Newbie needs a hand

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Topic Author
BigSky92
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2017 6:05 pm

Newbie needs a hand

Post by BigSky92 »

Hello everyone,
I'm new to investing. I've been lurking on the forum and thought I'd drop a line and say hello. I received a family discount to Financial Engines as my manager and have been with them for several weeks. I'm beginning to get the feeling that I could do better than their plan considering the high expense ratios of the mutual funds they have me in. I'd really like to have a solid plan in place created by a professional but I'm open to striking out on my own as well. I'm considering the Vanguard Target Retirement plan. I'd like the option of withdrawing 10% of the money yearly for the next 3 years and then I'll be adding to the fund when I'm working. Please let me know if you need any additional info and thanks for any help!
Questions: Would I be better off long term with Vanguard? Any suggestions or Ideas as to what I may consider?

About Me:
Age: 29
Martial Status: Single
Salary: $0 (In school)
Yearly expenses: 15k

Liabilities
Student Loans: 8k

Assets
7k car
170k cash
Tax Rate: N/A
State of Residence: WA
Desired Asset allocation: 70% stocks / 30% bonds

ETF's and Closed end funds:

SCHH Expense Ratio:
CHARLES SCHWAB US REIT ETF 0.07%
SCHF
SCHWAB INTERNATIONAL. 0.06%
SCHG
SCHWAB US LARGE CAP... 0.07%
SCHV
SCHWAB US LARGE CAP... 0.07%
SLYG
SPDR S&P 600 SMALL CAP... 0.15%
SLYV
SPDR S&P 600 SMALL CAP... 0.15%

Mutual Funds:

AKREX
AKRE FOCUS FD RETAIL 1.34%
BWLIX
AMERICAN BEACON 1.08
TWTIX
AMERICAN CENTURY INTER. 0.47
ADBLX
AMG MANAGERS DOUBLELINE... 0.95
SKSEX
AMG MANAGERS SKYLINE... 1.33
ARTYX
ARTISAN DEV WORLD FD INV 1.50
BCSIX
BROWN CAP MGMT SMALL CO... 1.26
EAFAX
EATON VANCE FLOATING... 1.03
FHYTX
FEDERATED HIGH YIELD... 0.98
HILAX
HARTFORD INTL VALUE A 1.35
GLRBX
JAMES BALANCED GOLDEN.. 0.96
OOSAX
OPPENHEIMER SENIOR.. 0.97
PCLDX
PIMCO COMMODITIESPLUS 1.24
WFITX
WELLS FARGO INTERM TAX... 0.6
Last edited by BigSky92 on Mon Apr 10, 2017 12:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
desiderium
Posts: 1264
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2014 10:08 am

Re: Newbie needs a hand

Post by desiderium »

You will definitely be better off in the long run if you learn to manage your own portfolio. The long term impact of fees and paid financial advice starting at your age is truly sobering. Take the time to read the WIKI and a couple of the recommended books. Start simple, you have the basic idea already.

There is no reason for you to have so many funds. There is a lot of overlap. A target retirement fund is just fine. Given your salary :D, there may not be any tax implications to selling your funds and moving them to vanguard. However, if you are sitting on significant capital gains, you should give this some thought and maybe run a few scenarios using Taxcaster (free on the web or app)

Regarding money you need over the next 3 years, put these in a high yield savings account, e.g. Ally, Barclays, Capital One. Think of this as separate from your long-term investment account. You don't want to be withdrawing from an equity portfolio if there is a market correction.

Good luck!
pkcrafter
Posts: 15461
Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2007 11:19 am
Location: CA
Contact:

Re: Newbie needs a hand

Post by pkcrafter »

This should answer one on your questions:

Aon Hewitt sued for 401(k) 'kickback' scheme with Financial Engines

http://www.investmentnews.com/article/2 ... al-engines

Don't put money you are going to need in the next 3 years in the market. Maybe put aside 100k for expenses and emergency funds and invest the remainder.

A target fund is fine. It has total U.S. stock. total international, U.S. bonds, and international bonds. Very similar to the popular 3 fund portfolio here....

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=88005

You can create this fund with Schwab choices.

Getting Started

https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Getting_started

Paul
When times are good, investors tend to forget about risk and focus on opportunity. When times are bad, investors tend to forget about opportunity and focus on risk.
Topic Author
BigSky92
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2017 6:05 pm

Re: Newbie needs a hand

Post by BigSky92 »

Thanks for all of the advice. I really appreciate it. I'll keep researching but will most likely go with Vanguard and the 3 fund portfolio.
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