VIG

rozinian

I use BAR for exposure to gold as a commodity. Tracks the price decently and has a low expense ratio. Have friends who do miners instead but there is the overhead of the business and you are hoping they can dig out enough to offset the costs. Mabye i'm just lazy but already have exposure to businesses through VIG and VTI. So owning the commodity with a low expense ratio seems to make sense. Also stick with gold because it is used as a reserve asset by other countries and balances the bond holdings in my IRA.

luckysharms93

Might as well just add bonds if you want income and stability. 80/20 SPY/BND beats VIG in both nominal and risk adjusted terms over the past 20 years. Bonus points for diversification and not just loading up on Financials/energy/telecoms

GruntledV8Fanboy

My general “safe” holds have been VOO, VIG, VIGI, and some SCHD. I did semi-recently add some QQQ and am seeing how that does. Then I have 25% of my investment portfolio in individual stocks and such. My retirement account is in a vanguard retirement fund, S&P 500 Index Fund, and a couple other things but largely goes untouched and has managed well over the last 5 years. My personal investment account has tripled over the course of 6-ish years. The fact you’re looking at investing and planning for the future at 20 already puts you ahead of many/most out there

TechnicalSleep7501

I am VOO, VXF and VXUS till infinity. VBil for dry powder. VTip for inflation later in life. VIG, VIGI, SCHD, SCHY to generate some cash tax free because tax bracket is 12%. 

Ahamadrayasbaboon

VIG is one of the best “dividend” ETFs along with FDVV. SCHD is one of the least bad ones. 

Direct_Remove509

I would not necessarily focus on higher dividend paying stocks. But if you want to throw a few bones at this then i recommend VIG ETF. They target large companies with a history of increasing dividends.

DoinIt4DaShorteez

You didn't say what your split is between VOO and VIG. Only thing I'd say is at 36 it probably should be tilted towards VOO. 3 months expenses might be a tad low, I'd probably boost that to at least 6 months over time. Nothing wrong with VOO + VIG. I'm assuming the Robinhood account is a non-retirement account. Only thing I'd say is max your Roth first. I would also max the 401(k), at that salary you should be able to afford to. Then if you still have $ left over and want to take some more risk with QQQ or whatever in Robinhood, fine.

leaning_on_a_wheel

Why VIG? I would add a little international exposure with VXUS and drop the dividend fund entirely

DifferentSwing3149

CDs are okay for a small percentage of your portfolio. Now sure what your total portfolio consists of and how much $ you have in total for retirement, pensions, collecting SS? Lots of questions before this can be answered. I would look at SGOV or VUSXX and possibly something like SCHD, VIG to get dividends and some growth to offset inflation.

GruntledV8Fanboy

I have VOO, VIG, and VIGI as well as SCHD, QYLD, and QQQ. I’m not saying what you should or should not do or choose, those are just included in my portfolio.

RubiksSugarCube

SCHD up 22% YTD VYM up 13% VIG up 10% Yeah money is moving into defensives

WordsHappenedHere

Allocate some to VIG and RSP. Dividend boomer stocks and equal weight S&P indexes

WordsHappenedHere

Shout out to VIG and RSP. You’ve kept my portfolio green over the past few months.

LectureForsaken6782

I would look at VIG - get a dividend growth fund yo start building your money printing machine...I know sone people will scowl at dividend investing...especially when young, but with enough time, you can build a valuable passive invome stream by the tine your in your 30s snd 40s....income increases your freedom and dividend income means you don't hsve to kill the golden goose that is laying your eggs

greenpride32

Broadly I'd suggest you model out bear/average/bull cases for all your liquid assets (you can do more than just 3 cases such as -10 -20 -30 -40 for "bears") and use that to help determine what is the maximum nominal drawdown you'd accept on QQQ. Then you can liquidate an amount that makes this nominal drawdown amount improbable to impossible. The larger the weight of QQQ, the more impactful it is and vice versa. But truth is if QQQ crashes, everything goes down with it. Top 10 weights in SP500 and NAS100 are getting closer and closer to matching with each passing year. In other words, the most successful and profitable companies are concentrated in tech. NAS100 is no longer the risky index from 25 years ago, it drives the modern economy. I'm retried early as well. I still have individual stocks to liquidate, and pushing proceeds into VOO QQQM SMH SCHD VIG VYM JEPI QQQI. I have high conviction on the individual stocks so just converting when I feel it's advantageous to me. But it's your money, and if you feel like playing crystal ball with it is the best choice than by all means go for it. You're asking here because I'm assuming your fudiciary didn't suggest the panic sellout route.

greenpride32

AVGO and NVDA are a very outsized part of my portfolio due to their gains (over several years to decade adding). I am slowly liquiding portions when I feel it makes sense if from taxable account or just trying to cut at near term highs rather than at lower points in tax advantaged. I still believe both will continue to outpace the SP500 for years to come. But regardless of conviction, it's foolish to be too heavily concentrated because you could be wrong and anything can happen. But I still want exposure to semi - so my funds go to a mix of VOO QQQM SMH SCHD VIG VYM and a little bit to QQQI and JEPI.

free-quentflyer

You're asking two slightly different questions which is why people are giving you different answers. If you want dividends you can invest in dividend-paying stocks or ETF's (vanguard has a couple dividend-focused ETF's, VYM and VIG). If you don't want to "erode your pot" (maintain the nominal value of your principle) you can invest in short-term bond/money market ETF's. I like PULS, for example, other people like SGOV. Fortunately interest rates are relatively high at the moment so you can earn 4-5% on those short term funds, i.e., $4-5k per year on your $100k principle. Hope that helps.

Familiar-Suspect730

At 22, the biggest advantage you have is time, so the primary focus should usually be long-term growth, diversification, and keeping the strategy simple. The funds you've selected are all quality ETFs, but the key question is what role each one plays in your overall portfolio. Since you already have a VOO-focused brokerage portfolio, adding more U.S. dividend and value exposure through VIG and SCHD may create overlap rather than additional diversification. VXUS can provide international exposure, which many investors use to reduce reliance on the U.S. market. VNQ can add real estate exposure, but remember REITs already have different tax and risk characteristics compared with owning physical real estate. A possible approach is to first define your target allocation: - How much U.S. equity exposure do you want? - How much international diversification? - Do you specifically want dividends, or are you prioritizing total return? - How will this fit with your 401(k) and taxable accounts? At your age, avoiding unnecessary complexity is often more valuable than adding more funds. A simple, low-cost portfolio that you can consistently contribute to for decades will usually outperform a strategy that is constantly adjusted.

Jealous_Bookkeeper20

If you leave the US in 7 years, your destination country's tax treaty determines if the Roth IRA remains tax sheltered. Most countries don't recognize the Roth wrapper. You'll likely face annual taxes on dividends and capital gains back home, or you'll have to liquidate the account. If you end up liquidating it or paying local taxes, high-yield assets like VNQ and SCHD stack tax friction. VNQ's yield is taxed as ordinary income and it's highly inefficient outside a US tax shelter. A clean VTI and VXUS split's easier to manage and it's more treaty friendly. You've also got high look-through overlap. VOO, VIG, and SCHD share many of the same US large-cap holdings, which just layers the same domestic beta. Where do you plan to move after your US residency ends?

RiskBeforeReturn

One thing I'd think about is avoiding unnecessary overlap. VIG and SCHD both tilt toward dividend-paying companies, so make sure each ETF has a clear role in your portfolio rather than owning multiple funds that largely solve the same problem. At 22, having a simple allocation that you can consistently add to for years is usually more important than finding the "perfect" mix.

glimsky

RSP/EUSA are equal weight ETFs that vastly reduce exposure to companies investing heavy in AI. But they also reduce exposure to anything that is successful. You can also check value funds like VTV and dividend to growth funds like VIG and DGRO for reduced exposure to AI. These funds all have pros and cons, but could be a better fit for you. Note: if there's a crash everything is going to drop. That's okay, that's the market cleaning itself up. The question is how long the recovery will take and different funds have different recovery horizons.

Relative_Channel8741

VIG

Sloffie1960

20% VOO 20%VTI 20% VIG then with the remaining 20% pick 3 speculation stocks.

Adam_Friedland_TAFS

This is wild timing on everything. Please just put all your cash into VIG and walk away for 3-4 years and you’ll be back in the green for sure.

morbidgames

There will always be ups and downs in the market. In the 80's inflation and 11% unemployment, then 90's we had the Gulf War, then 2001 the dot com bubble, 2007 the real estate recession, 2020 covid, now 2026 we have a war with Iran. Nothing ever really changes. You won't be eble to time the market, no one can. Also just because one market sector goes to shit doesn't mean they all do. At 20 you should invest your money in a ETF focused on high Growth, things like VGT/VOO, maybe even some industry specific ETFS like QTUM for quantum computing. You get 30+ years of watching the money go up and down but with compounding you're upward projectory can be meaningful. At 30-40 you may want to change things up, move from all growth potential to more steady so things like VTI and BBUS with a small allocation to VXUS (non US markets) as you want less risk, which also means less growth. At 50-60 you need to start thinking about consistent income and tax implecations instead of growth so you may start looking at things like JEPI/JEPQ, Bonds, Dividend focused ETFs like VYM/VIG. I don't know your Dad's age but what they do with their money needs to be different from what you do with your money.

Shadowrunner138

This is on top of VTI, VTO, VEA, VIG and their tax lost harvesting equivalents/alternatives in Wealthfront's automated account, set at maximum risk level, their automated bond fund, and an automated roth. Wealthfront automates tax lost harvesting and generates significantly more than their fees.

Mouth_Herpes

Sure, there are a million thematic ETFs that won’t or mostly won’t include AI or tech stocks. XLI is all industrials. ITA is all defense/aerospace stocks. XLE is all energy stocks. XLU is all utilities. VCR is all consumer discretionary. You could also pick countries that don’t have any AI companies. ARGT is all Argentine stocks. EWA is all Australian stocks. EPOL is all polish stocks. For something that \*mostly\* avoids AI stocks, you could buy a dividend ETF like SCHD or VIG. These are all just examples. If you want to avoid AI exposure, there are a lot of ways to do it with low expense ratio ETFs.

Virginia_Tesjan

Would do: 20% XLK because tech is gonna lead the next 25 years just like it did the last 25 year. 40% VOO for S&P 500 20% VEU for international 20% VIG for dividend and growth

Wise-Start-9166

Some folks are talking about hedging/shorting, but most retail individuals have no kind of training for it. Switching to VIG will keep you in exposure to AAPL, MSFT, GOOGL, and META. VIG will also have a lot of our favorite guys from VOO like Costco, Visa, and JPM. You will miss out on AMZN, so you could just buy shares of that one. VIG has not done as well holding VOO, but I will also be moving some stuff around if the S&P comittee circumventd their standards for any of these sits. I won't be closing my entire SP5 position, but I won't consider it my core any more. It is becoming more like a highly needs technology fund in my mind.

booobReviewer

You're not doing anything wrong, but you're overcomplicating it. With 11 ETFs in a Roth IRA, you're creating overlap that makes rebalancing harder without adding much diversification. SPY/VOO/VIG already cover the large-cap space, ARKK/ARKQ/DRAM are all thematic overlap, and buying $1/day of each means tiny positions spread too thin. Simplest fix: VOO (or VTI for total market) as your core, maybe 10% in a small/value tilt like AVUV if you want to factor-tilt, and treat ARKK/DRAM as a < 5% fun-money allocation if you believe in the thesis. You'll have fewer positions to track and the compounding on a single $11/day into VOO will be easier to manage.

Michael1272

Good morning - I am 24 and starting to grow my Roth, I have 10k rollover coming into my traditional and want to make sure everything I have looks right. I wanted to know what I’m doing wrong? I shared in another group and they said I need to move it all into index funds. However my novice self thought these were good buys for long term and honestly thought ETFs were index funds. Daily $1 buys - ARKK, ARKQ, BRK.B, DRAM, FNDF, QQQ, SCHD, SFY, SPY, VIG, VOO. I understand the overlap in some but it’s a lot better than I had previously - any help is greatly appreciated and would love some feedback. I want to maximize my time while I’m young, I make decent money for my age 120k+. If you have any questions for me I would love to be able to answer some. Thanks!

juste1221

Not even true. Historically Dividend and Value ETF's crash just as hard, and often even harder, than the S&P in real downturns. Take a look at the max draw downs in '08 and '20 for VTV, VYI, and VIG Vs. SPY

GolfLiftPlayPool

Dude put it in VIG.

Obvious-Waltz-6105

Is holding both VTV and VIG in a single portfolio redundant, or do their underlying screening methodologies offer distinct enough risk-mitigation to justify holding both?

Deeznutzsgotcha

Well duh. He's just collecting his monthly VIG.

That-Requirement-233

600k easily compounds into a set it and forget it generational wealth machine that you can pass on to your children without selling any of the assets. I'd look at lower beta dividend stocks with decent long term growth potential. VIG and/or SCHD. Reinvest the dividends, snowball. 600k is a huge head start for this strategy and you're highly insulated from stock market downturns.

ialwaysdisagreewithu

Those are all stocks. $SOUN = Soundhound AI, a very volatile AI stock that's got a short float of about 30%. I'll stare at the chart until I see something I like (read: it's all bullshit, I'm just getting lucky hoping to buy at the bottom or top of the current curve.) I buy or short Soundhound, then sell after it moves 2-3%. Easy $200 bucks after taxes. Stick the taxes in a savings account and the rest into stocks I'm long in. VIG = Vanguard's dividend appreciation ETF VOO = Vanguard's S&P ETF VYMI = Vanguard's international dividend ETF VUG = Vanguard's growth ETF

WorriedConstruction3

I’m new to this…can you explain what you mean “day trading $SOUN” and “Stick it into VIG, VOO, VYMI, VUG”?

ialwaysdisagreewithu

Not if you just day trade with the same $10k everyday and stick earnings into long positions. I'm making $1000-1500 a week day-trading $SOUN, I just stick it into VIG, VOO, VYMI, VUG and forget.

PandaJunk

Mostly dividend ETFs like SCHD, DGRO, and VIG. But I watch the market pretty much daily, so am not super worried about going negative. At the same time, my emergency fund becomes an a income generator. I don't love the tax drag, but on balance, I've come out ahead, even with a job loss.

Vandilbg

Low risk long term. Put it in a Roth ira and drop 40% into VTIP and the other 60% split on VIG and VTI. Total market growth, dividend growth, and inflation protected treasuries.

patsay

This is how I’m doing it with a $1M portfolio. I put cash into an interest-bearing instrument (for me, SWVXX, but there are others). Now I’m buying in slowly to 4 diversified ETFs using cash secured puts to lower my cost basis and to add to my share count. SPY, VIG, GLD and QQQ. I’m making a video series and showing the live trades if you want to look on my profile to find them. The video series is inspired by one of my coaching clients who is consolidating all of her 401(k) accounts, equity from her house, and some insurance money as she transitions to retirement life.

Spookiest_Meow

I use the stock screener on [stockanalysis.com](http://stockanalysis.com) to export a list of all stocks into Excel, and then I use filters and column formatting rules to find stocks I want based on various metrics like P/E Ratio, Debt/Equity, Free Cash Flow, Return %s over various time periods, etc. When you identify stocks you might like, you look at the stock charts across various time periods - particularly all-time, 5 year, 1 year, etc. If you want to be more precise, you can look at 1 year, 6 month, 3 month, 1 month etc. charts with Moving Average indicator overlays and RSI to determine whether or not it's a good time to buy that specific stock. Another thing you can do is look at ETFs that select stocks by specific metrics, like VIG, and then look at their holdings. A lot of those are ones I'd naturally select based on my own research, for example ABBV, V, MA, KO, WM etc. * use a stock screener * export the data to a spreadsheet app * format columns for visibility and filter * identity good potential stocks via various financial metrics * look at their charts * look at moving average indicators and RSI, or whatever indicators you like * buy whatever meets your desired criteria and looks good

Spirited-Manner9674

VIG

Powerful-Orchid1270

Just curious on your thoughts on my portfolio. Always open to advice. So I have just over $16k in a private brokerage account and then about $36k in a 457 through my employer. The 457 is split 50/50 between a large cap fund and a target retirement date fund The $16k in my brokerage account is divided as follows: 22% FGRIX (fidelity growth and income fund) 20% SCHD 19% VTI 18% VIG 6% SCHG 6% VTWO 6% AMZN 3% SHOP I kind of prefer a “set it and forget it” approach and don’t necessarily want to worry about trying to buy and sell stocks at the right time. What do you guys think? Also, just for reference, I have about 20 years until I retire and put $350 in each of my accounts each month.

KemShafu

Great lesson to learn. Set it and forget it is great. You got a loss. If you find yourself messing around with your investments, then just set aside 1000 a year and play with that with your side stocks. Having said that, look at VGRO and VIG to compare with VTI

BeginningFriendly338

this is the textbook definition of diworsification lol. VTI literally holds every single US stock that is inside VOO, VOOG, SCHD, VYM, and VIG. ur not covering more bases, ur just buying the exact same large cap companies wrapped in different packaging,personally i combined wth the private tech like vcx for exposure so you can just buy VTI and chill

Special_Sir_1826

Hi, there aren’t really “charity ETFs.” FHLC is just healthcare exposure, not impact investing. For dividends + quality tilt, VIG or NOBL are solid. For ESG exposure, ESGV or DSI; ICLN for clean energy. Most people combine dividend ETFs with direct donations for actual impact.

EveryPassage

VOO and VTI are 90% the same. SCHD, VIG and VYM + VOOG sort of just mimics VOO when put together. 10% international equities is pretty low.

clivesrazylarge

VIG and Veg out

Uniquename34556

Stability is looking mighty nice for the next decade or so. I’m doing something similar and increasing investments in VIG. Smaller yields but more stability. Probably won’t make much of a difference in the long run but maybe it will in retrospect. Life’s a risk one way or the other.

CYCLE_NYC

VIG

bemeandnotyou

How much is his VIG?

ButterRollercoaster

Stupidly overcomplicating it. This is just DCA with extra steps and more decisions. With SPY, QQQ, VIG, and GLD, simplicity usually wins. Lump sum or DCA and move on. Stop fucking with options for no good reason.

johnk317

VIG and VYM are buys now.

DifferentSwing3149

First answer the following questions to yourself at least: 1. Do I need any of this 400k for a near term large purchase such as a house, car, major renovations, college expenses, etc. 2. How much $ do I need in cash like funds in case of emergency? Usually no more than 6 months of your monthly expenses. 3. Retirement plans, age/years to go. 4. What is set aside for retirement already? 5. Is my job stable? There are quite a few more you could ask but at least these will help determine how you invest that 400k. If you basically don't need any of the 400k and retirement is down the road say 10 or more years, invest it into index/growth etf's with some possibly in dividend based etf's such as SCHD, VIG, VYMI to help balance the rush you are willing to take.

KingHenry13th

Yea pick an amount of money that keeps you comfortable to live and have access to in the bank and invest the rest. VIG, VOO, VTI.  If you are afraid of losing money short term or timing the market it won't work. 

skilliard7

You can invest in ETFs for indexes that generally avoid speculative companies, like VNQ(Real estate), VYM(Dividend fund), VIG(Dividend growth fund).

DifferentSwing3149

Thanks for the advice. The overlap between SCHD and VIG does exist but it's not that bad. 12% by weight - https://www.etfrc.com/funds/overlap.php

durian_spoon

The 55/15/30 split is conservative but you're retired — conservative is fine. Moving CDs to intermediate bonds as they mature makes sense for yield pickup without adding real risk. JEPQ and GPIX are earning their keep in sideways markets. The only thing I'd watch is overlap between SCHD and VIG since they fish in similar dividend-growth waters.

Signal-Shoe-6670

Honestly this already looks pretty thoughtful. 55% equities / 45% defensive assets is a pretty common range for someone a few years into retirement, and having a 30% cash buffer gives you a lot of optionality during volatility. One way I tend to look at portfolios that helps simplify the overlap question is thinking in “sleeves” rather than individual funds. For example something like: • Core market sleeve – broad exposure (VOO, VTI, etc.) • Income / dividend sleeve – SCHD, VIG, JEPI style funds • Ballast sleeve – bonds, CDs, cash • Optional satellite sleeve – anything tactical or opportunistic When you zoom out that way, some overlap between funds matters a lot less, because the job and intent of the sleeve is clear. The sleeve structure also makes rebalancing easier since you’re adjusting exposure at the sleeve level instead of constantly swapping individual funds. From what you described, you already kind of have that structure forming naturally — especially with the growth vs dividend split and the large cash reserve. Your plan to gradually move CD maturities into bonds also sounds pretty reasonable.

QuickInvestIQ

Your allocation actually looks pretty reasonable for someone in retirement. 55% equities gives you growth to help offset inflation, while the bonds and cash provide stability and liquidity. The only thing I might question is the overlap in funds. VOO, SCHG, SCHD, and VIG all hold many of the same large companies, so you could simplify without changing the overall exposure much. Also, with 30% cash you already have a strong buffer, so gradually shifting some into bonds (like you mentioned) could help generate a bit more income while keeping risk moderate. Overall though, it looks like a balanced and thoughtful approach.

sirzoop

sure, go invest in something like VIG or VIGI instead of VOO

CanYouPleaseChill

An easy way is to look at the components of the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG).

Pink-Pony-6398

I’m Panicking, bought right before the dip! Down 15% I am 21 and only started investing in November with a total of \~10k. I have 70% in relatively stable ETFs (VTI, VT, VXUS, SPXT, VIG, Nasdaq?), but that remaining 30%… wow. I’ve been invested in GOOG and Taiwan and they’ve done well for me. But a couple weeks ago I decided to buy some riskier ETFs because they had like 3-5 year major growth and didn’t seem too volatile (like a random startup). These ETFs include South Korea, Spain, Brazil, Copper, Silver, and Gold. My portfolio was doing amazing. ALL of which are crashing hard. I literally bought days before the big dip when there was a tiny dip, figuring that when I check back in 20 years it’ll have some normal bumps but ultimately go up. But then Trump bombed Iran and everything fell apart. I have 50% of my net worth invested. I don’t know if these markets will come back well enough to make the purchase worth it. I know I should hold. I learned my lesson when I first invested and listened to my Crypto ex-boyfriend (who is very rich and told me not to worry, high risk high reward. And like an idiot I believed him), losing $800. But it’s still making me so anxious, people are saying this war could last for years, and I can’t help these emotions even though my logic is telling me to hold. Ugh. It just sucks.

HunterMichael92

The reason for this is their major productions are coming out in near-term, i.e. Hunger Games & Michael, expected to gross over $3bn combined in Box Office Pay 1. You do not value movie studios and libraries on a Quarter-on-Quarter basis. Investors are pricing in the success in the near-term and an added VIG for a potential transaction. This industry is not invested on earnings being equal or better every3 months. The debt levels will be brought down within 6 months after the next two releases mature.

WorldArtist

$125 a week distributed to a few ETF’s (VTI, VXUS, VIG, FXIAX) and you’ll be doing a hell of a lot better than you’re doing now with no effort or stress. Leave it in place and in 30 years you’ll be better than 70% of ppl and retired. Find a company that matches your contributions.

No_Feeling920

I'm Czech but the OP is right. The stock market here is just several overpriced stocks plus some secondary listings of foreign stocks (VIG, Erste Group). It's dire. [https://www.pse.cz/en/market-data/shares/prime-market](https://www.pse.cz/en/market-data/shares/prime-market)

sirzoop

same i have a lot of SCHD, VIG and VIGI as well

BobtheChemist

Investing part of the cash will generate more future wealth, and you can always keep part in cash (SGOV, etc) for emergencies. If you put part into growth, like IVV, QQQ, SPY, IYM, etc, some into dividends like VIG, VYM, SCHD, or such, and then keep adding to it as you can. But you will earn 2000+ a year with any luck, and still have some cash for emergencies. But it will not ay the entire rent any time soon.

WordsHappenedHere

I have owned VIG for like 20 years. Almost since its inception date. But I’m old bro. Turned 44 this year 💪

Double-Intention4308

* 44 years old * Currently employed ($140,000/yr) * 401(k) that is mostly in a target date fund, with about 40% sitting in a value fund, international fund, and mid-cap fund. All new contributions go to the target date fund. * Roth IRA that is kind of a mess because I've held it forever, but can be modeled as something like 80% VTI + 20% VXUS. * Only debt is my mortgage, which is 3.75% * Fully funded emergency fund (two years) I'm trying to be better with my money. Due to a rocky upbringing, I have a lot of purely psychological roadblocks when it comes to investing. I'd like to start putting more money into my taxable brokerage account, and I'm looking for advice on what I could do in terms of an "intermediate" risk profile that sits somewhere between HYSA/SGOV combination that I've been defaulting to lately and the portfolio I have in my retirement accounts. I've considered a mix of defensive sector ETFs (XLU/XLV/XLP) and heavily "filtered" ETFs like SCHD and VIG. I've also considered bonds, but after 2022 I feel like I don't understand the underlying mechanisms well enough to buy into that. Treasuries might also be an option. If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them.

garulousmonkey

If you’re poor and just starting in the market stay clear of individual stocks.  An individual stock may tank, and take all your money with it.  Buy ETF’s instead.  Less risky, and you can buy fractional shares so share price doesn’t matter. Some of the better ETF’s are on vanguard and fidelity.  VOO is often recommended, VIG is one that I like.

EvolvingDior

VIG when it gets like this.

sirzoop

buy etfs and hold them forever my favorites are VOO, VXUS, VUG, VIG

BobtheChemist

maybe a mix of VOO, QQQ, VIG, perhaps an international fund, REIT fund, or other bits. I picked a mix of about 5 funds and it got me to retirement early. Your results may vary.

5000-Shark-Teeth

I do a mix of VT, VIG, VTV, VBR...shit is solid.

treysor

You should look into $VIG and only gamble your quarterly dividends into risky options from now on.

Sea-Economics-9582

https://preview.redd.it/6s1v8ut0uz9g1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=968d183a336b7554cac8c45e8b2b09a7f6835775 Using decent etfs. VIG, SCHD, VYM, VOO, and BRK.B. Just been popping in some to each find every week and reinvesting dividends. Got tired of getting burned when I couldn’t be watching my portfolio at work or other stuff, so changed my strategy for a long term set it and forget it. To the left is when I was trying to be cool and catch trades and play cheap options, to the right is when I quit messing around and just forgot about it.

IndyBananaJones2

It makes sense for income flexibility for some people though.  I mean, invest in stuff like SCHD, VPU, VIG and get decent growth with a 3.x% return. $1m portfolio gets you $30k in money that then can be used to buy the dip or fund the lifestyle 

justadimestorepoet

It doesn't particularly matter. As long as it has a low fee and roughly matches the market, those are the only truly important rules. I have around a 20% allocation in VOO as the backbone of my portfolio, and I have around 5% in VIG so I can have some realized returns in the form of dividends. It works, and I didn't really want to overthink what is supposed to be a "set it and forget it" investment.

SnoopDoug523

VIG

Digital-Doc-777

Need more stock exposure as interest rates are dropping. Look at some VTI, VIG, VYM and GPIX to establish a dividend stream of income, and allow for some growth on at least half the overall portfolio. You have the money, need to get it working more tax efficiently.

Hoefty224421

Even a clock is right twice a day. Let's see how well everyone does during a market correction or a recession The VOO , VIG, etc may not have flashy high double digits but I'll sleep at night. Also comes down to age, income and risk tolerance. I've worked hard to build my retirement Prefer the reits, blue chips and ETF's that pay.

Potential-Break-4939

I also have a much simpler go to strategy as well. 25% VONG, 25% VIG, 25% XMMO, and 25% IDMO. These give exposure to growth, dividend growth, mid/small cap, and International ETFs.

sirzoop

Both. Grab some VTI VUG and VIG they are my favorites

pawbf

Look at VIG. Expense ratio is 0.05%.

happyaccident_041315

for real. my rule of thumb with these is to buy a few thousand of shares and then if it goes up 200% i automatically sell 1/3rd of the original purchase. i roll that back into VTI or VIG. After that I don't really care what happens to the stock, and if I am lucky it go up more at some point in the future. Did this with a few on this list but couldn't stomach buying a quantum computing company.

Variation261

I like VIG at 215 or below.

dvdmovie1

I don't think this is bad. I'd suggest perhaps DGRO or VIG instead of SCHD and I don't think you need BND at 30. Maybe could be slightly tweaked in terms of risk, but if you're a low-to-medium risk appetite, this seems to fairly well fit that. "DBS/D05" Not sure what this is - the Silver etf or the Singapore bank? If the Silver ETF, I'll note that a lot of commodity ETFs result in a K-1 form. "if the AI bubble bursts" I've read so much discussion lately with great certainty about the AI bubble and imminent bursting. I'd be more concerned if I read less about an imminent bubble bust and more about people giving up on waiting for a correction and talking about going full on into all the things that have already run up. I've trimmed some AI exposure in recent months not because of calling an imminent top, but because when things have doubled and tripled in a matter of 6 months, taking some off the table and dialing risk down a bit is prudent (and 2022/early 2025 weren't that long ago.) There have been some out of favor names lately that I've done well with while everyone has crowded into AI. So I think a lot of the easy money in AI has been made, but for all I know the theme could continue to go on for a while with corrections. Nothing about the earnings so far this season would suggest spending is cooling imminently. If you're worried about an imminent AI bubble pop, you can pivot more towards exposure to out of favor value, but then it becomes are you okay with underperforming if AI continues like this for another year? The above portfolio that you posted I think is good (and maybe a tweak or two but nothing significant) for something that's largely set and forget. If you want to make active chioces with all or part of your portfolio (allocate towards out of favor value during growth periods like this in an attempt to outperform comparatively - will still lose if there is a downturn, but likely less; if the market continues like it has you will likely underperform) you can do that but it introduces having to time shifts and potentially underperform if wrong. You could look at alternatives like long-short funds or managed futures rather than the 5% in BND, but those tend to be more expensive given the cost of shorting (and not that many funds in the category are actually good.) I don't own it but something like the Adaptive US Factor ETF (https://www.globalxetfs.com/funds/ausf) has the ability to pivot between factors - minimum volatility, value and momentum - (either allocates to two factors with a 50% / 50% weighting, or all three factors with a weighting of 40% / 40% / 20% depending on the trailing returns of each factor.) The ETF won't pivot instantly by any means and past performance isn't a guarantee of future results, but over the last 5 years that's wound up doing pretty well comparatively during the bad times (2022, early 2025) while still managing to participate pretty decently during the good times. There's all sorts of options, but it becomes how much time do you want to devote vs creating something that's largely set and forget. The indexes would be impacted if the AI bubble burst, but not as much as a portfolio that's entirely aggressive growth AI names/portfolios that look entirely like a tech/growth fund.

Digital-Doc-777

Combination of funds that pay dividends. Look at VYM, VIG, SCHD, and JEPI.

5000-Shark-Teeth

Are you me? I do almost the same thing. Most of my money in ETFs (VTI, VXUS, VTV, VIG, VGIT) but I swing trade on the side with gold lol but I use GLDM.

GruntledV8Fanboy

A lot of my portfolio is in VOO, VIG, VIGI, and similar mutual funds/ETFs. For the least risk, most ETFs or Mutual Funds that track with the S&P 500 are considered the “safest” bet in the stock market. This isn’t financial advice but if you’re looking to buy and hold, having a “nest egg” in diversified ETFs/Mutual Funds in your portfolio isn’t a bad idea.

MrMoogie

I think Value stocks, international stocks and a diversified basket of bonds like BND or BINC will work as well as anything. You could also hold quality/dividend appreciating names like QUAL, VIG and JQUA. I’m moving towards this allocation. If we dip much further I’ll start buying more of all these things. Gold, tech, BTC, S&P500 all feel like they are all in a bubble.

Hoefty224421

Only vehicle they make decent is the F150. Like all the once big 3. One here and there and the rest all crap. Heard that the lightening is plagued w issues. Absolutely ridiculous for a 120k truck. It's a role of the dice but it's dead money I'd use the sale and buy better choices . Split it up between a few or grab a VOO or VIG, some QQQ

Laureles2

My portfolio is several million at this point, with most in Vanguard ETFs like VGT, VOO (SP500), VYM, VIG, and VFH. The individual stocks are generally purchased when they pull back for some extra juice. For example both GOOD and AAPL had a big pullback and I bought. I also bought UNH when it was around 275-280 (down almost 55%!!) for a while. Will see how they work out.

CatDaddyDeluxe

I would consider something like VIG if you are wanting diversification away from mega cap tech. VIG is the vanguard dividend growers index fund. Low fees, diversified with 337 companies. Only includes companies that have grown dividends every year for at least 10 years, many have grown for 25+ years. These types of funds, while technically focusing on dividend growth, tend to be more “defensive” as a side effect. They tend to have mature business models and loyal customer bases, healthy balance sheets and low debt as a result of their commitment to raising dividends every year regardless of the market environment. Historically this has led to slightly lower returns, but also lower drawdowns when the market crashes. For example, from 2006-now VIG had an annual return of 10.04%, compared to 10.91% for SPY. However, the max drawdown for VIG over that period was 45%, compared to 55% for SPY. It achieved these returns without being concentrated in tech or mega caps like the S&P 500 or Nasdaq 100. I would use the S&P/Nasdaq as a core position and VIG as a satellite if I wanted to hedge against concentration. Totally different holdings than either of those two. https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/etfs/profile/vig

NYEDMD

Would suggest setting up a separate account for the $30K. Say your payment is due Oct 01 2027. Start by investing 50% to 75% (exact percentage depends on your risk tolerance) in an etf like VYM or VIG. Set a trailing stop loss at 15% to 25% (again, depending on your risk tolerance). Spring of 27’, knock down the equity position to 50% or so. Around Labor Day, convert to cash. Best case scenario, you can pocket as much as $5K to $8K. Good luck.

bauhaus83i

VIG is a decent dividend fund if you follow your own advice

I-STATE-FACTS

do you mean dividend growth ETFs (VIG, SCHD, SDY) or growth ETFs that also pay out dividends (QQQM, VUG)