like: 48% SSGA FLAG 500 INDX 8% SSGA R2000 INDX 14% Vanguard Total International Stock Index ...

Hi clace, You seem to be in a pretty good position for a 25 year old with good income and existing retirement portfolio. 1)For the sake of simplicity, I’m a big fan of the 3 fund lazy portfolio. http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund_portfolio#cite_note-8 Since you have a taxable account, I’d als...

Hi darthvader747, The page on tax-efficient investing is a good resource. http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Principles_of_Tax-Efficient_Fund_Placement If you’re investing after-tax money in a taxable account, VFINX makes the most sense tax-wise. All the other funds have bonds, which shouldn’t be in tax...

Hi ubiquitous, A few questions: Is the PRGFX fund in a taxable account? As icefr mentioned, can you provide the expense ratios for your 401k funds? I'll piggyback on BrandonBogle's post. If you're going to open up a Roth, it's helpful to consider all your accounts (Roth, 401k, taxable investments, e...

Hi canga, Try Secrets of Consulting by Gerald M. Weinberg http://www.amazon.com/The-Secrets-Consulting-Getting-Successfully/dp/0932633013/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360895629&sr=8-1&keywords=Secrets+of+Consulting Alan Weiss is also known as an expert in consulting. Check out Getting Started...

Hi mundus, If you have a Roth as well as a Traditional IRA, you should treat them both as one combined portfolio, as mentioned earlier. Personally, with a 0.34% expense ratio, I'd exchange the STAR fund and add the money to your overall allocation following the 3-fund lazy portfolio. This would resu...

Hi opjam, Most bogleheads think the appropriate allocation for bonds is equal to your age. So since you're 41 years old, that would mean about 40% in bonds. But you want 15% in bonds, which is taking on a lot more risk than many suggest. Also, do you have other retirement accounts? If so, they shoul...

Hi mundus, I think hoppy08520 makes a great point in that we should clarify if you have other retirement accounts. If so, they should all be treated as one big pot. If not, and you have $40,000 at age 52, you may want to consider something like the lazy portfolio. With 40% in bonds, and 20% of your ...

One thing you may want to consider before switching banks is to see if the new bank offers Payable on Death accounts. It helps bypass probate, saving you time and money. This may make more sense as your account balance grows. I recently switched from ING Direct to Ally, because Ally offers this (as ...

Hi saferthansome, 1) I think whether the VFORX fund makes sense for her depends more on your tolerance for risk, than on your tax bracket. As Khanmots noted, it's made up of 10% bonds. Will you be comfortable with that amount of bonds? How old are you two? John Bogle recommends having your age in bo...

I would think it depends on whether or not you reinvest them. I don't reinvest, but have my dividends moved to my money market account. So I don't include dividends in my account total. But if you do reinvest, then they would be a part of your total when rebalancing.

Hi JJP, Just based on the expense ratios alone (.18% vs .83%), I'd go with Vanguard. https://personal.vanguard.com/us/funds/snapshot?FundId=1487&FundIntExt=INT http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/investing/investment_help/investment_research/mutual_fund_research/mutual_funds.html?path=%2fProspec...

Excellent. Thanks for the clear explanation David!

Hi Bogleheads community! I've read The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing, and this is my first post. I have a 401k, Rollover IRA, Roth IRA, and taxable account. In each of them, I've placed both stocks and bonds. After reading the book and some wiki pages, I'm moving funds to create a more tax-efficien...