Is the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund all you need?

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rattlenap
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Is the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by rattlenap »

For myself I am a three-fund portfolio guy and we all agree with John Bogle in that simplicity in investing is a great option. Yet if you're a no nothing investor and can handle the volatility of a 60/40 in retirement. Will you do just fine in the long run with the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund as your sole investment fund? What I am asking here is the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund all you need?
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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by Sandtrap »

Mostly Yes :D
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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by dbr »

rattlenap wrote:For myself I am a three-fund portfolio guy and we all agree with John Bogle in that simplicity in investing is a great option. Yet if you're a no nothing investor and can handle the volatility of a 60/40 in retirement. Will you do just fine in the long run with the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund as your sole investment fund? What I am asking here is the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund all you need?
Asked as a general question without qualifications and without context, the answer would be that it is certainly not "all you need."

If the question is are their circumstances and situations where that fund could be all you need, the answer is that such is definitely possible.
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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by Quickfoot »

If the 60/40 asset allocation is right for you then yes, otherwise consider the 40/60 balanced fund or another balanced fund with an asset allocation that works for you. For the average American a balanced fund is ideal. It automatically rebalances which protects people from not having the "guts" to rebalance during negative return years and keeps things nice and simple while providing a very well diversified portfolio.

Unless you LIKE tinkering with asset allocations or want to do something like hold your equities in taxable and bonds in tax deferred accounts there's really no reason to hold multiple funds, research has shown even intelligent investors would almost always be better served investing and leaving it rather than trying to get an "ideal" portfolio or another .5 or 1% return per year. We like to think we can do better than a balanced fund but the reality is we probably cant and the few that do wont do much better.

Having a single balanced fund also makes investing instructions for survivors MUCH easier, we might love rebalancing and holding 7 different asset classes but most people don't enjoy investing and don't understand it and are likely to get taken advantage of by advisers after our deaths.
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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by onourway »

The only potential issue I see with the Balanced Index fund is lack of international exposure.
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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by randomizer »

I think it would serve well for most purposes. Your options for tax loss harvesting are severely limited with this kind of inflexible fund-of-funds though, which is why I prefer the three-fund approach (still simple, but much more flexible). Of course, you asked about know-nothing investors, so for those (who wouldn't do TLH anyway) it's probably a great choice.
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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by livesoft »

It is not all I would need because I don't want to pay more taxes that using only that fund would require me to pay.
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VANGUARD Balanced Index Fund

Post by cfs »

What I am asking here is the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund all you need?
IF we are talking about tax-advantaged accounts vice taxable account then:
--The answer for the know-nothing is YES.
--The answer for the know-something is YES.
Again, only IF we are talking about tax-advantaged accounts. Thanks for reading ~cfs~
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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by ps56k »

The only thing you didn't mention - would be your timeline to or in - retirement...
Do you want something that has a fixed allocation, no matter where you are on the timeline,
or would a Target Date fund serve the same purpose ?
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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by Grt2bOutdoors »

onourway wrote:The only potential issue I see with the Balanced Index fund is lack of international exposure.
That has been a net benefit to those who did not partake in the lower international returns.
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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by asset_chaos »

If 60/40 is already determined as the right split for you, then the number of ways to invest that are almost certainly worse than balanced index are essentially limitless, while the number of ways to invest that have a modest expectation of doing a little better on risk or return are limited. I'd prefer a little more diversity with a lifestrategy or target date fund, or a bit of value tilt with the DFA balanced fund if I could get it at low enough total cost.
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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by ruralavalon »

rattlenap wrote:For myself I am a three-fund portfolio guy and we all agree with John Bogle in that simplicity in investing is a great option. Yet if you're a no nothing investor and can handle the volatility of a 60/40 in retirement. Will you do just fine in the long run with the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund as your sole investment fund? What I am asking here is the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund all you need?
Yes, that would be an excellent portfolio all by itself. In fact I have been thinking about that as a way to simplify, so that my wife could of easily understand our investments if I am not available.

An asset allocation of 60/40 during retirement would be within the range of what is reasonable, in my opinion.

By the way, there is a Vanguard Tax-Managed Balanced Index Fund Admiral Shares (VTMFX) for people in a higher tax bracket who have a taxable account to consider.
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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by stemikger »

rattlenap wrote:For myself I am a three-fund portfolio guy and we all agree with John Bogle in that simplicity in investing is a great option. Yet if you're a no nothing investor and can handle the volatility of a 60/40 in retirement. Will you do just fine in the long run with the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund as your sole investment fund? What I am asking here is the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund all you need?
This is exactly what I'm going to do. In fact, I currently own it in my IRA and when I retire the entire amount will be rolled over into that fund. You might find this thread I started a while back interesting. The balanced index also has John Bogle's blessing. It is the one fund he consistently recommends as a one fund portfolio. He also saves money in it for his grandchildren because he doesn't want to worry about it and doesn't want them to worry about it either. He prefers the fixed asset allocation compared to the Target Retirement glide path.

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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by joe8d »

All you need is TSM.
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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by ekso »

It looks like the expense ratio for balanced funds is significantly higher than stock funds. If I have a taxable account, could I achieve better returns by simply holding a stock index fund and a bond fund, and balancing them myself?
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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by beardsworth »

ekso wrote:It looks like the expense ratio for balanced funds is significantly higher than stock funds. If I have a taxable account, could I achieve better returns by simply holding a stock index fund and a bond fund, and balancing them myself?
Vanguard's site currently quotes an expense ratio of 0.22% for the Investor class shares of Balanced Index Fund, and 0.16% each for the Investor shares of Total Stock Market Index and Total Bond Market Index.

If I were a person satisfied with a 60/40 ratio of U.S. stock and U.S. bonds (which is the ratio of Balanced Index), I wouldn't find it worth the trouble to be buying separate funds and engaging in self-initiated rebalancing (less frequently than Balanced Index does it) just for the sake of 6 basis points of expense.
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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by ekso »

beardsworth wrote:
ekso wrote:It looks like the expense ratio for balanced funds is significantly higher than stock funds. If I have a taxable account, could I achieve better returns by simply holding a stock index fund and a bond fund, and balancing them myself?
Vanguard's site currently quotes an expense ratio of 0.22% for the Investor class shares of Balanced Index Fund, and 0.16% each for the Investor shares of Total Stock Market Index and Total Bond Market Index.

If I were a person satisfied with a 60/40 ratio of U.S. stock and U.S. bonds (which is the ratio of Balanced Index), I wouldn't find it worth the trouble to be buying separate funds and engaging in self-initiated rebalancing (less frequently than Balanced Index does it) just for the sake of 6 basis points of expense.
VBIAX has a .08 expense ratio, whereas VTSAX has .05. A 60% higher expense ratio seems like it would be significant, no?
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Re: Is the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by raven15 »

The Growth and to a slightly lesser extent Moderate Growth funds are perhaps the only stand-alone funds in existence I could recommend wholeheartedly and with no caveats ...for tax sheltered accounts :happy. Balanced index... it's not wrong, but you didn't hear it from me :? .
ekso wrote: VBIAX has a .08 expense ratio, whereas VTSAX has .05. A 60% higher expense ratio seems like it would be significant, no?
No. A 60% increase of a tiny number is still a tiny number.
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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by onourway »

ekso wrote:
VBIAX has a .08 expense ratio, whereas VTSAX has .05. A 60% higher expense ratio seems like it would be significant, no?
That's a difference of $30/year on a $100,000 balance. It's something, but realistically too small to accurately account for in estimating the returns generated by two potential portfolios.
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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by orca91 »

ekso wrote:
beardsworth wrote:
ekso wrote:It looks like the expense ratio for balanced funds is significantly higher than stock funds. If I have a taxable account, could I achieve better returns by simply holding a stock index fund and a bond fund, and balancing them myself?
Vanguard's site currently quotes an expense ratio of 0.22% for the Investor class shares of Balanced Index Fund, and 0.16% each for the Investor shares of Total Stock Market Index and Total Bond Market Index.

If I were a person satisfied with a 60/40 ratio of U.S. stock and U.S. bonds (which is the ratio of Balanced Index), I wouldn't find it worth the trouble to be buying separate funds and engaging in self-initiated rebalancing (less frequently than Balanced Index does it) just for the sake of 6 basis points of expense.
VBIAX has a .08 expense ratio, whereas VTSAX has .05. A 60% higher expense ratio seems like it would be significant, no?
No.

When talking point zero something ERs, the difference is lost in the wind.
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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by ruralavalon »

ekso wrote:It looks like the expense ratio for balanced funds is significantly higher than stock funds. If I have a taxable account, could I achieve better returns by simply holding a stock index fund and a bond fund, and balancing them myself?
Vanguard Balanced Index Fund Admiral Shares (VBIAX) has an expense ratio of 0.08%, which is low by any standard.

You could save a few hundredths of a percent by owning separate total stock (0.05%) and total bond (0.06%) index funds, but how many dollars would that be per year for you?
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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by beardsworth »

orca91 wrote:
ekso wrote:
beardsworth wrote:
ekso wrote:It looks like the expense ratio for balanced funds is significantly higher than stock funds. If I have a taxable account, could I achieve better returns by simply holding a stock index fund and a bond fund, and balancing them myself?
Vanguard's site currently quotes an expense ratio of 0.22% for the Investor class shares of Balanced Index Fund, and 0.16% each for the Investor shares of Total Stock Market Index and Total Bond Market Index.

If I were a person satisfied with a 60/40 ratio of U.S. stock and U.S. bonds (which is the ratio of Balanced Index), I wouldn't find it worth the trouble to be buying separate funds and engaging in self-initiated rebalancing (less frequently than Balanced Index does it) just for the sake of 6 basis points of expense.
VBIAX has a .08 expense ratio, whereas VTSAX has .05. A 60% higher expense ratio seems like it would be significant, no?
No.

When talking point zero something ERs, the difference is lost in the wind.
ekso, although your question was originally put to me, orca91 provided my answer.

IMO, a few basis points is not worth the fuss of having to regularly log in, check on accounts, make calculations, and move stuff around to do my own rebalancing, if there is a ready-made balanced fund (such as Vanguard Balanced Index, the subject of this thread), in the asset allocation I'd want, which will do it for me so cheaply.

Regardless of a person's current age, life is constantly getting shorter. In my view there are far more nourishing ways to spend one's finite time and energy than trying to squeeze every last drop out of mutual fund expense ratios.

Of course, people who want to tilt toward value, or small, or international, or whatever, will have to assemble their own array of separate funds, but a good balanced fund can serve the needs of many people whose investing style is "vanilla" or who want to "put things on autopilot" through an all-in-one fund that satisfies their preferences.
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Re: Is the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by David Jay »

If you want international diversification, LifeStrategy Moderate is also 60/40.
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Re: Is the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by am »

It's not all you need because some decades international does better than us. I have seen a lot of recency bias on here with regards to international performance.
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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by nura »

ekso wrote: VBIAX has a .08 expense ratio, whereas VTSAX has .05. A 60% higher expense ratio seems like it would be significant, no?
Significant enough to buy a coffee and doughnut each year unless your corpus is in Millions.
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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by ekso »

beardsworth wrote: Regardless of a person's current age, life is constantly getting shorter. In my view there are far more nourishing ways to spend one's finite time and energy than trying to squeeze every last drop out of mutual fund expense ratios.
Fair enough.
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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by rattlenap »

Quickfoot wrote:If the 60/40 asset allocation is right for you then yes, otherwise consider the 40/60 balanced fund or another balanced fund with an asset allocation that works for you. For the average American a balanced fund is ideal. It automatically rebalances which protects people from not having the "guts" to rebalance during negative return years and keeps things nice and simple while providing a very well diversified portfolio.

Unless you LIKE tinkering with asset allocations or want to do something like hold your equities in taxable and bonds in tax deferred accounts there's really no reason to hold multiple funds, research has shown even intelligent investors would almost always be better served investing and leaving it rather than trying to get an "ideal" portfolio or another .5 or 1% return per year. We like to think we can do better than a balanced fund but the reality is we probably cant and the few that do wont do much better.

Having a single balanced fund also makes investing instructions for survivors MUCH easier, we might love rebalancing and holding 7 different asset classes but most people don't enjoy investing and don't understand it and are likely to get taken advantage of by advisers after our deaths.
Best comment on investing I have seen in a long time.

" research has shown even intelligent investors would almost always be better served investing and leaving it rather than trying to get an "ideal" portfolio or another .5 or 1% return per year. We like to think we can do better than a balanced fund but the reality is we probably cant and the few that do wont do much better."
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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by rattlenap »

nura wrote:
ekso wrote: VBIAX has a .08 expense ratio, whereas VTSAX has .05. A 60% higher expense ratio seems like it would be significant, no?
Significant enough to buy a coffee and doughnut each year unless your corpus is in Millions.
Funny how some can be so petty over a few basis points.
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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by NewbyDoobyDoo »

ruralavalon wrote: By the way, there is a Vanguard Tax-Managed Balanced Index Fund Admiral Shares (VTMFX) for people in a higher tax bracket who have a taxable account to consider.
No 401K and not self-employed, so I pretty much only have a Taxable account. Seriously thinking about VTMFX going forward. My Fed & California tax brackets fluctuate, so that's causing me some analysis paralysis.
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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by ruralavalon »

rattlenap wrote:
nura wrote:
ekso wrote: VBIAX has a .08 expense ratio, whereas VTSAX has .05. A 60% higher expense ratio seems like it would be significant, no?
Significant enough to buy a coffee and doughnut each year unless your corpus is in Millions.
Funny how some can be so petty over a few basis points.
When someone finally gets the message about the importance of low expenses it's easy to get carried away.

I still get a little thrill :) every time Vanguard shaves a hundredth of a percent off the expense ratio of a fund I use, even though I know it means very little either in terms of annual dollars I can spend or in terms of portfolio performance.
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Re: Is the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by dickyboy »

I have about 1/3 of my retirement funds in the Balanced Index (Roth) and about 2/3 in five other funds in a traditional IRA. I am 75 and every year I convert some of my traditional to Roth. Eventually I plan on having all the funds in the Roth with the Balanced Index fund. I like the 60/40 mix and the older I get, the simpler I like to keep things...let them do the balancing act for you. Low cost, balanced, and its Vanguard so what more could you want.
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Re: Is the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by rattlenap »

dickyboy wrote:I have about 1/3 of my retirement funds in the Balanced Index (Roth) and about 2/3 in five other funds in a traditional IRA. I am 75 and every year I convert some of my traditional to Roth. Eventually I plan on having all the funds in the Roth with the Balanced Index fund. I like the 60/40 mix and the older I get, the simpler I like to keep things...let them do the balancing act for you. Low cost, balanced, and its Vanguard so what more could you want.
Really? Being in a 60/40 at 75 years old! That is impressive. Are you withdrawing from the Balance Index fund?
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Re: Is the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by Tamarind »

I advised my parents to hold only VBIAX in retirement, but as others have said there are particular circumstances that make it a good fit, namely:

1) Desire for simplicity very high
2) Aversion or indifference to international equities
3) Most assets in tax-deferred accounts.
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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by abuss368 »

stemikger wrote:
This is exactly what I'm going to do. In fact, I currently own it in my IRA and when I retire the entire amount will be rolled over into that fund. You might find this thread I started a while back interesting. The balanced index also has John Bogle's blessing. It is the one fund he consistently recommends as a one fund portfolio. He also saves money in it for his grandchildren because he doesn't want to worry about it and doesn't want them to worry about it either. He prefers the fixed asset allocation compared to the Target Retirement glide path.

viewtopic.php?t=164521
Hi stemikger -

Well said and very true based on Jack's many educational and informative interviews.

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Re: Is the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by abuss368 »

Bogleheads -

I have wondered how many investors would be better off over the long term with this one fund in all types of accounts (i.e. taxable and tax advantaged) and simply pay any tax due.

When I consider the alternative of frequent trading, high expenses, turnover, manager risk, and so forth the Balanced Index fund has to be a better alternative.
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Re: Is the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by Knight »

Hello,
What is the 3-fund portfolio?
I would like to open a Roth IRA and college saving funds (529) for my 3 little children (7 and below), would the Vang. balanced index fund be a good choice for all of the above? Any advice?
Thank you.
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Re: Is the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by stemikger »

Knight wrote:Hello,
What is the 3-fund portfolio?
I would like to open a Roth IRA and college saving funds (529) for my 3 little children (7 and below), would the Vang. balanced index fund be a good choice for all of the above? Any advice?
Thank you.
Here is all the info you need from the Wiki page.

Good Luck!

https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund_portfolio
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Re: Is the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by kmurp »

I think this fund or something similar with a lower equity exposure. I know from experience that I too often don't rebalance.
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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by freebeer »

Grt2bOutdoors wrote:
onourway wrote:The only potential issue I see with the Balanced Index fund is lack of international exposure.
That has been a net benefit to those who did not partake in the lower international returns.
Someone who had held 100% AAPL for the last two years would also have seen a net benefit over holding SP500 but that doesn't mean that it would have been an optimal investment decision. Bogleheads principle is diversification aka to "own the market". Diversification implies that if you are less diversified and happen to hold an asset class that does better than the market you will be rewarded but that doesn't mean you were wise to do so it means you were lucky. Similarly it does look smart to have held US only these last couple of years but that doesn't mean it's an optimal plan for the future (is it a "good enough" plan? probably yes but that's a different question).
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Re: Is the Vangaurd Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by stemikger »

freebeer wrote:
Grt2bOutdoors wrote:
onourway wrote:The only potential issue I see with the Balanced Index fund is lack of international exposure.
That has been a net benefit to those who did not partake in the lower international returns.
Someone who had held 100% AAPL for the last two years would also have seen a net benefit over holding SP500 but that doesn't mean that it would have been an optimal investment decision. Bogleheads principle is diversification aka to "own the market". Diversification implies that if you are less diversified and happen to hold an asset class that does better than the market you will be rewarded but that doesn't mean you were wise to do so it means you were lucky. Similarly it does look smart to have held US only these last couple of years but that doesn't mean it's an optimal plan for the future (is it a "good enough" plan? probably yes but that's a different question).
Can't disagree with what you said, but as for me. I read Common Sense on Mutual Funds and the chapter on International Investing just made so much sense, I don't think I could ever invest in international. I really do feel like I already have built in international diversification in my all U.S. index fund because of all the multinationals. However, that is not the only reason, I'm confident the U.S. is the safest place a person can invest and will remain that way throughout my lifetime. It was never an issue if international did better, like you said I just got lucky. The only thing I can confidently say as an investor who is saving for retirement is, if international starts doing better than the U.S. I still will stick with my all U.S. Index portfolio. I don't think I can confidently say I will always be 60/40 stocks bonds or any other allocation, but I can be confident about an all U.S. portfolio.
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Re: Is the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by ruralavalon »

Welcome to the forum :) .
Knight wrote:Hello,
What is the 3-fund portfolio?
I would like to open a Roth IRA and college saving funds (529) for my 3 little children (7 and below), would the Vang. balanced index fund be a good choice for all of the above? Any advice?
Thank you.
Yes Vanguard Balanced Index Fund would be a good choice for any of those accounts.

A three-fund portfolio is something like:
Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Index Fund;
Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund; and
Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund.
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Re: Is the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by Index Fan »

You could do a lot worse. This is a good one-stop fund.
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Re: Is the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by Knight »

Thanks guys. I appreciate your help.
dickyboy
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Re: Is the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by dickyboy »

rattlenap wrote:
dickyboy wrote:I have about 1/3 of my retirement funds in the Balanced Index (Roth) and about 2/3 in five other funds in a traditional IRA. I am 75 and every year I convert some of my traditional to Roth. Eventually I plan on having all the funds in the Roth with the Balanced Index fund. I like the 60/40 mix and the older I get, the simpler I like to keep things...let them do the balancing act for you. Low cost, balanced, and its Vanguard so what more could you want.
Really? Being in a 60/40 at 75 years old! That is impressive. Are you withdrawing from the Balance Index fund?
No I have not withdrawn anything as yet from the Roth. If I need funds beyond my RMD from Traditional I take from other sources, hoping to keep the Roth intact for the final stretch. I also have some 16 year old Ibonds that pay 3.45 percent plus inflation and I wont touch those either.
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1210sda
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Re: Is the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by 1210sda »

abuss368 wrote:Bogleheads -

I have wondered how many investors would be better off over the long term with this one fund in all types of accounts (i.e. taxable and tax advantaged) and simply pay any tax due.

When I consider the alternative of frequent trading, high expenses, turnover, manager risk, and so forth the Balanced Index fund has to be a better alternative.
This is how I feel as well.

In particular for my DW who doesn't have much interest in managing our(her) portfolio if I happen to pre-decease her. With the three fund portfolio she would probably have to use an adviser. (additional cost, etc.). Other than that........:)

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AlwaysaQ
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Re: Is the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by AlwaysaQ »

Can somebody who held Vanguard Balanced Index tell me what percentage of dividends were qualified dividends? That info doesn't seem available on the website.
rob65
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Re: Is the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by rob65 »

AlwaysaQ wrote:Can somebody who held Vanguard Balanced Index tell me what percentage of dividends were qualified dividends? That info doesn't seem available on the website.
https://personal.vanguard.com/us/insigh ... -2016?Sc=1

53.25% in 2016.
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ruralavalon
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Re: Is the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by ruralavalon »

rob65 wrote:
AlwaysaQ wrote:Can somebody who held Vanguard Balanced Index tell me what percentage of dividends were qualified dividends? That info doesn't seem available on the website.
https://personal.vanguard.com/us/insigh ... -2016?Sc=1

53.25% in 2016.
And for Vanguard Tax-Managed Balanced Fund it was 100% qualified dividends in 2016.
"Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler." - Albert Einstein | Wiki article link: Bogleheads® investment philosophy
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Re: Is the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by investor »

might also consider Wellington in place of Balanced Index... not that much difference in er's. Compare them using PortfolioVisulizer.com

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Gort
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Re: Is the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund all you need?

Post by Gort »

abuss368 wrote:Bogleheads -

I have wondered how many investors would be better off over the long term with this one fund in all types of accounts (i.e. taxable and tax advantaged) and simply pay any tax due.

When I consider the alternative of frequent trading, high expenses, turnover, manager risk, and so forth the Balanced Index fund has to be a better alternative.
How do you calculate the annual federal tax due on a $100,000 Balanced Index portfolio in a taxable account, 15% tax bracket?
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