New Boglehead @ TD Ameritrade, HELP! [Portfolio]

[lovingthesunaz]

I am brand new to all this, I just deposited almost $15,000 in Roth IRAs between my wife and myself at TD Ameritrade. (Before I came across a book by Bogle and knew about Vanguard). I would like to use their commission-free ETFs to build a more aggressive portfolio as I am still pretty young (24 years old). Any suggestions on specific funds to use or allocations for my age? Thanks

I currently have a small amount $500 split between EBAY, HD, and SDY. (This was my first big leap into investing, haha). I don't want to pay fees again like I did for these stocks and funds, hence my desire to build the portfolio using their commission-free funds.

[WHL]

Shouldn't be a problem for you to roll the money into Roth IRA's at Vanguard if that's what you want :dunno:

With that little amount of money, I personally would put in into a target retirement fund that you feel comfortable with.

[stlutz]

First off--TD Ameritrade is a fine place to invest--no real need to move to VG when you can trade VG ETFs for free.

Second, I would consider Rick Ferri's article on a "Flight-Path" approach to asset allocation. For people just starting out with investing, taking too much risk is a common mistake. He (and some others) recommend starting out with a bond-heavy allocation and then increase the stock allocation over time as you gain experience with market fluctuations. Nobody really knows what their risk tolerance is until they've experienced a bear market.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickferri/2 ... llocation/

Third, the ideal starting point is always the "three fund portfolio", with a bond fund, a US total market fund, and an international fund. BND, VTI, and VEU are the three tickers you'd be interested in. If you are following Mr. Ferri's advice, a good starting point might be 60% in BND, 25% in VTI, and 15% in VEU. Over time as you add more money, you'd increase the allocations to VTI and VEU.

[retiredjg]

Welcome to the forum! TD Ameritrade is fine since they have a very nice list of Vanguard and Blackrock iShares ETFs on their no transaction fee list. This article (see the color chart) sums up the different ETFs that you might be interested in. This article is almost 2 years old, so there may be even more things available.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... lenews_wsj

As for how you allocate the funds, you'll need to do a little research to figure out where you and your wife fit on the risk scale. I would suggest no less than 20% bonds since I believe that all portfolios "need" at least 20% bonds.

Here's a good place to start your research. Wiki article link: Getting Started

[Default User BR]

You should each have received 300 free trades (equities and ETFs, not mutual funds) with your deposit of $2000 or more. If not, check with TDA. This is separate from the commission-free list. With that, you have to specifically enroll in the program, not just buy ETFs off the list.


Brian

[lovingthesunaz]

Great, thanks so much for all the advice!