FSKAX

Bluebaron88

If you need to have spending money in less than 2 years SPAXX for short term treasury bills. It’s fluid and you can get access to your money in a short time (slowest part is transferring back to a bank). Longer term saving I would recommend low cost index funds like FXAIX or FSKAX. Those are S&P500 and total US stock market. I would avoid gold/crypto/art as they do not generate wealth or grow like companies do. Best served checking out the flow chart in personal finance sub and bogelheads. 

clock_skew

VTI and FSKAX contain almost the entirety of the US market (of publicly traded companies).

cazaaa11

65% FSKAX 5% FDGRX 24% FSPSX 6% FKEKX Rebalance each monthly and let it ride.

DoinIt4DaShorteez

I looked at the top 10 holdings of FBGRX and FSKAX and of the postions that are held in both, your total portoflio exposure is: NVDA 12.12% APPL 7.24% MSFT 6.17% AMZN 5.54% GOOG/GOOGL: 4.58% META: 3.79% AVGO: 2.44% Now that's definitely overweight NVDA, but at 38, I'm not sure I'd be too concerned about it, it's probably going to fix itself at some point, lol. The rest of the allocations I'd be pretty comfortable with. FBGRX is 16.13% NVDA and FSKAX is only 7.02% So if you want to trim, I'd probably trim FBGRX, it'll offload more NVDA weight per share than FSKAX. And maybe deploy new money to the other stuff you're talking about. And some of the money market funds if you really think you have too much. If your portfolio is $1 mln or less, I wouldn't say 12% in a money market fund is too much.

TortugaTurtle47

I keep things as simple as I can for me. I'll reevaluate when I'm 40. I keep about 3-4 months of expenses in a HYSA for my emergency fund. About 90% of retirement savings in growth funds like VTI and VXUS (FXAIX and FSKAX in my 401k). The other 10ish% in income (SPYI and QQQI) and bonds (FBND). I started contributing $5 a paycheck and now I'm up to 28% of my salary. I also have an HSA to take advantage of that benefit and I recommend everyone I know to look into it. Anything helps so start as soon as possible, even if it's only $3 a month.

Able-Examination576

I coincidentally invested my rollover spaxx funds into FSKAX Friday mid day.That transaction should be at the end of the day Friday price,is this correct? With that being said it might have been lucky timing?$117,000.

Pristine_Wish_1639

Your options: 1. Keep Fidelity Go as-is – if you want truly hands-off and don't mind the fee. 2. Switch to self-directed – sell the robo funds, buy FXAIX or another S&P 500 index fund yourself, and save the management fee 3. Do both – keep the Roth IRA in Fidelity Go, open a separate brokerage account for your ETFs where you have more control I'd probably move the Roth IRA to self-directed and just buy FXAIX or FSKAX (total market fund) if you're young and want growth. Set up automatic contributions and let it ride. If you want something more dynamic than basic buy-and-hold but still automated, there are no-code platforms now where you can build or follow strategies that actually adapt to market conditions – rebalance automatically, handle risk management, run on rules instead of emotions. It's like a robo-advisor but smarter and you keep full control of your brokerage. Could be worth exploring if you want automation without paying ongoing AUM fees. Happy to share the name of the tool if that sounds interesting.

Cruian

>However, I am wondering if that money would be better off in something like QQQ or start to include some of the mega tech stocks Most of QQQ is already inside FSKAX. Especially US large/mega cap tech. Tech (even ignoring Alphabet/Google, Meta/Facebook, Amazon, and Tesla) is currently over 30% of the weight of FSKAX. Different sectors over and under perform at different times. There's plenty of instances where the best long term performance wasn't with the hot new thing.

Substantial-Crazy-72

FSKAX is the place I'm in when things seem chill. When there is a market drop off ~10 ish %, I switch to FDGRX and FSELX until about 20% increase from switch. This keeps me interested and gives me something to do that's pretty safe and makes me feel like I'm trading.. Overall FSKAX and chill is going to be safe and fine of your not interested in being more active or risky. (In my opinion)

tokin_and_quotin

Nothing wrong with FSKAX at all, it's a great core position in your portfolio. If you wanted to put your foot on the gas a bit more you might consider allocating a chunk like 20% to higher growth stocks like QQQM (same as QQQ but lower expense ratio), SCHG, or VGT.

WeUsedToBeNumber10

UPDATE: decided to buy FSKAX/FSGSX/SPMO/PFF in a 70/20/10/10 split in the Rollover IRA.  Next will be the Roth IRA and Investment accounts.  Thanks for all the insights!

fattyliverking

My advice is to cut your position down to 5-10% of your portfolio (6k). Put the rest in other positions not exceeding 5-10% and a large core position like VOO or FSKAX.

decomposition_

Nothing wrong with some penny stocks, I stick to small cap (0.5B-10B stocks) that seem to have good growth potential, and then I skim the profits into stuff like my dividend growth stocks, or ETFs like FSKAX or VOO. Keeps my risk lower in that instance, and I’ve done quite well with stocks like RKLB, IONQ, KRKNF, OKLO etc

wandererarkhamknight

You can go with FZROX or FSKAX. That will be C and S in one fund. The FXAIX and FSMAX works too.

harrison_wintergreen

There are two issues with those fund: - first as the other person mentioned, those mutual funds have much higher fees than alternatives. Fees will eat into your returns over time. There are better options with lower fees. - second, those two fund are very similar, both focused on larger American companies. links below. The top 10 stocks in both funds are very similar: Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, Broadcom, Apple ... so whoever sold you these funds didn't put much thought into the process. a better portfolio would be, maybe, (1) Larger US company fund; (2) smaller US company fund; (3) international company fund. these 3 would zig and zag differently, and would compliment each other better than two that are nearly identical. so my advice is similar to the other reply: fold both of those funds into FZROX or FXAIX or FSKAX (to use Fidelity examples), and add an international fund (FZILX, FSPSX) and possibly a fund focused on smaller US companies (FSSNX) ACAAX portfolio: https://www.morningstar.com/funds/xnas/acaax/portfolio FAGAX portfolio: https://www.morningstar.com/funds/xnas/fagax/portfolio

Muted-Woodpecker-469

Fidelity has a number of etfs and mutual funds. If you’re being serious, look at stuff like FSKAX, FXAIX, FTIHX, and FSELX among the hundreds of others that they offer. 

wandererarkhamknight

FSKAX has an ER of 0.015%, whereas FZROX is 0. Calling them high fee is misleading.

PeaceLvSpreadsheets

This. There's a reason every brokerage firm has their own fund that tracks the whole market - if someone asks me for a stock I point straight to VTI, SCHB, FSKAX.

srfdriver99

FSKAX is a total market fund, so it's plenty diversified. The only question is whether the high tilt towards stocks makes sense.

ArthurDent4200

I love what your mom is doing. I would lean in on FSKAX or add SP500 ETF, etc and keep a few years of her post retirement expenses in something safe and boring. She can draw on the safe and boring if the market hits a rough patch. She isn't going to run out of money unless she has very high monthly expenses. As far as estate planning, check out what her RMDs will be. Look at the probable tax rate and start converting to ROTH IRA at a rate that smooths out her tax liability starting this year. Inheriting an IRA is not great if those who inherit are in a fairly high tax bracket. She already has $2.3M in IRAs. Given anticipated growth of her IRAs and a single tax rate she will get hammered by taxes. You will too as you try to unload that much money over 10 years along with your own income. It's a little late to do a lot of conversions, but better late than never. I am surprised Fidelity pushed an annuity on her. I have never been offered one and certainly not steered towards any. I have never told them I am risk averse. Good luck to both of you. Art

PeaceLvSpreadsheets

Yup. FSKAX, FZILX, FTBFX. Disclaimer I’m only in the first two (total market, international) I’m not a good enough boglehead to care about bonds yet.

DrGrabAss

Obligatory "not a financial advisor," but I have been doing this a while. I'll skip the "pay off debt, have an emergency fund, build a budget, etc." You didn't ask that so, I'll stick to what you're looking for. Keep it simple. You're starting out, so here are some simple options and one essential habit. Starting with the habit: getting started is *WAY more important* than optimizing how you start right now. So, pick something and just get it going with automated monthly contributions. If you can do that, then you can move on to considering these options. If you cannot do that, then don't bother reading further. As for the smart ways to get started, you should find at least one target date fund within your companies available options. The date is your approximate retirement (age 67) date. You could go all in on that, it's diversified and pretty cheap. This is a great way to start. You wanted lower risk, and this is a good low-risk way to go. Target funds are rebalanced over time to become less risky as you approach retirement. They are excellent starting points. You get exposure to both the stock and bond markets, and if you're younger it'll be heavily weighted towards stocks starting out. You could literally go with this and call it good. One fund to rule them all. Alternatively, you could consider a three-fund portfolio, which are also very popular. The three funds are basically a foundational fund, an international OR growth fund, and a bond fund OR Dividend fund. The Foundational is typically one that tracks the S&P 500 (FXAIX) or the total stock market (FSKAX?). Both are hilariously cheap, either is a great choice. Fund 2 is more focused on international markets OR just a more aggressive fund focused heavily on growth. (Some people suggest that most S&P companies already provide some international exposure so a international fund might not be necessary, I can't say for sure.) Fund 3 has traditionally been a bond fund. However, the bond market has been dog shit for years, so choose at your own discretion. Bond funds are very low-risk, though right now they are so shitty they became high risk due to being useless/negative drag in a portfolio. A good alternative is a value fund, which is a fund that tracks an index heavily weighted toward very well-established and "safe" stocks, like Coca-Cola. They don't grow much, but they do generate dividends that you should be rolling back into the fund to reinvest in more of it as the distributions pay out. This works great in a 401(k) 'cause you don't pay taxes on those dividends (in a taxable account you absolutely do, as I found last year when I started writing checks to the IRS!). Until you're a multimillionaire, you don't need to be more sophisticated than this. Anyone who says otherwise is probably trying to take your money or troll you. Lastly, if they offer a *Roth* 401(k) option, go that route until you have to start paying taxes out of pocket, or split your contributions to go half into a Roth, half into a Traditional. (Or, just do a Roth IRA for the Roth-half of your portfolio.) TL;DR Start with a target date fund, get the automated contributions going, then look into a 3-fund portfolio after a few months.

taimaishu6654

I'll do you one better, pick one fund max. FSKAX or FXIAX (if you have fidelity)

False_Comedian_6070

I totally agree with most of what you’re saying, but I personally prefer an optimized portfolio because I’m a strategy nerd and enjoy portfolio design. I used to invest $4000 a year into FSKAX but once I developed a portfolio I felt passionate about I now invest $40,000 a year. I put a lot of effort into making more money in order to invest more money. I wouldn’t have done that if I stuck with just 100% FSKAX, which was about as exciting as paying the IRS. But everyone is different. I think a one fund portfolio is the right approach for a lot of people.

SnS2500

The past ten years the total return on FSKAX is +273%. For VTI it is +278%. Since VT is worldwide and not just USA, its return the past ten years has been +198%.

SnS2500

Sure. One total US market ETF similar to FSKAX is VTI. Don't be in a hurry. Educate yourself then make decisions you are comfortable with, but it would be a good idea to at least buy a few shares of one or more ETFs now jut to see how they work.

Based_Commgnunism

The Fidelity mutual funds are good. FXAIX is S&P500. For total US market there's FSKAX and FZROX. The Vanguard equivalents VOO/VTI are also fine if you prefer an ETF. Or any of the other many low fee S&P500/total US funds. As to whether you prefer to hold S&P500 or total US it doesn't really matter as their performance is essentially the same. Total US market is technically more diversified so I'd go for that if you only plan to hold one US fund. For international there's FTIHX or FZILX, or VXUS. I'd recommend holding them at market cap weights, so 65% US and 35% international. That way you just own the whole market. Another option is to buy VT, which is 65% VOO/35% VXUS in a single fund. With VT your whole portfolio can be just one fund. This also eliminates the need to do an annual rebalance. There are good reasons to hold small cap value funds, both US and international, but you shouldn't do it unless you really understand the thesis and why you are holding it and how it has performed recently and historically.

Historical_Low4458

You don't need both FXIAX and FSKAX in the same account. Sell one and put that money into the other.

Wise-Fig2930

Why not FSKAX over FXAIX

KpopFramer_23

stick to 3-5% max for sector funds like FSELX. think of it like debugging code... you want broad coverage first (FXAIX/FSKAX) then small targeted fixes. semiconductors are volatile but solid long term given AI/tech trends

grokfinance

I probably wouldn't do that. If you insist then I wouldn't put more than \~5% of your total portfolio into an industry specific fund such as FSELX. Also, you already get exposure to many of those same stocks through FXAIX. Personally, I'd swap out of FXAIX in favor of broader diversification like a total stock market index fund such as FSKAX, but using an S&P 500 fund isn't horrible.

West_Flounder2840

I max out the three tax advantaged accounts, regardless of market conditions every year all in on US Total Market Equities with FSKAX. 50/50 stocks/cash in my taxable brokerage account that I use as a vehicle to accelerate saving to pay off my mortgage. Tide goes in, tide goes out, you can’t explain that

andybmcc

FZILX is the zero international fund.  FTIHX is more diversified, so probably better.  It's still cheap.  That's a perfectly reasonable portfolio. I hold some FTIHX and FSKAX (similar to FZROX).

xiongchiamiov

Straightforward advice is HYSA, or a money market fund if you're willing to mess with a brokerage account. If the downpayment is large and you're in a high state income tax state, a t-bill fund's dividends will be exempt from that tax so may be worth it. If you've got a decade to work on this, you've got enough time to deal with turbulence. I might do an FSKAX / FTBFX combo starting at 80/20 and gliding to less equity via new contributions as the timeline approaches.

JMPHeinz57

Hi all, Asking the typical question of where to plant money aimed at being a down payment for a house. For context, my wife and I are in our mid-20s with no debt, a fully funded six month emergency fund, and own both our vehicles. We plan to buy a house in the next 8-10 years, but are deciding where to start saving towards a substantial down payment (aiming towards as much as possible). I guess the gist of my question is, would it be wiser to place our monthly savings for the down payment in a HYSA for the estimated 8-10 years, or invest it in a single index fund such as FXIAX or FSKAX in that time frame? I know that historical returns show that the investing would likely bring substantially more money, but more volatility especially with this current administration. Also, would FXIAX or FSKAX be the better single investment? Thanks!

AvailableLiving1849

FSKAX, has around 3900 stocks and represents the total market. With an expense ratio of .01 to .02%. FDGRX holds less than 600 stocks and has an expense ration of .52% (Expense ratios are important BUT shouldn't stop you if the performance/risk profile is better, unless the expenses are outrageous) FSKAX has "average" risk. Meaning, you are accepting the risk of the entire market. FDGRX has more risk because the concentration is focused on growth. FSKAX has about 1% dividend yield so some companies pay dividends. FDGRX has a 0% (or very close) dividend yield so the companies focus is appreciation only. As you can tell by the expense ratios, FSKAX is passively managed. FDGRX is actively managed. By sector: FSKAX is 31% Tech, 14% Financial services, 11% Consumer cyclicals, 10% healthcare, 9% communications. FDGRX is 47% Tech, 16.5% Consumer cyclical, 13% Communications. 11% healthcare. <5% Financial services. Based on past performance, FDGRX should(don't hold me to it) outperform. BUT(always), will likely have more volatility. If you can stand the drops in Tech when that happens, and ride it out, it might work out a lot better. I am an ETF (VTI, VUG) person. But Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard, all carry the same(or so close) products. As someone pointed out yesterday, there seems to be a fascination(cult following?) with Invesco. Go figure. Just be consistent in contributing, and MAX out your Roth IRA every year. As I am near/at retirement, the Roth provides so much more flexibility, and also in estate planning because it avoids probate.(Unless the rules change). Best of luck. Just keep at it.

EquivalentTale7417

What would the difference be in just having FSKAX versus splitting it up with FDGRX? Th3 investment horizon is well over 10 years.

AvailableLiving1849

Avoid international funds. Here is why. You subject yourself to direct investment, including currency exposure. US companies in VOO have 40% of their business from international sources. You already have that exposure with FSKAX, FDGRX, and some in FSSMX. The thought of international funds came from the 1960s and 1970s when companies like McDonalds had 5% of their business outside the USA. Now they have about 60%. Tech companies (most like Apple, NVDA) get about 50% from outside the USA. That exposure is there. If your investment horizon is longer than 10 years, you would be better served to keep FSKAX, and FDGRX split evenly, or maybe slightly more in FSKAX. You can find ETFs that do the same thing. If you are not trading or looking at it constantly, (you shouldn't), then mutual funds are fine.

False_Comedian_6070

VTI means you’re betting on the total us market. Don’t think about how it compares to other funds, like VOO. Just tell yourself you’re investing in all us companies, big and small, so when the us economy does well you’ll do well. If you want peak performance you’ll need a higher risk tolerance and be willing to invest in riskier funds that might underperform for long periods of time or crash hard in market downturns. VOO has outperformed VTI just because large cap growth has been dominate for the last decade. Typically VTI outperforms due to exposure to small caps and mid caps. If you want exposure beyond the US do VT for the broadest exposure to over 5000 companies around the world. I think this is superior to VTI+VXUS because if the US ever loses world dominance then the fund will reallocate away from US companies. I personally prefer 100% VTI due to having more faith in the US economy than the rest of the world. When I started investing that’s what I did (but FSKAX instead of VTI). After a few years I became more comfortable with investing and decided to add more risk to my portfolio with more concentrated funds.

False_Comedian_6070

VTI means you’re betting on the total us market. Don’t think about how it compares to other funds, like VOO. Just tell yourself you’re investing in all us companies, big and small, so when the us economy does well you’ll do well. If you want peak performance you’ll need a higher risk tolerance and be willing to invest in riskier funds that might underperform for long periods of time or crash hard in market downturns. VOO has outperformed VTI just because large cap growth has been dominate for the last decade. Typically VTI outperforms due to exposure to small caps and mid caps. If you want exposure beyond the US do VT for the broadest exposure to over 5000 companies around the world. I think this is superior to VTI+VXUS because if the US ever loses world dominance then the fund will reallocate away from US companies. I personally prefer 100% VTI due to having more faith in the US economy than the rest of the world. When I started investing that’s what I did (but FSKAX instead of VTI). After a few years I became more comfortable with investing and decided to add more risk to my portfolio with more concentrated funds.

EquivalentTale7417

Would FSKAX be preferred to something that's tracks the S&P500? I believe I will do the 80/20 split; however, I see some saying to do the whole US market and some saying to do the S&P500.

Far-Enthusiasm-5995

It’s awesome that you’re getting a Roth going early on. FSKAX already owns the whole U.S. market (large, mid and small), so you don’t need to layer on FDGFX or FSSMX to get exposure to dividends or small caps — you’re doubling up on the same companies and paying higher fees for the active fund. FZILX adds international stocks, which is a nice complement if you want some non‑U.S. exposure. A lot of people keep it simple by doing something like 80 % FSKAX and 20 % FZILX, or just picking a target‑date index fund and calling it a day. If you enjoy the idea of tilting toward dividends or small‑caps, you can do that with a small percentage, but you don’t have to. The most important parts are keeping costs low, staying diversified, and sticking with your plan for decades.

abeBroham-Linkin

If you just haze FZILX and FSKAX, you've pretty much covered everything you'd need. It's recommended that they're either split 70/30 or 80/20 depending on tolerance. The other indexes would be covered pretty much by FSKAX as it's the TOTAL market.

ILoveKombucha

If you are new to investing (or even if you aren't new), you should be really careful about picking individual stocks. The vast majority of your portfolio should be in broad, well diversified index funds - things that track either the entire US stock market (VTI, FSKAX, etc), or that track the S&P 500 (VOO, FXAIX, etc). You would also do well to consider investing in a very broad international stock fund (basically holding all the stocks of the world, something like VXUS, or FTIHX, etc.). And finally, you should consider whether or not holding any bonds in a bond fund (like BND, FXNAX, FUMBX, etc) makes sense for you, based on age and risk level. You should consider buying individual stocks in the same way you would consider gambling. I'd recommend no more than 5-10% of your total portfolio for "gambling" (stock picking). Folks who try to pick winners (as you are trying to do) are (far) more likely to underperform the market than to outperform it. There are people who do outperform the market by picking individual stocks, but these are usually folks who know a lot about what they are doing. It's not easy to do consistently, and a lot of people (similar to gamblers) tend to focus on their winning picks, and downplay their losing picks. Stick to index funds until you have a very solid grasp of what you are doing (judging by your comments in this thread, you don't!), and even then... stick to index funds (IMO).

Nyroughrider

Meh. 10 year annualized returns... SPY 13.56% FSKAX 12.97% Def not losing sleep over that.

CapeMOGuy

Adding some specifics to smash brother's comment for OP, some total US market funds are VTI, VTIAX, FSKAX. A couple of International total market funds are VXUS, VTWAX and FTIHX. Actually, there are even total world funds like VT, VTWAX, AVGE (has a small and value tilt) and DFAW.

martin-life-learner

The good news is that for a long-term investor in a Roth IRA, the **ETF vs. Mutual Fund** debate is far less important than your actual asset allocation. In many cases (like at Vanguard), they are just different wrappers for the exact same underlying assets. Crucially, because you're in a Roth, the biggest historical advantage of ETFs—their superior tax efficiency in a *taxable* account—is **completely irrelevant**. All your growth is tax-free anyway. The choice really comes down to practical differences and investing behavior. Here’s a simple breakdown: **Choose Mutual Funds if:** * **You want to AUTOMATE everything.** This is their superpower. You can set up recurring investments like "$500 on the 1st of every month" and never have to think about it again. It puts your wealth-building on autopilot. * **You want to invest exact dollar amounts.** You can invest precisely $100.00, ensuring all your money goes to work immediately without any leftover cash. * **You want to be protected from your own worst instincts.** Mutual funds only trade once per day at the closing price. This is a feature, not a bug, as it prevents you from panic-selling in the middle of a volatile day. **Choose ETFs if:** * **You want the flexibility to trade like a stock.** You can buy or sell any time the market is open and use more advanced order types like limit orders. * **The ETF version has a significantly lower expense ratio.** For major index funds, this gap has mostly disappeared (e.g., Vanguard's `$VTI` ETF and `$VTSAX` mutual fund have nearly identical fees), but it's worth checking. * **Your broker offers commission-free ETFs but charges for the mutual funds you want.** This is less common now with major brokers like Fidelity, Vanguard, and Schwab, but it can be a factor. **The Bottom Line:** For 99% of people focused on long-term, "set it and forget it" wealth building in a Roth, the ability to **auto-invest into a low-cost index mutual fund** is the single biggest advantage. It automates good behavior. * At **Fidelity**, this would be a fund like `$FSKAX` (Total Market Index). * At **Vanguard**, this would be `$VTSAX` (Total Stock Market Index). You truly can't go wrong with the ETF equivalents (`$ITOT` or `$VTI`) either. Don't let this decision paralyze you. The most important step is to pick one and start investing consistently.

Machine8851

I think your strategy is well rounded but I dont like total market funds, would much prefer VOO or FXAIX over FSKAX. Also I dont like international funds personally like FTIHX, I personally would rather use gold and bitcoin ETFS and hold long term than any international fund.

Kris_Mettew

In terms of your investment strategy, it makes sense that you’re leaning toward aggressive growth given your age and time horizon. The portfolios you’re considering are all solid, and honestly, you can’t really go wrong between them, but there are a few nuances that might help you fine-tune the decision. Your first option using FSKAX, FTEC, and international exposure like FTIHX or FZILX is probably the most well-rounded aggressive strategy. It gives you broad US market exposure, tilts toward high-growth sectors with tech, and still includes global diversification. That kind of setup gives you a good shot at outperformance without putting everything on one bet. The only thing to be mindful of is the tech overweight, it can swing hard in either direction, so just be ready to stomach the volatility. The second option with VOO and QQQ has a bit more redundancy, since QQQ and VOO overlap a lot in holdings. You’re really doubling down on large-cap US, and particularly tech-heavy names. That could work really well if the AI-driven rally keeps pushing, but it’s also the most momentum-heavy of the choices. The risk there is you’re paying a premium for assets that have already had a big run, which can hurt if there’s a correction. The third option, mostly FSKAX and FTIHX, is simpler and probably smoother in terms of performance. It gives you great global diversification and lower volatility, but it’s also the most conservative of the three in terms of growth potential. That might be totally fine depending on your risk tolerance, especially if you want to leave some room for life purchases like the house or the boat. If it were me, I’d lean slightly toward option one. It captures a strong long-term growth trajectory while still spreading risk across sectors and geographies. You can always adjust over time if tech gets too overheated or if international markets underperform. And honestly, with your income and age, you’ve got plenty of room to take some calculated risks now and shift more defensively later. One last note, it’s smart that you’re considering the house and surf boat, but maybe segment your capital a bit. Keep some in HYSA or short-duration bonds if you know you’ll need it in the next year or two, and invest the rest with a 5+ year horizon. That’ll keep you from having to sell during a downturn if something big comes up.

ServerTechie

FSKAX and FSPSX are pretty solid choices for a Roth. No, I don’t recommend FXAIX in a brokerage, but only because it’s a mutual fund which pays capital gains, and therefore impacts taxes. Besides that it’s just an S&P500 index which is fine. I’m 47 and hold an FBTC position in a Roth that I contribute to every week. It might be one of the riskiest things I invest in but the gains have been great. I don’t know anything about the stocks you mention, generally I try to avoid individual stocks and opt for professionally managed ETFs to mitigate risk.

HailState901

Well in Fidelity IRA, I prefer FSKAX/FXAIX and VXUS. But VOO or VTI is fine in Roth IRA. In taxable I prefer VOO and VXUS

Suspicious-Fish7281

FSKAX

McKnuckle_Brewery

There is nothing special about Vanguard mutual funds. They were just the first index funds, thanks to founder John Bogle. So they get a lot of mention. There is nothing to be gained by buying VTSAX over VOO. Do not buy Vanguard mutual funds at Fidelity, as there is a fee for doing so. Buy Fidelity native mutual funds instead. They are absolutely equivalent in every way. VTSAX = FSKAX, and VFIAX = FXAIX, to give two common examples. You can always buy VOO, an ETF, at any brokerage with no fees. And there's no reason at all to switch to mutual funds instead of that.

mrdiazbeats

Do you need the money? SPAXX, CDs, or HYSA. Do you not need the money? DCA into an ETF(VTI) or mutual fund(FXAIX or FSKAX) Do you REALLY not need the money? Invest in individual stocks or companies you like or think will do well in the future. Do you hate money? SPY calls for late this year and get ready to gamble it all.

decomposition_

Some shitty advice in here — what I do is give my criteria for good stocks to ChatGPT and ask it to find stocks that fulfill it. This is important, do NOT buy it just because ChatGPT mentioned it. Next, go through that list of stocks that fit your criteria and do solid research on their financials, deals, c suite people and put whatever % of this 1000 you feel comfortable with into the good ones. Then take a modest chunk of that remaining $1000 and just put into a regular fund similar to FSKAX or SPY.

veteran_of_disorder

Thanks for pointing me in some good directions for things to research. I I am cycling between overconfidence/hubris, and stark anxiety at my foolishness for not being entirely in boglehead etfs/ . Also I bought some books on trading options . I am not completely on the sidelines . I did grab a few things at the bottom . FSKAX 20,000 + Gold 25,000 + AMZN 2000 + RDDT 2000 + Goog 2000 + RKLB 7000 + targeted retirement IRA 28000 BTC 35000 and in the new 401k GOOG 7000 IBIT 5000 CLBR 10,000 + 1669

nkyguy1988

FSKAX hasn't paid a capital gains distribution since 2019. If that trend continues, there will be next to zero appreciable difference in tax efficiency.

steiner_math

I have my Roth IRA in Fidelity 100% in FSKAX

HairyDuck

I split mine between FSKAX and FTIHX

caashmerr

Keep it simple and stick with VT or FSKAX. IMO either of these funds will be diverse enough for your timeline of 30 years

mrBigBoi

I think that next year I will do 50% FSKAX, 30% stocks and 20% FBTC.  I don’t believe in crypto and hate it but this is a bias that didn’t let me buy META at $100 years ago.

1kpointsoflight

Open a Roth IRA and put 7k a year into VTI or FSKAX until you run out.

Ok_Assignment4100

For my respective retirement investment accounts currently: 401k has Vanguard TDF 2065 and Roth IRA has FSKAX, FTIHX and FXNAX. My 401k plan doesn't have great options aside from Fidelity's S&P 500 (FXAIX), so just opted for TDF for it's diversification. Thoughts?

QVP1

After you max both 401k and IRA every year, if you still have more that you want to invest, then sure just a total market index fund in a taxable brokerage account. If it's Vanguard, then VTSAX/VTI If Fidelity, then FSKAX And if you have a qualifying health insurance plan at work, then contribute to an HSA too. Listen to this podcast. Yes, investing really is this stupid simple. [https://www.morningstar.com/podcasts/the-long-view/c8a0b64e-0df8-4fc3-90d7-09bcd38544fd?utm\_medium=referral&utm\_campaign=linkshare&utm\_source=link](https://www.morningstar.com/podcasts/the-long-view/c8a0b64e-0df8-4fc3-90d7-09bcd38544fd?utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=linkshare&utm_source=link)

Newbiewhitekicks

How were you going to invest it? Remember that unless you open an IRA there will be tax consistencies if you invest it and sell anything. You should google how much this money will compound to if you stick it in FSKAX till you’re 40

Newbiewhitekicks

5 years is an insignificant period of time when analyzing performance. QQQ(M) is just 100 stocks that trade just on the NASDAQ and it doesn’t include financials. It also includes Pepsi but not coke because that’s what trades on the NASDAQ. I’m not sure why anyone would want that. These kinds of risks are called “uncompensated risks.” Anyway, if these 100 companies do well then they do really well, but if they stop doing well then it crashes hard. Generally speaking you don’t want this kind of volatility. If you truly want to invest this money, and you should, then you want VTI (a vanguard product) or FSKAX (a fidelity product) or SCHB (a Schwab product). Which brokerage are you using?

QVP1

You're gonna be a very rich retiree. :) After 401k and IRA are both maxed every year and you still want to invest more. A simple index fund in a taxable brokerage is all you need. If you use Vanguard, then VTSAX. If Fidelity, then FSKAX, but you could do VTI if you prefer. They're essentially all the same. I don't even bother with HYSA. You can get everything in a single brokerage. In either Fidelity or Vanguard, just buy the total market index fund, then for however much cash you want to keep in reserve, leave that in the money market fund. You really don't need to do anything else. You can also buy Treasuries and/or CDs in the same account too, but that's not really necessary unless you really want to lock in a specific rate for a specific pre-defined future expense or ladder for a series of expenses. I am 100% Roth IRA and a taxable brokerage. Nothing else.

AICHEngineer

And the best thing is, *you* can beat the average investor as simply as possible. What "one size fits all" basically always means "one size fits none", by definition the average portfolio is the market cap weight portfolio. Simply holding this portfolio beats most active management options, *especially* after the fees they charge. You can buy a proportional share of all public US companies for ridiculously low price of 0.03% per year, its astonishing how cheap index investing has become. If you buy *and hold* (dont try to time the market), you will beat more than half of all investors easily. In financial academia, we call this the "investor return vs invest*ment* return". The investment (just buying in holding), statistically outperforms the average retail investor, even if theyre buying and selling the exact same fund, because theyre emotional, switching between fear and greed, selling when the market drops and missing the rebounds, sometimes ignoring paying off high interest debts to shovel money in near market highs and needing to sell to cover payments during a crash. Just buy a total market fund like VT for the whole world or VTI or SCHB or FSKAX for the entire USA market alone. Theyre cheap expense ratio (share price does not matter, they move the same % each day, the ETF price is just an arbitrary proxy for the underlying index constituents), theyre tax efficient, theyre hands off.

EMPAEinstein

I'm about to turn 40 and had a similar thought but my approach was somewhat different. My student loans will be paid off at the end of the year at which time I'll be contributing approx. 44% or 264k per year between employer profit sharing, maxing out 401k's and taxable accounts. My spouse and I's retirement goal is >=10 mill in equities by 57/58 when our daughter goes off to college. We can either continue investing into FSKAX/VTSAX for the full 264k until our goal retirement age which at a 7% RoR would be > 10 mill or go 214k in index funds and 50k per year into VBTLX to build up a dividend portfolio that could generate 250-300k per year without ever having to touch the principle. The latter method would total about 9 mill in equities and 5 mill in VBTLX (2 mill through yearly investing, 1 mill from conversion of equities into VBTLX, and another 2 mill from the sale of our home). We can absorb the taxable dividends due to our combined income but figured this was a better method than a huge tax big from large equity sale closer towards retirement. Thoughts are appreciated.

EMPAEinstein

After student loans are paid off this year. 264k/yr or 22k/month. 600 HHI essentially all FSKAX OR VTSAX depending on which account.

Ok_Assignment4100

Thanks for the suggestion. For context, I'm still relatively young at 40 (Haha) and really just started investing last year. At this time, I have my allocation as 60% (FSKAX), 30% (FTIHX) and now 10% (FXNAX). Plan to retire in another 25-30 years, if that helps.

helloitsmehb

FSKAX

thetreece

1. I would recommend more international. 60/40, 70/30, 80/20, whatever allocation you want. 2. I wouldn't hold bonds in a taxable brokerage account. It's a bit tax inefficient. 3. Yes, more international. 4. Keep the TDFs in your 401k. Just use the Fidelity Total US market, Total international, and bond market funds. FSKAX, FSPSX, and FTBFX. Consider the the ZERO fund equivalents in your tax advantaged accounts.

Based_Commgnunism

FXAIX makes up 80% of FSKAX so there's really no reason to hold both.

ziggy029

If you want to just replicate the total global stock market, you don't really even need FXAIX here since FSKAX contains something like 80% US large cap and the combination of FSKAX and FTIHX has it all. Of course, if you want to overweight US large cap, your three funds work great together.

sh1ft3d

FSKAX would provide more diversity for small and micro caps outside of SP500.

SteppnWolf

Follow the boglehead approach until you have a nice sizeable chunk invested in broad market low cost index funds. Once that's established you should have an idea on how to research companies, and get a better idea on what stocks you want to invest in individually. Limit it to 10% of your portfolio. I just started investing about 4 years ago. Majority of my money is in VTI/VOO/FSKAX/FXAIX. I have a small amount in VUG/FSPGX and BRKB. So the only individual stock I have right now is BRKB. My base is almost set and soon I'm gonna look into some other individual stocks.

Euthoniel

If it is in a 401k where those are your best options it is fine. FSKAX + FTIHX would be more diversified though.

TheBioethicist87

If you’re starting at 18 any amount is helpful. If I were in your position I would put it in a broad index fund or ETF like VT or FSKAX/FSPSX and just chill. Getting rich quick requires luck. Getting rich slowly only requires patience. Don’t worry about picking winners, just get your fair share of market returns (which will do better than most people) and use your best advantage, which is time.

Phuffu

Open a Fidelity account and invest $100k between FSKAX and FSPSX. After you have $100k in the market you can begin buying and selling individual stocks. Until then you have no business trying to trade. Seriously.

GOOGAMZNGPT4

My ATH was Feb 13.  Dropped 30%ish, bottomed April 8th. Continued to DCA in with regular contributions through the turbulence.  Used cash reserves to buy the dips on several single picks, & FSKAX, & FBTC. My single picks are up anywhere between 15-75% I'm at a new ATH valuation, but more importantly, I own more shares - fuel for the rocket ship. During that whole time, I ignored the idiocy of reddit that said to move to cash or European lol So obviously stupid.  Buy the dip and wait and don't get emotional.

Comfortable-Dog-8437

For some reason I thought FSKAX was the total market but I guess its total USA market? I was intending to include some international in this so adding FTIHX would accomplish that. 👍

DaemonTargaryen2024

Great start. FSKAX is \~65% of the global market, so it's worth considering adding some international as well

McKnuckle_Brewery

FSKAX indexes the entire U.S. stock market. You don't need to do anything else except contribute annually and buy more. Yes, you could own some international stock. When you are much older you'll add bonds. But you don't need to worry about the simple and effective approach you've taken.

max-at-origin

Skip the IUL for now - it's expensive and complicated. You're young, so Roth IRA is your best bet. Open a Roth at Fidelity/Vanguard, dump the 5k into a total market index fund (VTI or FSKAX), and keep adding what you can up to the yearly limit. The beauty of Roth? You pay taxes now when you're in a lower tax bracket, then all future growth is tax-free. Plus you can pull out contributions anytime without penalties if needed.

TheEndIsNigh2028

There are countless stock etf's and mutual funds that build their stock around the sp500, such as VTI, VOO, ITOT, FSKAX, SPY etc, etc. The top 10 holdings in all of them are basically the dame with only different distributions.  VTI is Solid, but certainly not the best sp500 variant. TMFC and SCDG historically have been the 2 best variants since their inception when compared to stocks like VTI. VTI is simply the oldest and most well known. I used it 15 years ago when it was the best, it no longer is the best in its category and I split my growth funds 50/50 between TMFC and SCDG. Also, if you understood the sp500 you would understand why there will be growth so long as there is a functioning government. The sp500 is an index that tracks the 500 largest companies in the USA. Stocks like VTI and VOO use that as their base for knowing how much money to allocate into what companies each quarter, buying and selling according to which companies and rising and falling.  The only way VTI/VOO would collapse would be if the 500 LARGEST companies in the USA all started failing simultaneously. Think companies like Apple, Amazon, Walmart, Costco, Chevron, Facebook, Disney, Nvidia, Microsoft,Chase bank, JPmorgan bank, McDonald's, Starbucks, Netflix, etc etc... A couple dozen companies go in and out of the sp500 every year and the funds are redistributed to the current highest performing companies. This is why it always grows. Meaning if VTI crashes, all the companies I mentioned above along with the other largest companies in the USA have crashed, this would include all the major banks in the USA. This is why there is no need to be skeptical, so long as there is a functional government and things haven't devolved into pure anarchy you are fine.

caashmerr

FSKAX and FZROX are both total market funds, so they are invested in more companies than FXAIX (which is only invested in 500 companie). FXAIX and FZROX are therefore theoretically more diversified and a better investment If you plan on staying with Fidelity, go with FZROX. If you think you might switch brokers in the future, go with FSKAX.

Gunnar0410

Which fund would you recommend, FSKAX and FXAIX are basically the same. I’ve heard FZROX is best for Roth because of the tax free benefits

Joanne819

I appreciate this, and all the advice, and am glad I posted. I have strict plans not to touch any of this for at least 5-10 years, I just felt like I had to rush to start because of where the market is at. But after all this advice, I am hearing that with index funds, it's not about buying a ton at once and it's more about time and consistency. It sounds like it's quite different with individual stocks. I decided to cancel everything and just invest 3k in FSKAX, which is still a lot, and then I am going to do a lot of research and learning and note taking and come back with a solid plan. I should probably cancel it all and just do 500 FSKAX or even just wait but, this is what I am currently am thinking.

Joanne819

Did I make a bad investment decision? Advice quick, please? I have never invested/bought stocks as I felt like I never knew enough. I heard about the giant dip and that it was the right time to buy. Unfortunately I heard AFTER things already went back up. But I asked a friend who does well financially and invests if it was a good idea (as in not neutral but smart) to still buy and they said yes. I didn't want to miss out further. So at like 11:30 (CT) last night... I took 10k from savings and purchased: * FSKAX (Fidelity Total Market Index Fund) $6,000 * AMZN $500 * NVDA $500 And my plan is today to buy: * FUAMX (Fidelity Intermediate Treasury Bond Index Fund) $1,000 * Or should I actually buy FXNAX (Fidelity U.S. Bond Index Fund) * FIVFX (Fidelity International Capital Appreciation Fund) $1,000 * Or should I actually buy FTIHX (Fidelity International Index Fund) **Did I make a mistake doing this, as in did I miss my time? I'm hearing there was an historic increase in the market, but I imagine that is specifically in relation to the huge dip, so it's not like I'm making a dumb timing decision given I missed things earlier? Should I cancel anything before the market opens since the three I purchased are still in pending status?** **I haven't purchased the FUAMX or FIVFX. Should I hold off? And if not, are those the right ones, or should I do the alternatives listed (FXNAX and FTIHX)?** My other friend said he thinks I should do 7k FSKAX, 1500 FTIHX, and 1500 FXNAX "because you already have exposure to AMZN and NVDA in FSKAX, and it only makes sense to buy individual stocks if you can pick a winner. In order to pick a winner, I simply ask myself, am I Warren Buffet? This portfolio puts you at 85% equity and 15% bonds." I clearly don't know a lot and am going to take a lot of time going forward to learn but for right now... Give me your honest feedback and advice please?

Cruian

>Not sure tax efficiency is a real advantage here but someone else can correct me. ETFs have a mechanism that can help minimize and even negate the need for capital gains distributions (a taxable event). Select Vanguard mutual funds have a special design that allows them access to the same trick (the ETF and mutual fund version share the same pool of holdings, VTI & VTSAX for example), but as of right now other mutual fund providers don't have that ability (I've seen one article mention some people expect that to change possibly this summer). However, index mutual funds can be very tax efficient and even go years without a capital gains event even without the trick (FSKAX for example had their last capital gains distribution in 2019).

MYOFBYALL

Of FSKAX drops to $115 or lower, I'll lump sum buy. Otherwise, I'm $125 a week.

VegasWorldwide

thats only what I would do. $100k lump sum and DCA from there but you need to set your DCA amounts and be disciplined with them. Maybe $10k every Monday. That'll give you 40 weeks to get the entire amount in and if we have some large dips along the way, make some larger contributions. if we get back to ATHs, then I would stop the $10k. if you don't know how or what to invest, just pick the best index like FXAIX or FSKAX and let the market do its thing.

Amb688

I (45M) am DCA bi-weekly into FSKAX/FTIHX/FXNAX in a Fidelity taxable account after maxing out 401K and Roth IRA. I have some positions with Ameriprise that I used to have them managed and I'm unable to move them to my Fidelity account: GIRMX (3.5K) / GSINX (19K) / PRXXX (43K). Question is should I let them be or should I liquidate them and buy the 3 funds mentioned above?

Amb688

I (45M) am DCA bi-weekly into FSKAX/FTIHX/FXNAX in a Fidelity taxable account after maxing out 401K and Roth IRA. I have some positions with Ameriprise that I used to have them managed and I'm unable to move them to my Fidelity account: || || |GIRMX|3537| |GSINX|19559| |PRCXX|43681| Question is should I let them be or should I liquidate them and buy the 3 funds mentioned above?

Creepy_Top5912

I just bought $64,000 of FSKAX

xSAV4GE

My mom has figured out how to buy in the market 😅🤦‍♂️. For some reason I receive notifications of her transactions ever since I set up her account through my phone. I set her up with automatic purchases of FSKAX but now I get a notification of a purchase of GLD. Doesn't seem like a bad idea but I'm actually surprised lol.

TarnishedEM

Guess what is up 115% since March 2020? FSKAX. Regard.

Red_Bullion

You can get anything, doesn't have to be Fidelity, but Fidelity has great options. For US you have FZROX or FSKAX. These are total US market funds. FZROX is zero fee which is pretty neat. There's also FXAIX if you'd prefer S&P500 to total US market. For international you have FZILX and FTIHX. Both are total international market funds. FZILX is zero fee which again is pretty neat.

KnightsOfFire08

As a fidelity user, **FSKAX**, **FSPGX**, and **FXAIX** are all amazing, broad, medium risk, and the majority of my steady growth strategy portfolio. I have been looking into "riskier" options like **FDIS**, **FSTA**, **FTEC,** **ONEQ****,** and **FHLC** because I trust those markets will consistently grow. The ups and downs of those "riskier" funds will be more significant than the S&P 500 but less fluctuation than a single stock. In addition, those MSCI funds are not dependent on the US total economy, but focused on specific dominant sectors in the US economy. If you have a low risk tolerance, looking at bond funds like FXNAX would be perfect to lean into as you get closer to retirement! I hope this helped out!