VFIFX
VANGUARD TARGET RETIREMENT 2050 FUND INVESTOR SHARES
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Why does a stock/fund not change when market goes up
Should I sell off VFIFX at a loss and move to VOO, VTI, or SPY?
Is there something I'm missing about the Vanguard target retirement date funds?
I'm seeking SPY put (strike/date) advice to help hedge my portfolio.
Mentions
VFIFX, SCHD, and VTI are my top three funds.
Maxing out your 401k is a very smart move! You can also invest in an IRA account as well for additional retirement savings. Not certain what your 401k offers, but make sure the expense ratio is low. Just stick with index funds or ETFs that should land you at under .1% expense ratios. As you mentioned, avoid any actively managed brokerages like Edward Jones and gamified (options trading) apps like Robinhood. I recommend passively managed brokerages like Vanguard if you're looking to avoid any of the big fees or crazier aspects of investing. There are retirement funds like VFIFX that will automatically rebalance your portfolio based on your expected retirement age.
Max your IRA and HSA _first_ before putting money into a taxable account, or else you're just turning down free money from the government. (Unless the money in question is not intended for retirement.) In terms of moving your existing positions, that depends on how many capital gains you have right now, whether it's short or long term, and whether you want to pay those taxes. I would probably not worry about it and just deal with new money going forward. Here's some info on choosing for your accounts: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/rothortraditional/ I don't know how much you're making, but if it's relatively high the common advice is traditional for 401k (because it's your biggest opportunity for tax deduction) and Roth for IRA (because you've exceeded the income limit for a traditional IRA and thus need to do a backdoor Roth). This is not a fixed rule and will depend on your own situation and preferences. I'd pick VFIFX, the 2050 target date fund, for the HSA. I don't spot a broadly diversified stock fund there (total world, total us, s&p 500) but if there is that would be reasonable too.
VFIFX is actively managed, not an index fund like SPY / VOO and QQQ.
Since 10/20/2011 (as far back as I could go) QQQ has had Total Return of 881%. VOO 509% SCHD 416% VFIFX (target 2050) of only 231% TDFs are horrible retirement vehicles. But what do I know… we retired in our early 50s.
So I created this as a thread and it got automatically deleted and was suggested I post here so trying again! I have $50K coming out of a CD that I would like to put to use elsewhere. I am 36M, one kid and one on the way. We have 12 months+ emergency fund in a HYSA, so this is more focused on long-term growth vs needing this money in the short-term. Currently maxing out both my 401k & IRA (combined around $300K in here) and contributing $500/month to a 529 plan which is currently about $50K for our 2 year old. It's important for me that our kids be able to go to any college they want debt-free so investing in that (and for our 2nd kid when he arrives) is a priority. My wife also maintains a separate investment fund that was set up by her godmother who is a financial planner with about $175K in that and she contributes $200/month to. I have about $275K in this brokerage account and invested in the following Vanguard Mutual Funds: VEXPX (Vanguard Explorer Fund): $20K VFIAX (Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral): $33K VFIFX (Vanguard Target 2055 Retirement Fund): $22K ETFs: VOO: $85K QQQ: $50k SGOV: : $60K I am a total idiot when it comes to investing, so any recommendations on where best to put this money if I don't need it in the short term? I am also open to any advice on if I should be rebalancing the existing investments.
Yeah that's fair, this is why I also heavily target the dividend funds. This is definitely a defensive strategy while returning above average returns when benchmarking against a common target date fund, which IMHO is a more realistic yard stick for these discussions. | Metric | Custom ETF Portfolio | S&P 500 (Vanguard 500 Index) | VFIFX (Vanguard Target Retirement 2050) | |-------------------------|---------------------|-----------------------------|--------------------------------------| | **Annualized Return (CAGR)** | **9.16%** | **13.14%** | **8.95%** | | **Annualized Return (Inflation-Adjusted)** | **5.94%** | **9.80%** | **5.73%** | | **Worst Year** | **-9.91%** | **-18.23%** | **-17.46%** | | **Maximum Drawdown** | **-20.39%** | **-23.95%** | **-24.43%** | | **Standard Deviation** | **13.27%** | **15.30%** | **13.68%** | | **Sharpe Ratio** | **0.59** | **0.77** | **0.57** | | **Sortino Ratio** | **0.91** | **1.21** | **0.85** |
Easiest set and forget: put it all in VFIFX, the 2050 target date fund. If you want to fiddle slightly more or this is a taxable account, [lazy portfolios](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Lazy_portfolios) are designed for this (though it's recommended you spend fifteen minutes once a year rebalancing).
Returns look to be a bit higher here, I guess this includes dividends https://portfolioslab.com/tools/stock-comparison/VFIFX/VOO OP’s 401k return may be averaged down by his recent contributions. Meanwhile he compared it with a lump sum VOO.
VFIFX is actually up about 26% on the 5y. VOO is indeed up the 81% you said.
If you don't have a Roth IRA, go to Vanguard and set one up. Once you've transferred that 10k into the account, invest it all in VFIFX. Add more over time and you'll be on your way to retirement. https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/profile/vfifx
VFIFX isn't meaningfully more expensive ER wise than the component funds individually. https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/profile/vfifx#portfolio-composition VTSAX 55% (.04 ER) VTIAX 35% (.12 ER) VBLTX 6.8% (.05 ER) VTABX 3.1% (.11 ER)
I was going off the assumption he’s in vanguard 2050 target fund, and while obviously it’s not a perfect comparison, SPX is up ~470% (total return) vs VFIFX up ~245% Obviously he didn’t lump sum the 401k at the beginning which means most of his contributions came after GFC and a significant portions came after Mar 2020 which would lead me to believe the difference would be much higher
Not at all. 80% VIIIX with 20% VFIFX (2050 target retirement). Every few years I move a few percent over from VIIIX to the Target date fund. Max out contributions, walk away. Retire with several million waiting for you.
Presuming you are 35, and you want to retire when you are 60. Use: VFIFX. If you want to follow the S&P 500, use VFTAX. To divest in some other well performing indexes here are some others VTPSX, VIGIX, VMVAX, VVIAX.
VFIFX was around $25 11 years ago and now it’s $48. Are you sure the return you’re seeing isn’t annualized?
Considering NVDA is #3/118 in the VFIFX fund it better not have anything happen to it. Just saying, for a friend. 😏
I would pick an asset allocation strategy and stick with it, you definitely have plenty of overlap. [https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/150-portfolios-better-than-yours/](https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/150-portfolios-better-than-yours/) I currently follow a three fund portfolio minus the bond fund, I will allocate to bonds when I am closer to retirement. [https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund\_portfolio](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund_portfolio) In my case I would go 100% Vanguard target date fund like VFIFX or VTI + VXUS. Look at the portfolio composition of VFIFX, it is basically a three fund portfolio: [https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/profile/vfifx#price](https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/profile/vfifx#price) VTI = 3,719 stocks VXUS= 8,616 international stocks How much more diversified would you want to be. Any other funds you add would overlap with VTI and VXUS. Learn to ride the stock market wave and not panic sell when things go bad temporarily, if VTI and VXUS go to zero that means the entire world's stock market collapsed (not something I worry about).
Hi! I am hoping to have some help with my portfolio. I am new to investing and hoping for some help in making sure my IRA is diversified. Do I have a lot of overlap with these investments? If so, what do you suggest removing/altering and why? I would like a simpler portfolio with decent returns. Thank you in advance! VFIAX - $36k VFIFX - $42k VIMAX - $10k VSMAX - $5k VTIAX - $40k VGT - $11k VOO - $11k VTI - $22k VXUS - $2k
VTSAX VGT BRK B VFIFX Those cover all the bases
> Should I pull out of my target funds and move to just VOO? Am I getting screwed by mutual funds and not enjoying the market growth I should? It depends which target date funds you have, what you want your investment management effort to be. If you have Vanguard SP500 Target Date funds (Vanguard is a mutually owned company, so fees are low (VFIFX at .08%)) your fees are going to the part that change the asset allocation to bonds / income as the target date approaches. As opposed to, if you switch this out to a Vanguard SP500 Etf (VOO) your annual expense ratio is .03% but, as your target date approaches, you, the individual are responsible for moving to bonds, cds, cash as your target date approaches.
Isn't 55% of VFIFX in VSMPX which has an expense ratio of 0.02%? If they're undercharging on some of the other parts, overcharging on that one could be what's offsetting and helping make it all work out.
>a computer program essentially handles 99% of the management of the fund itself Including the changes in allocation that OP mentions. That's once every five years, and even manually that's only a few minutes of work if you already know what your funds and target percentages are. Which they would, because VFIFX in five years should look a lot like VTIVX does today.
ACDVF FSELX GBTC SOFI ZVRA ZVRA Calls BAC TSLA U VFIFX Had some puts on TTWO
VFIFX is mostly the S&P 500. It’s a great fund to be in if you expect to retire around 2050. It’s mostly stocks now but will gradually increase the bond allocation over the next 25 years. If I were you, I’d leave every penny in there.
I just looked and it is a VFIFX (Vanguard Target Retirement 2050 Fund), not sure if this makes a difference. My husband has stocks in SP500 and others and I was looking at buying into some as well. My Roth doesn't have much in it. I started it when I was 18 and put 1k in it and never touched it. It is now around 3k and if able to I'd like to use this money to buy stocks. If I am unable to I will look into starting a separate account strictly for the purpose of buying/selling and continue to leave this one alone
Just as an FYI - VFIFX is essentially VT plus bonds. But yes, if you have already maxed out your Roth contributions and don’t want to sell your current holdings you should open up a brokerage account with Vanguard. I do recommend doing so if you have additional money to invest. But so some research on how that account works first as the tax implications are different.
Yes I want to buy VT independent of the target date retirement fund which is VFIFX. What I wanted to know is do I have to make an entirely new account with vanguard since I already maxed out the years for the IRA and that's all used on the target date retirement fund so far. Or would you suggest not doing so in general.
Do you mean you want to move what your have already invested into VFIFX into VT, or you want to buy VT in addition to what you already have? If it’s the latter you can open a brokerage account in addition to your Roth.
If you click on the info sheet PDF, it will generally say the underlying fund or funds that the trust is invested in within the description, and then you can look up an equivalent share class. For example, my 401k has trusts that for the following funds but with lower fees: VFIFX (Vanguard Target Date Fund 2050 & and they have a trust for each series of target years), ASVYX (American Century Small Cap Value), and VRGWX (Vanguard Large Cap Growth) to name a few. When you find the fund name, the best equivalent share class will be institutional or something like R6 for retirement because it should also have the lowest fees aside from your collective trust. The info sheet is meant to serve in place of the annual reports/materials that take time/money to prepare, so they save on the fees by not doing that and just having (usually Morningstar) do an analysis for them. You can then look up the actual materials on the underlying funds if you feel like it.
It looks like the 5 year returns for FNSBX are higher than VFIFX, the fund is only a few years old. where do you see total return is 'way better' for VFIFX?
they 2050 retirement funds but have different holdings so different total returns. looks VFIFX total return is way better and ER is also way better.
The funds are VFIFX vs FNSBX. They’re the only target date options.
shit - just started a roth 2 years ago and it's all VFIFX. shitty returns. how would you recommend i course correct?
Hey just seeing your post now but it's similar to my situation. started my roth two years ago, have deposited $17k+ so far and my return has only been 2%. all the $ is in VFIFX. What am i doing wrong and how should i course correct? i feel like i've left so many gains on the table these past two years and it's very frustrating
With the context of "domestic" being the U.S.A. VFIFX is currently composed of approximately 53.4% domestic equities, 35.14 international equities, and 9.49% fixed income. That is to say, most target date funds are going to be following something similar to a 3-fund portfolio already.
Hi all, I am new to investing, and had previously only been using Acorns to do some micro-investing. Recently, I decided that I want to take a more active role in my financial future, and have been trying to learn more about investing (YouTube, colleagues, podcasts, etc.). So far: I have invested 3k into a vanguard target retirement fund (VFIFX). I have also begun invested \~2k into a 3-fund portfolio (VTI, VXUS, BND). I also own some small shares of ESGV, VOTE, ICLN, PSIL, MNMD & CYBN. My question is: is it wise to be investing into these two types of futures? Do they overlap? I have been learning more about the Boglehead approach, but also have heard good things about the Vanguard target funds. I appreciate any and all insight! Thanks!
10-year nominal return of VFIFX (2050 target date fund) is 7.99%, while 10-year nominal return of VOO is 12%. https://investor.vanguard.com/tools-calculators/etf-fund-comparison-tool?Ticker=vfifx,voo
I did a lot of research and reading into what was the right path to get started and came up with the following matrix: - Necessities (bills, groceries, gas, etc) - Emergency fund (6 months of expenses) - Wants (within reason) - Roth IRA (VFIFX) - 401k (my TSP... C/S/I split 70/15/15) - Brokerage (80% VTSAX, 20% VTIAX) That is the "flow chart" I use for saving; I can't go further down the list unless I've completed the first one. The "wants" is where our discipline is tested, obviously, but we've become pretty good at regulating ourselves. There's a lot of good reading material out there, along with podcasts, that provide excellent information. Discipline is the biggest factor though, even more than the money.
Set it and forget it. My TSP was in the G Fund until 10 years ago, when I switched it to the L2050 fund. Around a year ago I then switched that to a C/S/I mix (70/15/15 split) where it's been since then. VFIFX has just been maxed each year. My brokerage started with individual stocks (not day trading, just long hold) after my last deployment. After a few years of toying with that, I sold all of it (except Amazon) and broke even. Now my brokerage is a 80/20 split between VTSAX / VTIAX (for the dividends) in addition to my shares of Amazon.
Love the doubling up every several years. This is how it is done. Slow and steady. Double it up a few more times in the next ten years! Advice: Dump VFIFX and put it in VOO. You have a 20 year investment window. Send make sure you are investing in some tax beneficial accounts. A Roth will give that brokerage account tax free earnings.
This may be a simple answer to my dumb question but I can’t figure it out. It is my understanding a mutual fund distributes capital gains to shareholders if the fund manager sells shares of said fund and makes a profit. Do capital gains happen at the end of every year (i.e. automatically) or only when shares are sold? My Roth IRA VFIFX hasn’t made any end of year ST or LT capital gains since 2021 and I don’t see any at the end of this year, either. Only the dividend. I know 2022 sucked for the market but I thought ‘23 had better returns.
Hello all, I've been investing in my Roth IRA since I was 22. I'm 35 now. My current positions are: VFIFX (Target Ret. 2050): 82k VTI: 14k I'm currently putting 100% in VTI to build it up. Notes: No debts other than a mortgage (really a brokerage account, and 130k in a 401k account (maximizing employer match). I would like to add a 3rd fund to my Roth IRA, possibly without allocation overlaps, but undecided between a Growth Fund, Dividend Fund or a Sector fund. Any ideas? I would like to allocate 60-70% to VTI and 40-30% to this new fund.
My spouse left her employer and has 140k from 401k that we're rolling over to Vanguard. We're down to either [VFIFX](https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/VFIFX/) or [VTIVX](https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/VTIVX/). The stock prices are vastly different ($44 vs $26), but otherwise appear to perform similarly over their lifetime with identical expense ratios. What would your recommendation be? Would it be VTIVX because we'd be purchasing more shares? We're 34 and are planning for a 'normal' track to retire by 2050 or so.
If you're looking for "set it and forget it", there are also target date funds that'll do this or something very similar and adjust their holdings over time. For example if we're talking Vanguard (other brands are available) and a target retirement date of 2050, [VFIFX currently holds](https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/profile/vfifx#portfolio-composition): * 54% Total US Stock Market (VSMPX, same holdings as VTSAX) * 36% International stock (VTIAX) * 7% Total US Bond Market (VTBIX) * 3% International bonds (VTILX) They'll rebalance and every few years they'll adjust the holdings, so in twenty years it might look [more like VTHRX](https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/profile/vthrx#portfolio-composition) does now: same funds but shifted a bit away from stocks and more bonds, less international exposure, something that'll be a little more stable.
Other people have already commented on the difference in when mutual funds update their values. But there's also the issue of what your fund is tracking. When you say "the market was up yesterday" what do you mean? Probably that you heard that the Dow, S&P 500, and/or NASDAQ were up. But do you know what they are? The Dow Jones Industrial average is a weighted average for just 30 large cap companies that were chosen as a representation of the US economy. The S&P 500 is a weighted average of 500 large-cap companies. Because of the greater number of companies in the average, it's considered the better barometer, and it's the index that most large-cap funds track. But it doesn't have as much history behind it as the Dow. The NASDAQ is the average for an exchange dealing in over-the-counter stocks that are not listed on the NYSE. It is very tech heavy compared to the others. VFIFX on the other hand is a target date fund that is made up of large-cap and small-cap, domestic and international stocks, and bond funds. It's weighted to take on more risk initially and shift to become more conservative (safer) the closer you get to the target date. So the performance of VFIFX will almost never exactly match the performance of any of those indexes that you hear mentioned on the news. Because you're not invested in the same mix of companies. And where there is overlap, you're not invested to the same extent. Plus some portion of VFIFX is invested in bonds, which are very safe but also don't have spikes in value like equities do. Unless you have an investment in a fund that tracks one of those indexes, you won't see the same changes on the same day.
> Is it because it’s a mutual fund type? Yes. Mutual funds update exactly once a day @ Market close, and then all transactions (buy/sell) for the mutual fund happen at the newly set price. The correct data source for VFIFX is the official one @ Vanguard here: https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/profile/vfifx#overview You can see it is up 2.17% vs November the 13th.
Taxes are going to be your biggest issue. If they're in retirement accounts, it doesn't really matter. It looks like right now you have 50/50 in a target retirement fund -- which slowly adds bonds as the years go on -- and a growth fund. Both are good funds with low expense ratios. So is FXAiX. For me personally, if theyre in retirement accounts, I'd put it all in VFIFX or fidelity's equivalent, so that I can forget about it for 20 years. Bonds also have nice returns right now which has been rare in recent history. Ultimately though, if you're invested in a low cost index fund with broad market exposure--which you are--it really doesn't matter what the exact fund is and is mostly arbitrary.
Hello, I am 35M and new to investing. I am planning to start investing for the long term. From my research, this is what I got. Do you think this is a solid plan? Max out Roth IRA for VFIFX 60% - VTI 20% - VXUS 10% - Individuals like APPL, TSLA, MCFT Thank you in advance
Hi all, I have $25,000 in both VFIFX and VWUSX with fidelity. I bought these based on a close friend who talked me into it using fidelity. I'm just looking for advice here. I was thinking of selling both vanguard funds and putting the money into FXAIX or something similar. Any pros/cons to my current holdings?
If it's in an ultra conservative portfolio that's probably not unexpected. But yeah that's pretty terrible. A savings account would've beaten that by a few percent these days. I have all of my retirement and HSA funds in a few different vanguard funds. VTSAX and VFIAX mostly with some in VFIFX (targeted retirement) and then I have about 10% I put in something riskier like VEXPX
>Now, maybe I'm reading this wrong and you are using VFIFX in a taxable account. If so, then disregard the above! OP's 401K is in a Fidelity TDF. They also put $25k a year into a Vanguard TDF (VFIFX), which means at least some of that has to be going into a taxable account (due to that being well above IRA + HSA annual contribution limits).
So I am just using the VFIFX account on my own not through my 401k am I still penalized for using that?
> I then do about $500 a week or $25,000 a year in VFIFX fund. If I'm understanding you correctly, this is money outside of your 401k account? Presumably in your personal brokerage? If so, VFIFX isn't a great choice for short term personal spending: the stock market could crash at any moment and it could take years for the money to recover its value. It's much better to create a clear separation between money that you're not going to touch for a long time (10+ years) and money that you intend to spend in the near term. The latter should go in a savings account, or potentially short term bonds depending on your specific needs.
>I have my 401k with fidelity in a FID FRDM IN. 2045 T account that I max out each year Is that "IN" short for index or institutional? What's the expense ratio? If "index" and 0.12% or lower, that's a great fund, though 2045 seems a bit early for someone your age (maybe a 2055 or 2060 would be more appropriate). >I then do about $500 a week or $25,000 a year in VFIFX fund. The question I have is I put money in here instead of like a savings account so if I need it for something like a vacation or something like that I can take from it. Is that the right choice for something like that? For tax reasons, target date funds should typically only be held inside tax advantaged accounts. Something like VTWAX would be more volatile (no bonds), but more tax efficient (and even more tax efficient than that would be VTSAX + VTIAX). >My wife does 401k that gets about 10k a year in it. If you can afford more, I'd take advantage of more of that.
VFIFX - the Vanguard 2050 fund in our 401k A little from every paycheck (50% match from employer up to 10% of paycheck) for the last 5 years or so. No idea what the cost basis is or how it's been performing. I've got more money invested in individual companies in a different account. But it's nice to have an untouched fund for retirement, just in case I'm a moron and blow up my trading account.
So I use VFIFX JUST. As a way to save money and make some interest doing it and if I need the money and I can get it tit quick. Reading this does that mean if I put it in and take it out I pay extra fees? Sorry probably sounds dumb but didn’t quite know I was doing it wrong. Thank you!
If your reasoning is that it took a big drop and hasn't fully recovered, then you should consider that any of VOO, VTI, or SPY are **more** likely to do that over the next 2-3 years than VFIFX is. If your thinking is that VOO will likely outperform VFIFX over the next 25 years, that *is* likely, if you are confident you can ride out those downturns and not panic. I would suggest holding on to VFIFX a couple more years at least. I think: 1. You are a relatively new investor and may not have as much risk tolerance as you think. 2. I think inflation an interest rates will likely come down a little over the next few years anyway, and VFIFX will do fine for this period. Domestic stocks are still the best long term bet, but for the moment, with S&P earnings yield < 4% and bonds and money market earning > 5%, having some balance makes sense.
There is effectively no difference between holding etf vs mutual fund as a long term investor. The difference is primarily how they are traded. Vanguard has ETF and mutual fund versions of the same index funds. What you’re holding is just a preset diversified portfolio that automatically rebalances over time. If you are down with it, you would be down has you had the ETF equivalents. If you sell VFIFX and buy VOO with the cash, you’d be fundamentally changing your portfolio from a balance of [55% domestic stocks, 35% international stocks, 7% domestic bonds, 3% international bonds] to [100% domestic stocks]. This means you’ll have higher volatility but likely higher returns in the long run. The question you want to answer for your self is would you be ok with your portfolio dropping a large amount near or just after you retire 20 years from now? A significant drop can take 5-10 years to recover to previous levels, longer in some cases. You could try going with 90% VTI and 10% BND for a while and slowly increase BND as you get closer to retirement.
VFIFX will normally be a little less volatile, because of the bond portion. But inflation is even worse for bonds than stocks. VOO, VTI, and SPY also haven't yet recovered to their early 2022 highs, but they are just a little closer than VFIFX, just because stocks have recovered more than bonds at this point. VFIFX will do better when interest rates are falling rather than increasing.
The market was down in 2012. Check the price of VOO on the date you bought VFIFX, see if there's really that much difference
If you plan to hold it until retirement VFIFX will be a good investment unless the world economy crumbles entirely in which case you’ll have other problems. VOO is likely to get you higher returns, but the target date fund is a bit safer as it contains all stocks and will rebalance to a higher bond ratio over time. If you think VOO is a better choice (most people on this sub would agree), I think you should put your future investment there but still keep your VFIFX.
I guess it's my ignorance of wondering the long term hold on a mutual fund vs an ETF that is the question. One of my few red investments is VFIFX, but I've only been doing this a couple years, so I don't know if I should be patient or dip.
VFIFX is 90% stock ETFs at the moment with the rest being bond funds. I would keep it.
in my work-sponsored 401k, i have 100% into VFIFX. I looked at other options, but the target date funds are pretty well diversified in my opinion for a retirement plan. over time, it will rebalance and allocate more into bonds (you can see this by comparing the different target date funds). putting it all into VOO/VTI will cut out the international exposure completely, which typically isn't recommended from most of the bogleheads. you'd basically be betting that the US will continue to outperform international markets for the foreseeable future.
Happy to help. I'm still trying to get more insight into my own risk tolerance, but it's important to know your temperament with investing. Basically with riskier funds/stocks, you can see steeper drawdowns. You might be 60% down in your portfolio for 15 years. The thing with investing is that none of it is real until you sell. I've only been learning about this stuff for like 3 years, but if you understand that the market is always going up and down, you'll do better. People talk about "stomaching" losses, but they aren't losses unless you sell. A market that's down is a great time to buy and we really only know in hindsight if the market was down. The higher proportion of bonds you have, the less your portfolio will fluctuate. You also won't make as much money, but the point is to prevent yourself from doing something stupid. The stupid thing would be panic selling just because you see some numbers on a screen going down. That only causes you to lock in those losses. You should be buying, not selling during that time. An example of a TDF is VFIFX which is a Vanguard fund for people who intend on retiring in 2050. They have one for every 5 years. If you used one that was further out, it will have less bonds. A TDF is VERY hands off. However, if you're still learning about this and want to be a little more involved, you can just look into a 2 or 3-fund portfolio. Basically it's built around the total us stock market index or S&P 500 (VOO, VTSAX, VFIAX, VTI, etc.), hedges against us risk with up to 20% or so tracking an international stock index (VXUX) and lastly will likely include bonds for most investors (I'd personally add in bonds at 40. You could do something like 10-15% bonds, 10-15% VXUS and the majority with VTI. Or you could own purely the TDF for when you want to retire and adjust based on how you feel in the future. If you are finding that you tolerate drawdowns well, then maybe you just sit on the TDF and only contribute to something like an S&P 500 index fund or the like. There are a lot of ways you could go, just don't sell low!
I have money with State Farm in LIPPX BlackRock LifePath® Index 2050 Fund Investor P Shares, should I move it to VFIFX VANGUARD TARGET RETIREMENT 2050 INVESTOR CL or just leave it with State Farm? I don't see big fees, but maybe I'm missing them?
They are not redundant as they are different funds for different purposes. VTSAX -- index of the US stock market --> 100% stocks forever VFIFX - 2050 retirement date fund, with equities from around the globe (indexed of course) and bonds from around the globe as well. This fund will steadily increase the bond allocation and decrease the equity allocation as we time goes on.
Yeah, there’s a little bit of redundancy there. You probably already know a lot of this, but VFIFX is a target date fund, meaning it’s designed for someone with a planned retirement date of ~2050 plus or minus a year or two. It’s a hands-off investment, over time the fund’s allocation will change from being primarily equity (aggressive) to more fixed income (conservative), mirroring the textbook shift in risk tolerance. VTSAX is just a total stock market fund, looking to expose an investor to specifically US equities in general. The holdings within the fund will shift over time to mirror the makeup of the US equity space, but will always be “100%” equity. In my opinion, investing in VFIFX would not be getting “more aggressive,” and in this case it would be the opposite due to its current allocation to fixed income (10%) which will only grow as the fund matures. As an alternative, if you were looking to get more aggressive, I’d look to pick up some international exposure since VTSAX is 100% US Equities. Lot of good options, I’d take a look at MRSAX, AIIEX, or other international growth/blend funds. To me, if I invested in VFIFX at all, it would be my one stop shop and I wouldn’t mess with more than one fund. It would be a “don’t think about it, don’t worry about it, just throw paint at the wall for 30 years.” Personally I am biased against target date funds because I like having my hands on the wheel, but again that’s your call.
I can only find VFIFX for Vanguard 2050 target date. Cannot find a fund number 7743. Got a ticker symbol? It could be that there are multiple share classes. 10 year return is 8.76% a year, so about a 130% total return on VFIFX.
The Vanguard 2050 TDF has a ticker symbol: VFIFX. Therefore, you can look up its performance: [https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/VFIFX/performance?p=VFIFX](https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/VFIFX/performance?p=VFIFX) Looks like it has gained 8.52% per year for the past 10 years. Underperforming VOO sure, but not by the amount you're describing. ​ One thing to consider: sure VOO is up 250% total in 10 years, but your account wouldn't be unless you had lump summed all of your contributions into it 10 years ago. Your actual gain with VOO would be significantly less, because most of your money has been contributed over time.
VOO +62%, VFIFX +18% over the last 5 years. Yeah, they're almost identical.
You’re already diversified. You have a lot of overlap and I’d take the bet you don’t know what you own (what’s in the etfs?). VTI, VOO, SPY all have very similar holdings. You’re just paying different expense ratios. VUG and QQQ very similar. VFIFX basically combines all your other ETFs. So you have an etf that reflects your ETFs. What you do from here depends on what your goal and interests are. Do you want to stock pick, stay in ETFs, particular sectors you’re interested in?
Hello, I'm just checking to see if there is anything I need to change for my retirement investments. I currently have an IRA where I have 10 shares of VOO, 76 of VFIFX, 4 of VTI and 7 of ATT. Total portfolio value of almost 8k. With all the recent news im trying to decide if there is anything I need to do or if I'll be ok when I try to retire in 30ish years. I'm 36 and while I trust that the market I'd going to be higher in 30 years I don't want to miss any opportunities that may be available that I just am not aware of.
Quick question for Roth IRA: I’m 26 and currently have been buying 2050 Vanguard VFIFX However I just realized since i cannot withdrawal earnings until 59.5 which would be 33 years from now 2056 I should be buying 2055 vanguard right? I figured I’d just sell the $16k worth of 2050 and then instantly buy 2055 Any big deal ramifications im missing?
\> Having exposure to both global equities mixed with bonds was even worse than just stocks themselves. Uh, no? Bonds didn't do worse then equities. SPY was -18.19% last year while VFIFX (Vanguard TDF) was -17.46%.
You could also just use a tdf like VFIFX.
if this is a financial advisor then yes, you're just paying him. Only reason you would use a fund like that. If this is your buddy then ignore his financial advice. Keep putting it in VFIFX or start putting it in VTSAX or similar.
Follow up. Is it worth paying fees to invest in an IRA.... I currently have a Vanguard account with money in VFIFX (no fee). I just met with a guy who suggested AWSHX - but there would be a 5.75% fee every time we contributed. Am I missing something? Am I something for this fee? is the AWSHX fund so much better that it is worth a fee? Or Am I just paying a middleman?
Returns are virtually identical. [Schwab vs Vanguard 2050](https://www.portfoliovisualizer.com/backtest-portfolio?s=y&timePeriod=4&startYear=1985&firstMonth=1&endYear=2023&lastMonth=12&calendarAligned=true&includeYTD=false&initialAmount=10000&annualOperation=0&annualAdjustment=0&inflationAdjusted=true&annualPercentage=0.0&frequency=4&rebalanceType=1&absoluteDeviation=5.0&relativeDeviation=25.0&leverageType=0&leverageRatio=0.0&debtAmount=0&debtInterest=0.0&maintenanceMargin=25.0&leveragedBenchmark=false&reinvestDividends=true&showYield=false&showFactors=false&factorModel=3&portfolioNames=false&portfolioName1=Portfolio+1&portfolioName2=Portfolio+2&portfolioName3=Portfolio+3&symbol1=VFIFX&allocation1_1=100&symbol2=SWYMX&allocation2_2=100)
Where are you getting those ROIs from? That is pretty inaccurate, the two funds have virtually identical results over the last five years: [Source](https://www.portfoliovisualizer.com/backtest-portfolio?s=y&timePeriod=4&startYear=1985&firstMonth=1&endYear=2023&lastMonth=12&calendarAligned=true&includeYTD=false&initialAmount=10000&annualOperation=0&annualAdjustment=0&inflationAdjusted=true&annualPercentage=0.0&frequency=4&rebalanceType=1&absoluteDeviation=5.0&relativeDeviation=25.0&leverageType=0&leverageRatio=0.0&debtAmount=0&debtInterest=0.0&maintenanceMargin=25.0&leveragedBenchmark=false&reinvestDividends=true&showYield=false&showFactors=false&factorModel=3&portfolioNames=false&portfolioName1=Portfolio+1&portfolioName2=Portfolio+2&portfolioName3=Portfolio+3&symbol1=SWYMX&allocation1_1=100&symbol2=VFIFX&allocation2_2=100)
Same stuff I always buy, Pinky. VTSAX, VFIFX, BERK.B, VGT
Long time reader, first time poster. As an HCE my company doesn't allow me in a 401k. I have my brokerage IRA and my stock accounts (E* Trade, robo advisor as well as my own buys): My assets ($340k) - Cash ($110k) IRA ($200k) Stocks ($30k) Income: $185k, 40 years old. No real debt. The cash is in a high yield account generating about $300/month. I max out the IRA every year ($6500). I buy VFIFX and VTSAX. Without a 401k and company matching I feel like I'm going to get behind. What are some other options since I can't max out and benefit from a 401k? Thanks much.
VFIFX in a Roth IRA, the other two in regular brokerage
26, USA (Southern California) Employee $60k paychecks around $4400 a month Objectives: Home Purchase + Invest/Retirement Time Horizon: 1) Home - when I can afford it 2) retirement (retire in 24 years-29 years age 50-55) Risk tolerance: higher but not bet the entire farm risk Current holdings Vanguard brokerage: $2k a month going in with $3000 in cash in the account that I can use to purchase more $12k in VOO $600 BND $300 VXUS ————— Retirement funds: Vanguard Roth IRA: $12,700 VFIFX 2050 Target Retirement Fund ($3800 left to contribute for the year but I will max it) + 4% match at work same fund just started after 1 year in for them to Match so like $1700 there ————— Vehicle 2013 Prius V paid off No debt besides monthly credit card expenses for food/gas NO RENT: Live with family with them gifting me to try to maximize and invest as I can Goals: Downpayment for a home in SoCal (limitations is higher interest rates eating up my buying power which is already limited with my income even with $0 debt) Max Out Roth IRA + contribute the max match of my employer for retirements Brokerage account: wanting to try to capture as much as I can during any future downturn in the next 2-3 years. I personally feel like a 3 month emergency fund would be plenty for me. And then just try to invest it all into the market and if a nice gain occurs sell in tax lots to fund for a down payment. If the downturn is longer than okay same method keep investing what I’m doing now because whether i own a home at 28 or 30 it really just comes down to can I afford the market at the time in my life Wanted other’s viewpoints because i know they say “save for a house don’t try to risk value going down in investments/short period of time” but I feel with my income $2k a month is only $24k where the average home here is $550-650k Also the fact of moving out of state, house hacking/buy a home out there like AZ. Once I build equity with paying the house + roommates helping cover costs that would help “speed up my equity in a house that I could then use to propel me back into the SoCal market” Not sure if that makes any sense but yeah just looking for some guidance
Another point I have noticed is that compared to the equivalent Vanguard target date fund, the Fidelity fund is also grossly underperforming. Is it just a bad fund offering from Fidelity? 1YR - FFFLX is down 27% and VFIFX is down 26% 5YR - FFFLX is down 14% and VFIFX is up 7%
Another point I have noticed is that compared to the equivalent Vanguard target date fund, the Fidelity fund is also grossly underperforming. Is it just a bad fund offering from Fidelity? 1YR - FFFLX is down 27% and VFIFX is down 26% 5YR - FFFLX is down 14% and VFIFX is up 7%
I would put as high a %age as you can afford for December, yes, might as well pack in what you can (and grab whatever match you can) for 2022. FYI, 401ks are worth it for the tax-advantages. In any event, moving forward, you don't say what the matching is, but I'd *at least* contribute enough each period to get all the match. Probably more than that, really, if you can afford it. If you're 34, then you're probably retiring in ~30 years, making either the 2050 or 2055 the target date to shoot for. I echo the other poster and would just say 100% into VFIFX or VFFVX. You mention the idea of 75% target date, 25% targeted value... I'm not sure what you mean by that term, but the one fund actually called 'targeted value' in your list is DFFVX. It's a small-cap value fund, meaning it invests in smaller (though still publicly traded) US companies (specifically, 'value' companies, aka ones that the fund manager believes are trading below their intrinsic value). The target dates will already put you into that portion of companies (a small amount). You *could* concentrate yourself more in that area by also putting some money in directly but, absent a particular reason to do so, 100% target date is super simple, idiot-proof, and a perfectly good option.
What was your 401k fund if you don’t mind me asking. Mine is a vanguard tgt date 2050 (VFIFX) I’ve thought about changing it but from what I’ve read VFIFX is pretty good.
> VFIFX So this is the 2050 target date fund. The way these work is Vanguard automatically and gradually tapers the risk profile down (i.e. starts high on stocks and transitions to more bonds/less stocks) over the life of the fund so that you can "set and forget" your contributions without worrying about allocation or rebalancing. It's a very good fund that's based on four component funds (broad us/int'l stocks and us/int'l bonds). Right now your investment horizon is 28 years so it's going to emphasize stocks, which means heavier downswings but much better return over the life of the fund. tl;dr don't fret, max our your contributions every year if you're able.
I have a roth IRA and currently just have the Vanguard Target Date Fund as my investment. (VFIFX) I started it in 01/2021. In total I’ve put about $7k into it, and didn’t look at it again. Checking now, i’m down about 21% or $2,000. This is supposed to be a low risk and steady growing retirement fund. What is going on? Will it bounce back? Should I pull out somehow? I’m worried, because I’m getting ready to invest my yearly allowance of $6,000, and not sure if I should keep pumping it into this?
Open an account at Vanguard, pick one of their Target Retirement funds that is appropriate for your age - for example Vanguard Target Retirement 2050 Fund, symbol VFIFX - and make regular purchases as you can afford them. If you really think you might like to trade individual stocks then at the same time create a mock portfolio either just using a spreadsheet or one of the online stock simulators like at [Investopedia](https://www.investopedia.com/simulator/). Invest virtually for a few years before you compare results of you vs. the Vanguard fund and decide which way is best for you.
All in on VFIFX until 2050, maxing at $6k a year
Just opened my first IRA into VFIFX. Wondering what I should consider for more exposure soon. I plan to max out the IRA at $6k every year until 2048\~
>VFIFX Absolutely, it's always a good time to put money into a long term index fund like them.
Would now be a good time to put $8k into VFIFX?
Sorry, I missed that you had written that. I'd say that's pretty young personally and would take more risk but like I said, check out how these different funds behave. You can plug in the Vanguard target date fund of your choice into PV and see how it compares to just SPY or VOO. That'll give you info on both the returns (CAGR) but also the max drawdown, etc. In particular, assume what happened during 2000-2002 and 2007-2009 in the market will happen to your funds and see if you can stomach the 50%, 60% drawdowns (your target date funds will also have this, but likely not as badly due to a bond exposure though this year such funds may have done poorly since both ). Also it's not just about your age but also how long you're willing to leave it alone. You can see that equities do great on average over long periods measured in decades. But shorter time frames necessitate different strategies. If you're willing to leave it for 20-30 years, then you can take more risk. Here's a comparison of the Target Date 2050 fund vs. VOO. Keep in mind that the target date fund goes back only 10+ years, which has been great for the market but you can mimic what that fund is doing by learning a bit more about it and using the asset class modelling tool in PV. https://www.portfoliovisualizer.com/backtest-portfolio?s=y&timePeriod=4&startYear=1985&firstMonth=1&endYear=2022&lastMonth=12&calendarAligned=true&includeYTD=false&initialAmount=10000&annualOperation=0&annualAdjustment=0&inflationAdjusted=true&annualPercentage=0.0&frequency=4&rebalanceType=1&absoluteDeviation=5.0&relativeDeviation=25.0&leverageType=0&leverageRatio=0.0&debtAmount=0&debtInterest=0.0&maintenanceMargin=25.0&leveragedBenchmark=false&reinvestDividends=true&showYield=false&showFactors=false&factorModel=3&portfolioNames=false&portfolioName1=Portfolio+1&portfolioName2=Portfolio+2&portfolioName3=Portfolio+3&symbol1=VFIFX&allocation1\_1=100&symbol2=VOO&allocation2\_2=100
I have a small amount in VFIFX and it's actually one of the more volatile broad assets I own. Definitely has a significant growth component.