VMFXX
Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund Investor Shares
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Blow Up Risk of a Money Market Fund
Question about taxes on tbills vs money market funds
buy VMFXX after dip from jobs report?
I purchased VIPSX in 2017, this is how it has performed so far
What prevents dividend arbitrage with MFs like VMFXX?
Considering investing my HSA into a money market fund (VMFXX). Why would I not want to do this?
Vanguard Idle Cash/“Settlement Fund” Options
Vanguard Idle Cash/“Settlement Fund” Options
Vanguard Bond Holdings (e.g. VBTLX) versus holding in settlement fund (e.g. VMFXX)
Would it be worth putting money in my "safe" money in a Money Market ETF?
What is the difference between Vanguard's settlement fund and VMFXX?
VMSXX has now temporarily surpassed all MMFs for higher federal tax brackets.
PSA: You can max out your Roth IRA or other tax advantaged account immediately if you have excess cash you don't wish to invest in stocks
Why do CD, when you have better rates on the money market (VMFXX)
Money Market Fund (Euro or USD) available in the European Union?
Parking cash short term in money market funds?
5 Great Fixed-Income Funds to Buy for 2023.What do you think?
Vanguard's Settlement Fund or Treasury Bills?
Vanguard's e-mail contact to ask a KID's translation
If I hold money in Vanguard VMFXX for over a year do the issued dividends become qualified dividends?
Money Market vs. Cash? What's the difference? Also, what are current cash (and equiv) yields on Fidelity, Vanguard, Etrade, etc?
Money Market vs. Cash? What's the difference? Also, what are current cash (and equiv) yields on Fidelity, Vanguard, Etrade, etc?
Vanguard MMF (VMFXX) alternatives for non-resident
If you're on Fidelity, what's the best money market fund?
Why t-bill ladders with options like VMFXX and VUSB available?
U.S. Govt Obligations and Repurchase Agreements
Mentions
90+% cash in Vanguard VUSXX and the rest in the holding amount (VMFXX)
I sold half the Roth IRA this afternoon and moved it to VMFXX. I don't think the Fed can make a rate cut for a little while. If chaos ensues I think it happens very quickly and hopefully I can shift before I am losing money to inflation
depends on how close you are to retirement. Almost certainly no. plus, if you think through your thought experiment and there's an economic contraction, fed will cut rates and VMFXX will yield nothing.
Was holding almost 40% cash in VMFXX, still earning 4.3%. Bought gold on libration day up 10% as well as BRK-B … correction yesterday but it will do fine. Cash now around 25% …
Should I move my Roth IRA funds from my target date retirement fund into VMFXX? I'm highly bearish currently due to Trump stupidity. I need someone to reality check me. I feel like the tariff impact has not really even been seen yet and we are where we started before "liberation day". My Hope was to move my Roth IRA into vmfxx and capitalize on the steady 4% return (for now). Some gut check me.
It's all about the expense ratios the funds charge. VMFXX is 0.11%, SPAXX is 0.42%. Fidelity's ER really eats into the their MMFs yield.
They don't refer to it as a sweep, but in the transactions list it will show Sweep In and Sweep out. It appears that they have an invisible sweep account where things go before landing in or out of the settlement holding - typically VMFXX. It doesn't really matter. Deposits and share sales go to the settlement MMF. Purchases and withdrawals come from the settlement MMF.
\>(VMFXX). If you click here, you see the yield is 4.23% (minus 0.11% fee, is 4.12%). The quoted yield includes the expense ratio. Subtracting the ER to get the net yield is incorrect. The quoted yield is the net yield.
VMFXX has a 0.11% expense ratio and currently 4.27% 7 day yield, for anyone wondering.
That's a smart move! Both VMFXX and SWVXX are solid options for investing your home down payment money. Good luck with your investment journey!
It’s absolutely what I’ve been doing. I looked at tons of other options, but VMFXX still seemed like the best idea to me.
I realized some long-term capital gains and am feeling rather bearish with all the tariffs going on. I realized John Bogle would strike me down, but I'd like to sit in a safer more liquid position while I wait a couple months. To my understanding the settlement fund tracks the three-month t Bill rate. Is there any reason I shouldn't just wait hin VMFXX? Or do you have any other suggestions for sitting on ~45% of my portfolio?
If you want to buy in the next two years, VUSXX is great. It has better tax advantages than the cash sweep fund in a Vanguard brokerage account (VMFXX). Last year VUSXX dividends were 100% exempt from state tax.
1. Their cash plus sucks. Just put the cash into their normal settlement account. It's designed to sweep into their money market fund nightly (VMFXX). That's paying 4.12% now, which is some of the highest rates. 2. When you say 'best' fund, do you mean a long term investment? Or a shorter term investment for your house? If longer, can't go wrong with VOO/VTI/VT. Pick one and stick with it. If shorter, again, I'd recommend their money market auto-sweep. You don't even have to think about it!
Sure: https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/vanguard-cash-deposit They offer two different 'settlement funds'. One is their (rather lame) cash plus account, but it does have FDIC. The other (the standard one) is the Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund (VMFXX). If you click here, you see the yield is 4.23% (minus 0.11% fee, is 4.12%). https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/profile/vmfxx#undefined I know it works because my cash is swept whenever I transfer it over. When I buy anything, it buys the security, then sweeps out the amount needed to cover the buy the next day. So 'worst case' my emergency cash sits there earning 4.12%. I also see the interest payment hit every month end(like I did today! Woohoo!)
Every brokerage has a money market fund. Vanguard automatically sweeps any free cash into VMFXX (yield is 4.23%). That's the best you're gonna get.
From ChatGPT O3 model: TL;DR – keep it in cash-equivalents, not “investments.” Here are the usual suspects, all virtually risk-free and liquid inside 12 mo: 1. 6-month T-Bills – Buy on TreasuryDirect or in a brokerage account. Yield ~5.1% today, exempt from state tax, backed by Uncle Sam. Redeem or roll when they mature. 2. High-Yield Savings (FDIC-insured) – Ally, Capital One 360, SoFi, CIT, Marcus… all floating around 4.3-4.6% APY and you can pull the cash anytime. 3. No-Penalty CDs – Ally’s 9-mo at 4.55%, CIT’s 11-mo at 4.90% etc. FDIC coverage, but you can break early with zero penalty if you find a house sooner. 4. Prime Money-Market Fund (VMFXX, SPRXX, FDLXX, etc.) – ~5% 7-day yield; not FDIC, but ultra-short gov’t paper and SIPC-protected in a brokerage. For a down-payment you must have on a fixed timeline, don’t chase anything with market risk—stick to cash, CDs, or Treasuries and sleep easy.
That depends on the short term bonds or bond fund and the particular MMF. SGOV and Vanguard's VUSXX MMF are very close in performance. SGOV and VUSXX are all or nearly all state tax exempt. Vanguard's most typical VMFXX MMF is not fully state tax exempt. If you are at Fidelity with their high expense ratios MMFs SGOV has about a 0.2% higher yield. SGOV as an ETF can be bought at any broker. MMFs available are specific to each broker. If you don't have much money in them the 0.2% difference doesn't make much difference.
If you have a Vanguard account then either SGOV or VMFXX federal money market funds will get you around 4% that are essentially risk free. You are looking at buying a house in 2 years, so you don't want to put it in the market but you need to get it out of a standard bank savings account so you stop the losses to inflation.
Definitely don't pay off the mortgage, you'll get higher interest rates in a money market fund like VMFXX. Personally my money is mostly foreign bonds (BNDX) with a substantial minority in foreign stocks (VXUS) and a little bit in gold (IAU). If you want to play it super-super safe though you could do a money market fund or inflation protected bonds (VTIP). Note: all tickers except VMFXX are ETFs. All ETFs except IAU are Vanguard funds, and have traditional mutual fund counterparts which you can find via Vanguard's website.
There's millions of better options. Every broker has a good money-market fund paying north of 4% at the moment. I use VMFXX, pays 4.23%
I’ve got a Vanguard brokerage linked to my bank, but every major investment house can do one. I move money from bank into Vanguard, into a “settlement fund”. That fund is connected to VMFXX by default, which is earning 4.23%
money market fund, my vanguard gets me 4.2% with a .1% expense ratio (VMFXX)
Money market. Check out Vanguard Money Market VMFXX. Pays more than 4%, is SIPC insured and you can easily tap it to invest whenever you’re ready.
this right here is why i sold a good portion of my US stocks at open on Tuesday. 27M. 50% US equities, 33% cash (VMFXX), 17% international equities
401K portfolio suggestions? New to investing, I have a 401K through my employer. This is the investment lineup currently offered: - BAGIX – Baird Aggregate Bond Fund - Vanguard Institutional 500 Index Trust - Vanguard Institutional Extended Market Index Trust - Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Trust - Vanguard Institutional Total International Stock Market Index Trust - DOXGX – Dodge & Cox Stock Fund - JSNWX – Janus Henderson Small Cap Value Fund - QISCX – Federated Hermes International Small-Mid Company Fund - RERGX – American Funds EuroPacific Growth Fund - Schwab SDB Sweep Program - VIPIX – Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities Fund - VMFXX – Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund - VPMAX – Vanguard PRIMECAP Fund What portfolio combinations would you recommend? I’m 30 years old BTW.
Of course! Just so you know, if you have a vanguard account, any uninvested cash in the account is automatically placed in VMFXX. It's a great feature and hence I use my vanguard account and a savings account
The answer is VMFXX
Why a HYSA instead of a money market fund like VMFXX?
Anywhere better than MM for emergency fund, home downpayment? Currently being kept in VMFXX since Jan 2024 and am happy staying conservative.
I recently put in vanguard VMFXX about 600k and left it there
VMFXX has a higher interest rate so thats the answer
I moved more into BND and HYSA as a percentage in my ROTH IRA. At 80% since there was no tax hit. I will start DCAing back into VOO or perhaps VT come Monday - it takes a couple days to move funds around. That will be my dry powder. However, I can't touch my taxable investment accounts as selling would require significant Cap gains hits. So like many I am just up less than I was 2 weeks ago. If you have been investing since, say the pandemic you are still up overall if you have taken a Bogle approach. VOO / BND / VMFXX
Same. Put half my 401k in VMFXX. Then my entire Roth IRA into TSDD. The Roth is much smaller, unfortunately, but they still nearly offset each other.
I'm 100% in VMFXX In other words, I'm on the sidelines sitting on a mountain of cash while everyone else bleeds. I'll buy back in once we've actually started to feel pain and foreclosures are on the rise.
FDRXX, VMFXX, and VUSXX to name a few.
Is this dip in the market a good time to buy? I have money in VMFXX that I've been wanting to move to something more lucrative
Hold for the bounce, then put into a fix return like VMFXX. Wait till October!
I’m in VMFXX paying out 4.23% check it out
I would not invest in VXUS. VXUS performs terribly and is not a hedge. IMO it not worth investing in at all. If you want international exposure, look for individual countries that you are long term bullish on. Ireland and Taiwan are the only ones that I think are worth looking at (and they still won't be a hedge). You do need a stable value component to re-balance off of though. This will keep your returns the same, but reduce volatility (per the great work done by Bessembinder et al). Since you are longer term, I would look at between 10% and 20% in stable value and you need to re-balance periodically when things get unbalanced, but not all the time (\~2 to 4 times a year). Your stable value fund can change over time depending on what is best, but ideally it should maintain its value despite what is happening in the market. Right the Federal Money Market fund (VMFXX) is great, it has been returning around 4% to 5% this last year. So you could do 80% VTI / 20% VMFXX. You must re-balance periodically though, otherwise it is worthless.
It can basically only lose money if the US government defaults on debt. Which has never happened and if it does money is worthless anyway so none of this matters. The only money market fund which has ever failed was a Lehman Brothers fund when the bank went bankrupt during the 2008 financial crisis. However that fund held a lot of corporate and real estate debt. A fund like VMFXX which just holds government debt would not have been affected. Also that Lehman Brothers fund paid out .97 cents on the dollar, it's not like the money was just gone.
Question, any perks to having it in VMFXX over a HYSA getting me 3.55%. With the expense ratio being 0.11% and yield 4.23% is it safe to understand that as a total yield of 4.12%? I’m in this boat now, deciding whether to transfer short term cash from HYSA to a MMF. thanks
It really comes down to what matters most to you. HYSAs are super easy to access, and 3.75% is pretty solid for an emergency fund. Money market funds like VMFXX might give you a bit more return, but they’re not always as quick to pull from if you need cash fast. If you’re curious to see if there’s a better option, [high yield savings](https://banktruth.org/savings/?ttcid=high-yield-savings-c) is a great spot to check out current rates and compare accounts. It’s pretty handy for finding the best deal without too much hassle.
I’m 80% in VMFXX. Things are going to get worse.
Most people are asking: "With all that's going on, my wife is asking if we should move everything to VMFXX". I've got many times that amount sitting in preferable VUSXX. If the gov't can no longer print money to pay me back, my account balances will be the least of my worries (not that I'll be able to check them).
if you want to keep your emergency fund easy to access, sticking with an HYSA is probably the way to go even if the return is a little lower. brokerage MM funds like VMFXX can offer a bit more return but you might need to sell or transfer the funds before you can get to the cash quickly. if your HYSA is earning 3.75% and you’re comfortable with it, it’s probably best to just keep it there.
VMFXX, VUSXX or SPAXX all good.
Because VMFXX is still paying me 4,3% - so up slightly over the past few months- whereas my stock portfolio is down by at least 10%.
Vanguard money market account like VMFXX!
Is VMFXX taxed any differently than my HYSA?
Right now I have basically all of my cash in VMFXX. It’s got a 4.3%ish yield which is better than my HYSAs and it’s SIPC insured.
Only downside transferring from a brokerage like Vanguard that I can think of is losing 4.22% APY on my cash (money market fund), whereas RH is a flat 4%. That said VMFXX (vanguard money market) changes daily and might be down to 4% soon too. RH just seems to avg about .25% less interest on cash than Vanguard.
SIPC insured. Some risk in the underlying securities but next to zero. I am carrying a ridiculously high amount in VMFXX currently as it pays nearly 4.5% and is darn safe. Letting the recession winds blow before I invest it back in equities.
I didnt withdraw. I just sold the investments and kept them in VMFXX (so just sitting in Money market)
Nothing wrong. I did the same thing but I’m not convinced we’re done dipping so my 401k is still sitting in VMFXX. Meanwhile I swapped SCHG IN my Roth IRA for TSDD and MSTZ and it’s up 147% YTD. I see no catalysts for a change any time soon but if I do, I’ll go back to more normal plays. I’m 50yo.
Note for passersby SGOV 4.90% is the trailing rate. SGOV 30-Day SEC Yield is currently 4.21%. It has expectedly been declining as with similar funds, such as USFR. The Vanguard default Federal Money Market Fund VMFXX 7-Day SEC Yield is 4.24%. Though for Vanguard investors concerned with state/local taxes there are better options.
In a bear market, ETFs are definitely going to drop. Individual stocks could make money. I personally wouldn't do it but it could work if you have a good idea which individual companies are going to benefit. I would agree with cash, as long as interest rates maintain. I am in that position. if interest rates drop a lot that my return on VMFXX drops alot, I will start buying back dropping my cash by 10-20% monthly depending on how things look.
I put my entire Roth IRA in TSDD in January at $27. I’m up huge. And sold half this week. I opened smaller positions in MSTZ and YINN. My 401k is 50% VMFXX 50% VITPX
VMFXX. If I lose money in VMFXX then the US has defaulted on its debt and we're at a point where money doesn't matter anymore even cash. Empty grocery store isles, skyrocketing costs of goods and services, overnight increased crime rates and social instability. It's a very, very bad place to be anyway and parking money underneath a mattress isn't going to really help.
It's actually 100% for 2024 [https://investor.vanguard.com/content/dam/retail/publicsite/en/documents/taxes/USGO\_012025.pdf](https://investor.vanguard.com/content/dam/retail/publicsite/en/documents/taxes/USGO_012025.pdf) Even the settlement account (VMFXX) can save you state taxes at 59.87%.
You need to park these moneys in a money market fund at least 350k for the time being to get some interest out of it before you can decide how to allocate/ deploy it. Money market funds invest the moneys in US Treasury bonds and you get interest monthly. vanguard has good ones such a VMFXX. You can open online and invest. Don't be tempted by crypto or anything. You should then start learning and get educated in finance/ investing. There are good courses in Udemy. You said you grew up poor. Don't go spending the money. Ok? That is stupid don't do it. Ok to go on vacation. Live as you don't have that money. When you get more educated. Go see a financial advisor in JP Morgan or BoA. Again, financial advisor. These people will explain how you could deploy the 350k. You will have enough background to understand..don't be shy to tell you don't understand what they say. Ask. The 50k you put in your savings account and should be used as a reserve meaning emergency fund. GL and sorry for your loss
I was in your position for a few years🤦♂️ A few accounts with decent chunks sitting, basically dormant. I decided to open a statement or two, and saw that the bank was paying me $2k per month to hold my money. Seemed to be Great, then their rates tanked, and that monthly interest was almost nonexistent. I didn’t know where I should put the money, but knew I had to move from local bank, for spite if nothing else. Someone here recommended VMFXX, and it seemed to make the most sense for me, at least until I figured out long term plans. I always planned to truly invest, but feelings of unease, for one reason or another, kept me away / living. The sweep account. Yes, I should have dumped into VT or the like, but never did… The half full glass tells me to be grateful I at least made a relatively safe 5% / year. The half empty glass continues to laugh at me 🤬
I will research this more myself later, but how would you reason about VMFXX vs VUSXX for money that you want to keep safe (both from downside and inflation)?
VMFXX, now! (Ballpark $15k / yr | ,$1,250 / mo) - then decide if you want to move into something else.
Half in BRK.A and half in VMFXX
Looking at the returns of stable value fund, some funds may be holding long term bonds from pre-2020s. So their returns may be low. The short term treasury 3month rate is 4.3% which would be my expected return target. So I would shoot for a fund that trades short term treasury only. I wouldn't buy any treasury fund holding long term treasury, as we don't know if Fed may raise rates or if inflation will go back up ( in both cases the long term treasury rates may go up and you wouldn't be able to sell without a loss). Short term treasury holding funds will at least correct itself in 3 months, without incurring a loss. Now fed can also lower rate, but in this case you won't end in loss atleast and can move to a different fund at that time. An example I would look at is VMFXX ( I don't hold this particular fund, don't know enough about it. Also don't consider this as financial advice. I am not an expert in this field ). If you are holding indexes (SPY/VOO, QQQ), put stop loss below major support level.
And I 100% agree not an HYSA alternative. Maybe a money market like VMFXX would be better for that?
I took a gamble during the January highs and moved ~33% of my 401k equities into VMFXX. I keep contributing regularly but knowing a big chunk is somewhere safe gives me peace of mind. I also moved my entire Roth IRA into TSDD and I’m up 37% ytd. I’m letting this ride because I don’t see any turnaround for TSLA.
Lot's of good ones. I use VMFXX in non taxable accounts and VUSXX in taxable accounts for the state tax break. But your ideas work also. However I am trying to move half of that money to brokered CDs over the next few months. Very short term CDs....3 or 6 mo. The reason. I believe Trump is actually stupid enough to stop paying interest on the US Debt. Once that happens the treasury market even the short end will be in chaos until he is finally impeached for that Dumbest Move in History. And just today I looked and I am getting 3 or 6 mo CDs at 4.35% and the govt mm funds are 4.28% 7 day yield.
Vanguard money market funds. Their default sweep, VMFXX, is 4.27%. I use VUSXX because it’s something like 80% tax advantaged at the state level (haven’t done my taxes yet so don’t know the exact number). There are also short term Treasury ETFs like SGOV that offer the same return and are fully excluded from state tax.
I think a money fund is risk-free enough, and they typically earn slightly more than a HYSA... VMFXX 4.25%, SWVXX 4.18%, SPRXX 4.07%. Maybe still smart to leave some in a HYSA for immediate access, but money fund is pretty easy to liquidate quickly too.
VMFXX is the default settlement fund.
You should clarify that VMFXX is SIPC insured and not FDIC insured.
Money market funds are safer than the S&P500, VMFXX is also insured. If the dollar tanks, all bets are off.
If you had done that a year ago, you would have missed a 30% gain. Time in the market is better than timing the market. I’m retired and conservative too, holding a very healthy chunk in cash (VMFXX) and most of the rest in index funds.
Note that the money market fund VMFXX currently pays 4.25%, better than nothing.
That HYSA for under 1 percent in the current interest rate environment should be renamed a low yield savings account. Vanguard money market fund, VMFXX at 4.2 percent is a solid choice.
VMFXX, Vanguard's MM settlement fund, is where I stick mine until it drops. 4.27% seven-day yield right now and all I have to do is transfer it to my Vanguard brokerage, no other action.
>My questions: • Am I overreacting? Yes, you most definitely are. I could understand maybe changing your allocation ratios to be more conservative (say 70% stocks/30% bonds instead of 80% stocks/20% bonds), but what you are doing is literally trying to time the market. >• Where could I park my money in the meantime to keep it relatively safe while still earning some minimal returns? Bonds or something like a money market mutual fund (like VMFXX).
I did very well in 2023 and 2024. I took all my gains from that period and put them in VMFXX. This represents 33% of my entire portfolio. I continue to contribute regularly to my retirement accounts. I’m 50 yrs old. This is the first time I’ve ever done this. That’s how uncertain I am about the market.
Money you need in 2 years? HYSA or VMFXX/VUSXX.
Broadly agree with your points. Any reason you're not keeping that cash in the default Vanguard money market account (I think it's VMFXX). I've had my emergency fund in there and it's been getting over 4% for a while.
I like Vanguard's money market (VMFXX) currently at 4.28% interest. Vanguard is one of the best financial investment companies imo due to their longevity, amazing index funds, and great security and customer support.
> I receive more per month from my vanguard money market Do you? I'd bet they're nearly identical. Looks like for a $200k investment, VMFXX would have paid out ~$711 on the most recent pay date.
Treasury Direct is a nightmare to deal with if something goes wrong. If you open a Vanguard account your deposits will automatically go into the VMFXX MMF. VMFXX yield is very close to 4 week T-Bills. Interest accrues daily, but paid monthly. I don't know of anything that pays interest daily. Money in the VMFXX settlement holding can be transferred to your bank by ACH in 1-2 business days. Beware that Vanguard will put a hold on new account deposits. IIRC, it is a week or so before you can transfer money out.
There is no minimum for VMFXX as the settlement holding at Vanguard. There are MMFs with high minimums, but routine ones are not.
Maybe it's different if you don't have an account, but my settlement fund is held in VMFXX by default.
If you want the fastest and easiest option, money market funds (SPRXX, VMFXX, SWVXX) are a great choice—they provide stable returns and instant liquidity.
[Part 2 / 2] If you are now an adult, and based on your narrative, I would seek FULL CONTROL over all your assets (which maybe is where your Vanguard question begins). I had to set up a beneficiary account for my niece. When my dad died, I was trustee of my dads / parents trust (didn't take a dime! even though it was a royal PITA), but since my niece was a minor I could not distribute money directly to her. (Nor could her parents, weird California thing whereby they would have had to pay a lawyer and apply to be legal guardians etc. even though they were her legal parents.) Anyway, I set up a 529 College Savings Account at Vanguard where I was the stated account owner, and she was the stated beneficiary. After she turned 18, I turned the account over to her. Do you have something like that, do you have Vanguard statements with your name on the account? At this point, I think that you should be the only named person on your Vanguard account, the $60,000 you say are invested. If it is still a beneficiary account, I presume your uncle will have to transfer that to you. If this is just sort of a verbal agreement between your uncle and your long deceased mother, well, that could be a problem. Let's hope that you are named on the account and go from there. If you have the account number and all of that, you can try speaking with Vanguard directly about getting full control. The deal is, if it is in your name – as it should be – then you can always name a beneficiary after (which you should). Same with any account(s) you have, savings, checking, MMA, whatever. A "payable on death" (POD) or "transfer on death" (TOD) or something like that. That name could be your father, that could be your uncle, it could be a local dog shelter. It's just something that makes transferring ownership simple and fast in the event of your death. But unless you have a good reason to do so, YOUR MONEY should not be in a shared account. That part aside, I hope you are not planning to divest and blow the money. Hard to do when you are young and always low on cash, but try to save and grow it. I am in full agreement with testmonkeyalpha, invest it and forget about it. The BEST investment dollars are ones you do not need. If you need money for a car or school or rent, then I would never invest that. Simply because I would find it too much work. People will "invest" to save for a house or a car or whatever, but I invest to save money so I don't have to worry about money. Another aside, but my girlfriend and I are on complete opposite ends of the spectrum: she spends money she doesn't have, I don't spend money I have; she worries constantly about money, I don't. Anyway, Vanguard for most people is DIY. You don't need to be a financial genius to invest, but it helps to gain some financial literacy. Knowing the basics is not hard, but most people are too lazy to do so, hence, paying brokers to manage it. (Google up "financial fraud" and "professional athletes," those multi-millionaire guys and gals get taken daily, but regular people are just as vulnerable.) As far as "investing," looking just now at Vanguards MMA, the Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund (VMFXX) which is basically just a fund that holds money, the interest rate / yield is 4.29%. That's probably better than any other MMA you can find. You can link that to an outside bank account and transfer if you need it. You can always stash $10,000 or some amount in that as liquid cash for gas and groceries. I'm an ultra-conservative investor. We didn't come from money so I had to actually work, money came through hard work so the last thing I was ever going to do was throw it away. I don't need to make a maximum return, but I don't want to lose a lot either. My favorite Vanguard fund is the Vanguard Wellesley Income Fund (VWINX). I think that that is a great "set it, and forget it" mutual fund; 30- or 40- or 50-years in that, and anyone should be golden. Last thing, if and when you can, dump as much cash as possible in a Roth IRA. If you can start with the $3,000 minimum in the VWINX, that would be perfect. If it is less, I don't think that there is a minimum for opening a Roth, and you can put money into the VMFXX (and think on what funds you want to contribute later). But the sooner you can max-out annual Roth contributions (currently $7,000 for those under 50), the odds are you will be better off in the future, way ahead of the game. Good luck!
There's definitely a sell off occuring. Robinhood afterhours is down 3% for the S&P 500. I personally liquidated my retirementaccounts and put them in a VMFXX (vanguard short term money market fund) where it gets 4.5% interest from US treasuries with no risk. I will ride out the first 2-3 months of the trump presidency and then buy back into the market when things are more certain. I understand it may be an overreaction but I also kind of feel like historically speaking the bear market is due to end. Buffett is in cash. I think I will follow his lead.
You can go into your retirement fund portfolio and sell part or all of investments into a money market or other short term bonds (vanguard VMFXX for example is what I would use for a cash position in my retirement portfolio). Sit there getting 4.5% on your money for as long as you feel and then when things are safe get back into stocks. Its called being defensive and its a very reasonable thing to do. I have fidelity managing my work retirement plans and its pretty easy to move around my current investments as well future investments. The main issue to me isnt that the market may crash. It's how long will it take for the market to recover. If its a 1 or 2 year crash like what happened wtih covid, I don't care and will just ride it out. However sometimes it takes the market 10 years to recover and then I care a lot! For example the dot com crash or the crash in the 1970s took like 10-15 years to get back to peaks. I'm trying however to retire in like 15-20 years!
I did really well the last two years so for funsies in January I moved my entire JLGMX ($87.34 share price) position into VMFXX. This represents about 25% of my entire retirement account. If it drops sufficiently I’ll rebuy. If not, it’s still earning ~5%
I don't blame you at all for being scared about what might happen, a lot of people are thinking the same way right now. Do not pay off that mortgage but do try to move some money to something like VMFXX which is paying a bit more than 4% right now and is pretty safe. You want to have a good emergency fund established that you can draw from if something happens to your jobs. If you are out of work, you can draw from that fund to pay the mortgage and other living expenses. If you pay off the mortgage now, you don't have that money to draw from if you need it.
I’ve been using VMFXX for my longer term cash reserves. I am giving serious consideration to moving most of it into JAAA.
VMFXX looking like a pretty good play rn