VASGX
VANGUARD LIFESTRATEGY GROWTH FUND INVESTOR SHARES
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Rate my portfolio please: 30% VTSAX - 25% MSCI - 20% QQQ - 15% VLXVX - 10% SUSA
Am I making a mistake by selling off my mutual funds?
Need to Re-Deploy ~$120K USD Back Into the Market... Advice on Funds and Timing?
Need to Re-Deploy ~$120K USD Back Into the Market... Advice on Funds and Timing?
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If you see my comment on market re-entry you'll see that I only came out slightly ahead compared to a buy-and-hold strategy. Prior to January my brokerage account was about 60% VTI and 40% VXUS. I sold my VTI and bought SGOV. My retirement accounts were in VASGX (basically VTI + VXUS + 20% bonds), so I sold that and bought 40% VXUS and 60% SGOV. I don't make a lot of moves, I don't consider myself a great investor and no one should take my advice. I might buy more VXUS. I might sell some SGOV to buy TIPS.
Why not just use Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund (VASGX)? It’s close enough to this, and it rebalances automatically. 0.14% expense ratio is reasonable to never have to think about anything.
Good time to look at recommended risk allocation and your risk appetite. Then rebalance to match that. Most recommendations would be adding bonds and international, which reduces single country risk. But if US soars, you will not have as great of a return. I am younger (late 30s), but I shifted my retirement from VT and VTI, to pretty much 100% VASGX or FFNOX, which increases non-US exposure and adds 15-20% bonds. Makes me sleep better at night, but I could miss some return.
Really overwhelmed by all the options and trying to do the research, but it’s going a bit over my head! Could anyone offer any advice on my plan below? For context, I’m 31. I hope to retire at 55. Here’s my current plan. 403b: 70% VSTIX / 30% VCNIX My employer uses Valic and it sucks, but the two above seem to have not ludicrous expense ratios. The former tracks the S&P 500. VCNIX is a NASDAQ 100 fund, and actually has been outperforming VSTIX it looks like, but seems to be more volatile so I did this split. Valic does have VASGX as an option with an expense ratio of .14% (the other two funds range from .25 - .5), but the returns seem lower than my current picks. Roth IRA: 80% SWTSX / 20% SWISX This is with Schwab. Taxable Brokerage: 100% VT* *I’ve maxed out my retirement accounts and don’t have an HSA, so I’m opening a taxable account with Fidelity since I have a random 403b with them as well and was curious about opening a cash management account since I currently have $50k in liquid cash/emergency fund (of which $10k I will move to the taxable brokerage). I could also just open it with Schwab and do 100% SCHB? My time horizon for the taxable brokerage would be about 20 years — I assume I would dip into this first before dipping into my retirement accounts since I hope to retire early. I don’t have any bonds, and my portfolios are 2 fund portfolios at most, but I’m not risk averse. They are US heavy, but I think I feel comfortable with that. My plan is to mainly hold, I don’t think I’ll be doing much tinkering. I want to avoid rebalancing as much as possible with my taxable brokerage and I think I’m gravitating towards simplicity. The target date options on my 403b have crazy expense ratios and not as great returns.
VASGX would probably meet the 80/20 fund allocation with a set and forget approach but more diversified with international exposure thrown in. [https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/profile/vasgx](https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/profile/vasgx) Or one of the others in the series with different allocations: [https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/life-strategy-funds](https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/life-strategy-funds)
The moderate aggressive asset allocation of 80% equities and 20% bonds has grown by 27% since November 2020. I would argue that this advisor created a healthy diverse portfolio for you. For example, look at VASGX during that same time frame. Yes, VTI did better during the specific time period that you have cherry picked - but if you switch to VTI, that is a different investment philosophy than what you are paying this person to do. Did you tell the advisor that you were trying to outperform the market? Did they know what your investment objectives were? Are you using the exact same investments that your mom selected? "I'd have been better in VTI" is also a biased term. We know nothing of when you need to spend this money, the tax implications of how the account is set up, or your comfort with investment loss is. Were you upset in 2022 when this advisor's strategy likely did better than VTI? Why do you want VTI? - is it because you believe in it's strategy, or because in some years the growth number is higher? Is this is money you don't need for 10 or 20 years, or money you need next week?
In that case you might look at the Vanguard Life Strategy funds. They are also a fund of funds (so one stop shopping) but the allocation between bonds and stocks does not change with time (as the target date funds do as they are counting down to a retirement date). From conservative to more aggressive (lower to higher risk): VASIX LifeStrategy Income Fund VSCGX LifeStrategy Conservative Growth Fund VSMGX LifeStrategy Moderate Growth Fund VASGX LifeStrategy Growth Fund Overview of all four together: [https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/life-strategy-funds](https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/life-strategy-funds)
Hi all, I’m relatively new to investing and looking for some advice. A little background on me is that i’m 24 years old, recent graduate (no debt fortunately) and make bout $105k annually. I have a roth ira that I am planning on maxing out for the year. Currently it’s invested in VLXVX. However, I am wanting to have a more diverse portfolio and after lingering on here, I see that most people suggested VT, VTI, VOO, etc… I also have a brokerage account that is currently invested in VASGX and VTI. Should I approach it the same way, with a more diverse portfolio? I’m preferring more of a low maintenance routine but open to suggestions! I’m focused really on saving money and investing as much as I can so any advice would be greatly appreciated!
I have $1000 a month to invest in. I’m looking to increase the amount I invest in the near future. But for now, what would be a solid consistent monthly plan? I’m in my mid-30s and started late. I’ve been investing in VOO, VYM, VASGX, Sometimes I’ll switch it around and invest in SPY.
Growth is used in two different ways. There's growth style as in VUG which holds stocks that have been growing revenue and earnings relatively quickly in recent years, in contrast with value stocks which are priced low relative to their earnings. There's also growth oriented portfolio as in VASGX which is relatively high in stocks and not bonds to provide higher long term returns at the cost of higher risk in the short term. Most growth ETFs are the former and if you are already fully invested in VTI, that is very much a growth portfolio in terms of the latter.
The four Vanguard LifeStrategies funds. VASGX my personal favorite.
LOL. Ouch. But real talk... you are right. In fact, the whole "how to earn it back" mentality is what will likely make OP keep losing money, as he is "investing" in idiosyncratic (vs systematic) risk. OP, real talk? Start investing in nothing but low cost, diversified index funds and never look back. You won't get rich quick, but you will get rich eventually. It is really that easy. Some example portfolios made up of just ONE or TWO ETF's tops: \-VT (all world equity. all stocks) \-VTI/VXUS (same as above, but slightly more tax efficient - barely noticeable) \[60/40 or maybe 70/30 if you prefer US stocks\] \-VASGX (imagine 80% of VT and then 20% in bonds - all in one solution!) \-AVGE (An "actively managed" version of VT, with a slight US bias. For use by those who believe in the factor based movement) \-Any Vanguard Target Date Fund (TDF) to the year closest to your planned retirement, rounded up. (ONLY on tax-advantaged accounts like 401k's or IRA's - NEVER on a taxable one) There's a million permutations and I mostly stuck to Vanguard funds. But the point is, investors get rich (on average by Age 49) by investing slowly for the long run without fiddling too much with portfolios except to invest more. You can take a shot trying to YOLO into a fortune and almost assuredly fail. Or, you can buy index funds and most assuredly get there... but slowly.
Nothing wrong with that. But the proportion of stocks to bonds will change with time. There's also VASGX which will maintain a steady 80:20 mix.
Depending on your risk tolerance, you may be able to set and forget for decades but putting 100% into VASGX, which is a wrapper for a four-fund 80/20 portfolio...
VASGX seems to have some of its features. It actually has just 4 funds. I am not certain one does not need to rebalance from time to time. I would rather own their funds and adjust qty from time to time.
If you have access to the UK markets… they have VASGX. Just look under the LifeStrategies section on the UK site. But not sure what’s needed to open an account.
Right. Which is why I, personally, love VASGX. Because it’s a one fund solution. I don’t use it, because I don’t want bonds now, but I can see myself in retirement simply rebalancing to that. Some may prefer the other variants like the 60/40 one. I use two “funds of funds” all in one solutions myself, but they are all equity - no bonds.
Of course. VASGX, for example, is great if you want to have 20% in bonds. Some, like me, may prefer less bonds or no bonds in accumulation phase, but 20% is reasonable. The people here “critiquing” VASGX have little to no grasp of investing. For starters, it’s all about risk profile. Something like VOO makes some people feel smart, but they aren’t rocket scientists. Large Cap Growth in the US has had its biggest run of all time the last decade. But eventually, as these cyclical things tend to be, International stocks will outperform (as they did the whole 80’s basically), and whoever owns VXUS will feel very “smart”. But all it is, is temporary market fluctuations. The simplest path to wealth is to have diversification - which many funds like the Vanguard LifeStrategies offer since they own the entire world’s equities market, weighted by market cap (size). Hope this helps. So your research… but not on this sub. Go to Bogleheads.org or buy ‘Retire Before Mom and Dad’
Not good at all. VASGX's total return for the past three, five and ten years is _less than half_ of VOO.
Does anyone make a 90/10 equities/bonds fund? Closest I can find are VASGX, AOA, and FFNOX which are 80/20 and 85/15
Advice sought: short term (up to 5 years) investment of 10k Investing newbie here. I’m 54. I’d like to keep about 10k of my emergency fund semi-liquid but getting some return. I know I won’t need the cash for at least a year or more. I have 50k in cash as a true emergency fund, I max out my 401k and contribute 2k/month to VASGX. I’m considering I-bonds (I put in 10k last year) but am also considering some sort of HYSA or bond funds. TIA!
To quote CFA Dr. Parik Patel: >Investing in the stock market is easy. All you need to do is accurately predict company earnings, interest rates, factor flows and forward risk premiums before thousands of other Ivy League grads with Bloomberg terminals get there first. The overwhelming majority of amateur investors would be far better off to emulate [retirement expert Mike Piper](https://obliviousinvestor.com/my-portfolio-updated/): put everything in a global 80/20 multi-asset fund like VASGX or AOA and never think about it again.
Mine isn't much different these days. I love reading this sub just out of curiosity, but other than a few weed stocks I tossed a couple grand at in the peak pandemic (and then promptly watched vanish), this is all I have: * Roth: VASGX and VOO in about a 3:1 ratio. * Normal Brokerage: VOO / VIG / MGK in about a 3:3:1 ratio. Honestly I sometimes think you may be right and I could simplify it even more, but VASGX at least adds some bonds, and VIG shifts my risk towards some dividend producers. (Which of course I immediately shift back by having MGK)
Nice job getting started early that is the key! I am always a fan of something like VTSAX or VASGX that is where I usually park my IRA funds. If you want liquid cash you might consider something like Wealthfront and keep some in their cash account at 3.30% APY and some in one of their investment accounts. I have taken this approach myself I consider it my emergency/backup fund, it is not in my bank so I wont easily dip into it, but I can transfer it out it just takes a just couple of days if needed. Of course I still contribute a lot to my 401K and other investment accounts at Fidelity and Robinhood too. The good thing is you have a good start and plenty of time to be in the market.
Yeah, it's not much, but I'm adding a bit whenever I have extra. I only have basically one fund option, VASGX, a mix of 80% stocks, 20% bonds.
Ok, thanks for the advice. I'm using an ABLE account which lets people on disability invest in funds without it affecting their asset limit. There's just four options, ranging from 20% stocks, 80% bonds (VASIX) to 80% stocks, 20% bonds (VASGX). I went with the highest stock percentage because I mostly want to maximize my long term savings.
Good plan if you have lot's of time on your side just keep dollar cost averaging your getting great prices right now. I am a few years out from when I want to retire early, so I am taking a very hands on approach to this downturn. I have the time to put in and it is a great opportunity, but it is pretty time consuming. I personally am still maxing out my current 401k contribution every single week, but it's pretty small compared to my IRAs so my overall cash position is 80% of my entire portfolio. But I am up for the year by 15% due to selling the 3 tops and buying near the bottom in IRAs, so whenever I decide to buy in even if I miss the bottom I am in a good position. When I do buy the bottom finally I will just let it ride in VTSAX or VASGX and not mess with them anymore.
> 1- How much should the yield be for you to start adding bonds to your portfolio? I've always had bonds in my portfolio. > What type of bonds? What about TIPS? What duration? Ideally you mix them(50/50) and duration is the duration of the liability the bonds are paying for, if you aren't sure, then intermediate term(5-10yr) is reasonable. > Do you buy bonds or bonds ETFs? Bond ETF's. Though I've gotten even lazier and just hold AOA/FFNOX/VASGX as appropriate for my 1 fund 80/20 AA whenever possible. Make other people do the hard work of managing my money for super cheap.
Appreciate the advice! Didn’t even realize how similar VASGX and VTTSX are, will definitely chose one or the other instead (likely going to keep VTTSX because it’s a target date fund). Not sure how I’ll allocate that, but I’ll likely put at least 10% of that into VTTSX and I might keep the remaining 5% in VASGX (because even though they’re extremely similar, the actual way the funds themselves work are much different). Though I am aware of VXUS being international (I’m not a fan of the measly 3.5% average lifetime return, but I do feel like I need *some* international exposure, which is why I’m only allocating 5% of my portfolio to that fund). As for MGK and SPY—considering I already have VOO in my Roth, that I might move some of my SPY into VYM instead, though I do feel like I should track the S&P in my 401k, so I’m definitely keeping some SPY, at least. I’ll likely move 5% of my SPY into VYM and keep the 10% in SPY. Or something like that at least. Beyond all that, I chose these funds specifically because all—but one of them—have Expense Ratios below 0.10% (VASGX has an expense ratio of 0.14%, so moving the majority of that into VTTSX has multiple upsides). As well as the low Expense Ratios, they all have average lifetime returns of 8.5%-11%, which is something I certainly appreciate. As for my Roth…yep, that’s something I’m very aware of haha. I like those individual companies very much and believe in them a lot, so I definitely did a lot of thinking around them. And I like VOO because of its very low expense ratio. But like I said, I’m thinking of adding a new fund or two to lower my dependency on my individual stocks. So yeah—my thinking around my Roth is very different compared to my 401k (for obvious reasons). But your advice is definitely noted on that end either way.
You have a lot of overlap. Your VASGX and VTTSX have almost same holdings (total stock market and total international stock) olypu also have VXUS which puts you more into total international. Your SPY and MGK also overlap in the top 10 holdings.
60% cash, 30% VTSAX, 10% VASGX... nothing crazy, until we hit the real bottom of the market, hehe
LifeStrategy mutual funds at Vanguard and iShares Core Allocation ETFs both have a fixed 80/20 version that doesn't change. VASGX at Vanguard and AOA at iShares. If you want 90/10, you'll probably have to take a far out Target Date fund.
In 401k: 25% each in BTMKX, FXAIX, VMCIX, VSCIX In HSA: 20% each in VASIX, VIEIX, VASGX, SWSSX, VIGIX In taxable account: 100% AAPL, DCA at ~$148 401k + HSA are ~50%, Taxable account is ~50% of total holdings.
target date funds are \~ 54/36/10 so if thats ok with you then they are great choice for IRA. If I were you I would at min have 20-25 % international. I think only going 10% international is far too little. Both vanguard and fidelity for their 2065 TR funds have about 35% into international , and VT/VTWAX vanguards world etf/fund has 40% international. Also there are some less aggressive static multi asset options as well. If you are at vanguard you have VASGX , which is around 47/31/20/2 domestic/international/bonds/cash. If you are at fidelity they have FFNOX 51/34/15. There is also AOA which is an ishares etf which is about 47/33/18/2.
Hello, I recently was going to purchase a home, and liquidated various investments of around $120K USD to use for the down payment. The purchase fell through, and long story short I am no longer seeking to purchase property for now. Understanding the market is volatile and uncertain right now, what is the best way for me to re-deploy this cash into the market? I don't want to sit on it for too long given inflation, and I already have a decent emergency and retirement fund in-place. I'm looking for advice on how and when I should re-invest the funds.. should I try to dollar cost average in even portions over a 6 week period or something along those lines? I'm currently in these 2 Vanguard funds with other investment money, and I'm open to putting this money there IF it makes sense (VASGX: Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund & VTSAX: Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Admiral Shares). I use Vanguard so it would be nice to use fund(s) that are on that platform if possible. I know that no one has a crystal ball, but just looking for general advice on mutual / index funds I should consider, as well as how to purchase in terms of timing (lump sum, DCA, or some other strategy). Thanks in advance!
I have a crap ton in VASGX, VYM, VTSAX, have my boomer investment covered.
Why does everyone always say VT? I don’t even think VT is all that good considering it captures all of the draw downs but not all of the upsides. Something like VASGX or VWINX would make more sense. You already have $1m so you don’t need complete equity exposure imo.
gotcha! would VTI be too much large cap in addition to my VASGX?
Hello, let's say I have $10,000 to invest, what should I do? Background: > 23 years old, make around $45,000 salaried, maxed out 401k, no debts, currently have roughly $4,000 in VASGX (Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund). Looking to take and hold significant risk, in for the longer haul. Any response is appreciated!
In that case, yes, absolutely fine continuing to buy VASGX
Well yeah, I am talking about boomer stuff like VASGX/VTSAX/VYM, I have 95% of my total holding in this kinda stuff.
Yes, that makes sense. However, the VASGX is an all in one fund (80/20 stocks bonds). I still kinda want to keep investing into VASGX as a backup. So my solution would be to buy 5k in ETFs or something. Idk i still need to research....
Thank you, could i achieve this buy buying a 'chunk' of more ETFs? I currently have around $4,500 in VASGX
Thanks for your response! I started investing around a year ago, but I agree, a bit too much bonds. So should I stop the auto invest into VASGX and switch to something like VOO?
Hello, I am 23 years old in the US making $45k. I currently have no debts and save about $1,000 a month. I have a 401k which I have maxed out my matching. Currently, I invest roughly $170 a month automatically into VASGX which breaks down into: >Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares 49.20% > >Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund Investor Shares 31.60% > >Vanguard Total Bond Market II Index Fund Investor Shares 13.50% > >Vanguard Total International Bond Index Fund Investor Shares 14.90% > >Vanguard Total International Bond II Index Fund 0.80% I am looking to take a bit more risk into new investments. At the moment I'm looking at VO, VB, or other mid to small cap Vanguard ETFs. Any suggestions on my situation, risk, or other positions are appreciated!
Invested in 80% stock / 20% bond index funds allocated like VASGX. Living off the passive income and that's all there is to it. I spend an hour each year rebalancing, but otherwise don't think about it.
Yes. Build your emergency fund back up. When you’re ready to enter the market again, DCA into a boomer-ass mutual fund like VASGX
Personally, I never understood holding VOO and VTI. VTI is the better choice. No more than 20% overlap in ETFs, and that's stretching it. 15% is a better max. That is if you arent playing sector ETFs as well. Obviously if you hold VTI, another fund will most likely have 50-80% of the same stocks, but it will be more concentrated. Make sense? For example, holding VTI and SPYG will overlap a lot, but SPYG is concentrated on large cap growth. Holding VTI and VOO is pointless. VTI 50, SPYG 20, VASGX 20 ( a total fund but with bonds and intl exposure ), and 10 in a small cap index fund. I think that outperforms your original. Keep an eye on SPYG though..... large cap growth explosion is a recent phenomena. Go back 30 years ago and see how many large cap growth companies are still around.
Vanguard IRA is up 31.6% since last October. Invested heavily in in VTSAX, VSEQX, VASGX. TSP Account is up 30.64% since last October. Invested heavily in C & S Funds.