Need help with portfolio - 31 years old

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Topic Author
datatada
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2018 6:51 pm

Need help with portfolio - 31 years old

Post by datatada »

Hi,

This is my first post on this forum but I've been reading through it for a little while, very helpful, thank you!

I'm currently 31 years old, I started working at 26. I actually became aware about investing few years ago and even though I tried to inform myself I feel I've been making a lot of mistakes and I haven't been organized at all. I also think I've been scared of a crash and have been reluctant to put too much money in the market, but now I understand better what it means to not be able to time the market... So I'd say my tolerance to risk is probably not as high as I'd hope but I also know that I'm still young and I should take advantage of that fact and I should start now with a good strategy that I can stick with. Knowing myself I think I'd like to favor simplicity and not having to manage too much would probably help me to not make mistakes.

Here is all the info about my current situation:

Emergency funds: Yes
Debt: 0
Tax Filing Status: Married Filing Jointly, no children, we're keeping most of our finances separate and we're both not knowing what we're doing...
Tax Rate: 28% Federal, 6.65% State
State of Residence: NY
Age: 31
Income: I'm the only one working, 150k/year.
Desired Asset allocation: no real idea but something like 80% stocks / 20% bonds?
Desired International allocation: no real idea... Knowing that the US market seems overvalued right now would it be a good idea to increase international allocation? 20% of stocks?

Current retirement assets (~300k)

Taxable

29%, 1.5% online savings account
36%, checking account (available for investing)
5%, Betterment 90% stocks / 10% bonds (I currently contribute $1000 every 2 weeks)
3.5% Betterment 60% stocks / 40% bonds (I currently contribute $1000 every 2 weeks)
7.3% Robinhood account (mostly invested in tech stocks like Amazon, Nvidia, Google etc.)
1% cryptocurrencies

401k
3.9% VFIFX Vanguard Target Retirement 2050 Fund - Investor Class, I now contribute 10% of my salary to try max it out

Roth IRA
6.3% VFIFX Vanguard Target Retirement 2050 Fund - Investor Class
6.3% Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund (Settlement fund)

Rollover IRA
1.7% VFIFX Vanguard Target Retirement 2050 Fund - Investor Class

I know it's pretty terrible and I feel I've been missing out a lot of potential gains these last years but since I can't do anything about it I'd like to do the right thing from now on. Do you think it would be a good idea for me to just use Vanguard Target Retirement 2050 going forward (I'm aware of the 3 fund portfolio but I like the idea of the auto rebalancing over time)?
What would be the best strategy for investing my current cash? Just investing it all now or adding every month (or every 2 weeks is better?)? I have to say I'm feeling a little bit stuck right now, and still scared that it's not the right time to invest a lot of money. I also wouldn't mind consolidating everything at Vanguard and not use Betterment. I'm also considering buying a place in the next 5 years but nothing sure yet.

Let me know if you need more information.

Thank you!
User avatar
Watty
Posts: 28860
Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2007 3:55 pm

Re: Need help with portfolio - 31 years old

Post by Watty »

I didn't see anything listed as be for things like; a house downpayment fund, a car fund, a travel fund, and emergency fund, etc. It would be good to keep these types of funds separate from your retirement funds when you are looking at your asset allocation.
datatada wrote: Mon Mar 12, 2018 8:33 pm Do you think it would be a good idea for me to just use Vanguard Target Retirement 2050 going forward (I'm aware of the 3 fund portfolio but I like the idea of the auto rebalancing over time)?
I am a huge fan of target date funds but with as much as you have in your taxable account and your high tax bracket I think you need to use a three fund portfolio because of the tax issues.

If you set the funds to not automatically reinvest the dividends than you should be able to do a lot of your rebalancing by just putting the dividends and and new funds into whichever of the 3 funds is underweighted.
Topic Author
datatada
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2018 6:51 pm

Re: Need help with portfolio - 31 years old

Post by datatada »

Hi Watty,

Thank you for your reply!

I guess my savings account is currently a combination of an emergency fund and potential house downpayment, but again buying a house is a project but I'm not actively looking for one right now. I don't have a car (and not planning on getting one, not really useful where I live). Should I keep less money into my savings account? Is putting money into a taxable 60% stocks/40% bonds (or 40/60) a better option?
What do you recommend for my taxable accounts, do you think Betterment can be a good option here instead of Vanguard (Life Strategy?)?

Thanks!
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