VOO

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.

reddit_samir

My humble suggestion is that at 35, start learning Technical trading seriously, if you haven't already. Just staying with VOO, might have done good for you up till now and if you are content then so be it and it will continue to do so; but there is so much more you can do and retire early or enjoy life more as there is really easy pickings, once you get good at technical trading (fundamental trading is too involved and by your post I get a feeling that you want it easy).

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.

mmmfritz

I tend to agree with you, but if you look at VOO in the last 30 years then its been pretty reliable. WHen you invest for long term, like OP tends to do, then having a medium risk like large cap US, tends to outperform everything even the more safe options. Theres merit in looking at overseas like VGS, but options are cash or bonds. A good defensive portfoio would be 40-VOO/Russel, 20-VGS, 20-Bonds, 20-Cash or a variation of something similar.

crashnbash25

Nice. Yep im around 10% BND, 25% VXUS, 40% VOO and 25% stock. (For my non sgov positions) I bought Sandisk at $38 a share (had 115 shares), NVidia at $90 a share, reddit at $90 a share (100 shares) and I did Netflix calls when then were at $80 but I sold prematurely when it hit $92. Coulda milked it a bit more I sold off most of my Sandisk but still have my NViDIA and am going hard into Reddit since I think its super undervalued.

Good_Ride_2508

Big account loss appx 0.2% (mostly etfs trade like qqq,slv,voo,gld etc), but smaller roth accounts are 5% to 7.5% gains. I was keeping them in etfs like QQQ/VOO/GLD etc, but Jan 2026 started trading (not comfortable to hold etfs) QQQ/VOO/GLD.

HydrocarbonChemist

Scientology wishes it had as good of a 100 year track record as VOO. There’s no comparison whatsoever friend.

Coloradodreaming1

Do nothing should be the mantra every time. It’s too late to get out now and if you did and things continue going south when would you get back in. Lots of people bailed in 2009 at the worst time never to return. I good analogy I heard is to act now would be like the scene from Rocky where he is trying to catch a chicken. Why drive yourself crazy over analyzing oh no what should I do in a down market. Discussions of market timing come up every time there is a market downturn. Of course you can do the opposite of what you are thinking of doing and use new money to buy more VOO or QQQ. Pulling a George Constanza Opposite Day move would be epic and a story to tell Reddit at the end of the year. This too will pass … maybe in a few more weeks or by the end of April or December? Lastly you are 35 not in your 60s.

trieu1185

VOO already has the single stocks you own. That's duplicating?!?!?! Like other people said, diversify; put that other 20% into VXUS or IXUS for international exposure.

cal405

All you have is VOO? Hold VOO and diversify. Buy sector ETFs. Going forward spilt whatever you would have placed in all VOO between your diverse ETFs. VOO and chill is not a strategy.

basementdweller263

VOO as the core is fine. The only real “gap” is you’re basically all US large cap, and the extra 20% in big tech pushes that concentration even more. If you want a hedge without changing your life, add a small international slice (VXUS) and call it a day. Bonds just reduce volatility (they won’t always “save” you), but a small % can help if you’re the type who might change course during a big drawdown.

TemperMe

You should be investing more right now, this is a buying time. I’d go 80% domestic (VOO) and 20% international (VXUS)

calm_discussion_3500

This really pisses me off because I hold a ton of VOO.

Key_Lifeguard_8659

I hold VOO 50%, VXUS 20%, AVDV 20%, and FLKR 10%. This diversification has been a great balancer, especially against AI disruption....That said, even Asian equities have been impacted by current events in the Middle East.... AVDV hasn't been impacted nearly as much.

Intelligent-Love5146

Well, international is being hit harder than VOO right now...

Lanky_Tailor5474

My safe VOO is down since Orange took office

ElectricalGene6146

I will sell all my VOO if that is the case. I have enough exposure to garbage Tesla. I don’t need egregiously overvalued SpaceX in that pile too.

Intrepid_Lecture

You're probably right that VOO is sub-optimal. Probably more so now than ever. I'm also fairly confident that guessing what is optimal would be closer to gambling than sticking to course in the long run.

sunburn74

I am like 80% cash right now. Just waiting for VOO to hit 10% below peak.

BobLemmo

You should look at the current market as an exciting time to buy. VOO on a slight discount right now. Start accumulating more for cheaper. You’re 35 years old. I’m assuming you aren’t cashing out for another 20+years. Buy the dip! Why are you worrying.

FlyingBlueWing

If you like VOO, you might like SPYM ( exp .02) better. Only 2/3 the expenses.

Upset-Motor-2602

Shift some VOO into RSP and VXUS.

pmotiveforce

Hmm.. On the one hand I expect this to continue dumping, possibly very low over the next 3-4 months. On the other, retard strength and fraud. I think I will very slowly start DCAing into VOO again in my 401k. Just the tip.

steady_compounder

At 35 with 25+ years to retirement, all VOO is honestly fine. The S&P has beaten almost every other strategy over that kind of timeframe. Your biggest risk isn't the allocation, it's panic selling during a crash. The one thing I'd add is some international exposure (VXUS) so you're not 100% betting on the US. Even 20% international gives you a hedge against US-specific risks without complicating things.

D74248

All the family wealth management firms are 100% VOO!

Rough_Wave_130

Honestly, what you’re doing is basically what most long-term investors end up doing anyway. VOO is already 500 of the largest companies in the world and a lot of their revenue is global, so you’re not as “US only” as people think. At 35 with a 10+ year track record of sticking with the plan, the bigger risk usually isn’t lack of diversification, it’s changing a strategy that’s already working because of market noise. If you wanted to tweak anything, maybe add a little international exposure over time. But the core strategy of consistently buying a broad index and not touching it for decades has historically been very hard to beat. Honestly the hardest part of investing is exactly what you’ve already done for 10 years…doing nothing.

ExpensiveToes4729

I wish there was a way to modify ETF holdings just to tweak the weights of VOO a bit lol

Narrow-Flint928

Yeah, the tech concentration in VOO is wild, like putting all your eggs in one high-altitude basket when you're climbing. I've been slowly adding VXUS too for more balance.

leftlanespawncamper

> *The Church of VOO and Chill* is the Scientology of the investing world. So you're saying it's where all the rich people are? /s

Awkward-Watercress33

VOO is a solid core holding, especially with your horizon. I've stayed heavy in S&P too, but I sprinkle in VXUS and Fundrise VCX so I get some diversification outside just U.S public stocks.

ErroneousEncounter

If you look at pretty much any 30 year time period since the creation of the stock market, putting all your money into an index fund that tracks the S&P500 has historically been the best bet. That being said, these are unprecedented times. My main concern has been the trend of de-dollarization. For that reason I’ve rebalanced things and been investing more in commodities (like gold and silver) as well as some international ETFs and energy and I plan to keep doing so until things improve (probably 1-2 more years). However I think trying to understand the market is incredibly hard, and trying to stay on top of it is incredibly time consuming. The average investor is best served by finding a trustworthy person who works in finance to handle their investments. The problem with that of course is finding someone trustworthy. If you want to do a quick and easy diversification, you can divide your portfolio between VOO, VXUS, Gold, and short term bonds.

dr_eh

A lot of data suggests leaving your money in S&P, but I feel like it's biased: you're looking at the world's strongest economy in a relatively peaceful era at its geopolitical peak: at done point USA should revert to the mean. Although the American AI companies seem quite compelling... So VOO is still my biggest position, but I have gold and international markets as a hedge

Legal-Koala-5590

At the start of the tariffs I sold off about 20% of my VOO and put it in international and some value and small caps. My portfolio might be a bit convoluted but I outperformed the S&P by 15% last year and am still green YTD (probably not for long). Anyway, not an economist and don't work in finance so I'm aware I might not know what I'm talking about.

dr_eh

This why we should diversify beyond just our own country's stock market. 100 percent VOO not wise

BigBossShadow

this dude gonna buy $200 of VOO and think hes making a move

D74248

Asset allocation is critical to success. What you have right now is 100% US Large Cap with a strong technology tilt. I don't want to be critical of anyone's religious belief's, but *The Church of VOO and Chill* is the Scientology of the investing world.

MightyMiami

You should like someone who should stop investing in individual stocks and go invest in S&P 500 (SPYM or VOO) and focus your attention on something else, like learning a new skill or reading a book.

D74248

I have been downvoted on this sub repeatedly, but here it goes again: An investment plan should be structured so as to be able to weather a long and deep correction. I use 40% and an 8-year recovery. Not everyone is thinking in terms of a retirement account that won't be touched for 30 years, and investing is not just about VOO and chilling.

RoastedMocha

Im in a similar position. Personally, I am doing a little hedging with 10/80/10 in VXUS/VOO/Individual. I would like to move that to 25/65/10, though. Personally, I'm not a major fan of VOO's holdings but I can't deny the performance.

ExpensiveToes4729

Those single stocks as well as VOO weighting means you’re very heavily weighed in large tech companies. I’d do 50/50 VOO + VXUS to diversify and balance risk a bit.

GenoTide

Wanna bet? VOO is $5 from breaking the 200 SMA going to support at $550 in the summer.

depressed_panda49

Based on the all-time high (ATH) closing price of $697.84 for SPY, here are the calculated price points: · 5% down: $662.95 · 10% down: $628.06 · 15% down: $593.16 For VOO: · 5% down: $609.72 · 10% down: $577.63 · 15% down: $545.54 During the 2008 financial crisis SPY drop 57%. - WWII (Pearl Harbor): -19.8% to -23% (S&P 500/Dow) - Korean War: -12.9% (S&P 500) · Vietnam War (Cambodian Campaign): -14.9% (S&P 500) · Yom Kippur War/Oil Embargo: -16.1% to -41% (S&P 500; -41% over 1 year) · Gulf War (Iraq invades Kuwait): -15.9% to -16.9% (S&P 500) · Afghanistan War (2001): -11.6% (S&P 500; linked to 9/11) · Iraq War (2003): -5.6% (S&P 500) · Russia-Ukraine War: -7.4% to -12.4% (S&P 500; -12.4% over 1 year)

doctorqaz

How tf is SCHG down 7% YTD. Thought this was suppose to follow VOO/QQQ

Hamzehaq7

honestly, it kinda depends on what you think about charter's future. if you're feeling bullish about the company and think it'll keep climbing, holding could pay off. but with that discount, you've already locked in a nice gain! if you're nervous or see better opportunities (like VOO), selling and diversifying might be the way to go. just remember, the market's pretty volatile with all this news lately, so keep an eye on that too. gotta consider your risk tolerance! what’s your plan if charter drops after you hold?

Frequent-Basket7135

Bruhhhh NVDA is at $185, VOO is at $615. High yield savings account are still higher than they have been in decades, Crypto is also insanely high still compared to 5 years ago. No shit the economy could be “slowing” down, we’re in year 6 of the cycle, cycles last 8-12 years on average, read a damn book. Bro definitely just started investing 6 months ago. Us real ones know we are still up big and nothing catastrophic has happened yet. 

greenpride32

Look at VOO and QQQ long term chart and what do you see? We aren't far from ATH. If you aren't beating the markets (and let's be honest here, the majority don't), then join them. Anyone just sitting on VOO and/or QQQ for 3/5/10/15/20/25/30 years is not even breaking sweat.

Zestyclose-Dish-407

VOO and SPY don’t drink your milkshake.

QuirkyChipmunk1414

Matching their contributions is actually a great idea. It teaches saving discipline while letting compounding do the work. Personally I’d keep it simple with a broad index fund (like VTI/VOO) and just add consistently over time. Sometimes I glance at macro tools like aiphamind AI to see bigger market trends, but for a 20+ year plan consistency matters way more than timing.

Agent0_7

Spy, VOO. And if you are wild, SPX and XSP. Don’t waste time with individual stocks

givemeastocktip

I mean, he's not wrong. Typically with the S&P, the 10 best days are much better than the 10 worst days in any given decade. To try to time the market is a proven losing strategy. You may want to take profits or deleverage some of your riskier holdings but by and large, etfs like VOO or similar should be held on to and added on to if possible as the market goes lower

DesticularDorsion

Really makes you want to just VOO and chill. 

rickochetl

Sure, happy to have a real discussion. I'm just going to use a fictional "standard deduction" of $20k for discussion purposes (assuming single, married double that but you're paying for two people). You can argue it will be much higher, but I think it's not going to be a "lot of money" at the time no matter where it lands. Here's where the problem is: This is too low to actually live comfortably in retirement, so you need to have capital gains. If you have capital gains, that means you have a lot of taxable assets. And in general, a lot of taxable assets means you probably have dividends, which counts against your standard deduction. So if you're maxing the 0% capital gains bracket for a long time, you're probably also close to the standard deduction in Mutual fund/ETF distributions alone. If you're retired and not collecting SSI, you also (mostly) can't be withdrawing penalty-free from your retirement accounts (you can start at 59 1/2). There's some wiggle around here depending on when you start taking social security (62, 67, or 72, I think). However, in general, if you have money outside your IRA and you're not required to take money from your IRA (RMDs), it's mostly more tax-optimal to spend the outside-shelter money first, or take up to the standard deduction from your IRA and then take up to the maximum 0% capital-gains bracket to supplement. In a "early IRA distribution late SSI" situation, you have a gap of up to 12 1/2 years where you can be taking IRA (at 59 1/2) but not take SSI (full benefit at 72). This one is murky, but yes, in theory you could have some distributions up to the low standard deduction that could be tax free for 13 tax years plus capital gains up to the 0% limit. You'll probably still run into RMDs at 73 simply because maxing out your IRA+401K is going to land a huge account at the age of 59 1/2 that will outgrow the standard deduction. This scenario is doable, I guess, but when RMDs start, they will probably be huge, and you'll wish you had Roth for the last 6 years of your life until you die at the average life expectancy of 79. Also if you have anything left in the end, inheritance of a Roth is better. FIRE is a slightly different scenario. I agree you can use your strategy to optimize contributions via conversion to Roth. Most people don't FIRE, though. However, if you look at the nuance to FIRE, it turns out it's really, really hard to get to 0 taxes every year after you FIRE since you have to keep the conversion under the standard deduction (let's just call it 20k). Why? because the average growth of the S&P is like 10% nominal. So if your pot is greater than 200k and is growing at 10% every year, you'll never get it to zero only taking out 20k/year. So you'll still end up with unfavorable tax treatment at the end. Not to mention you'll have dividends taking up some of this (VOO has like 1% distribution, so if you FIRE with $2m in taxable VOO, you're taking up the standard deduction purely in this distribution). These problems only exist if you have money. If you don't have money, you don't have these problems.

basementdweller263

Yep, they’re basically “VOO for Europeans.” VOO is the US listed Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, but EU brokers usually can’t sell it (PRIIPs). VUSA and VUAA are UCITS versions that track the same index, just different share classes: VUSA pays dividends out, VUAA reinvests (accumulating). If you’re young and holding long term, VUAA is usually the simpler set and forget pick. SPYL and iShares are fine too, the main differences are distributing vs accumulating, TER, and fund size/liquidity.

iXProject

I have high balances in VOO and VUG already, it’s more of Apple has become my highest individual position and I don’t think I believe in substantial growth going forward

Machine8851

Honestly it really doesnt matter, if you plan on investing for the long term, 15 plus years, the returns between 100% VOO and 100% VT will be very similar.

dogs_gt_cats

VXUS+VTI/VOO if you want the foreign tax credit, VT if you don't. Either approach is fine.

awgegirl99

Hi everyone, forgive me if my phrasing sounds novice at best. I work for Charter Communications and was given the opportunity to opt into the ESPP program. I secured around an 11% discount on the stock making my profits around $25 per share (6 shares bought). I’ve already profited and want to know whether I should hold and see if the stock continues to grow, or if I should sell and take the funds to redistribute into VOO to lock in what I’ve made. I’m very new at wealth building / investing and want everyone’s honest opinion on Charter stock and if it would be worth it to hold onto. Thanks so much! (:

SophonParticle

It’s even worse for VOO on the YTD.

-TrueFacts-

Do VOO - everything else is voodoo.

MitchCurry

VOO and chill and enjoy long-term winning.

N3verS0ft

Yes you will lmfao. DCA and keep putting in money over time into VOO. In many years youll be in millions.

__redruM

VXUS is 24% on the 1 year, vs VOO at 20%.

PatternAgainstUsers

Lots of great points, you have to understand from a retail perspective most of this is psychological. People don't want to do the work, most likely because they find finance boring. Once you take a deeper interest in trading it becomes very clear just how easy it is to outperform the S&P. I'm not saying there isn't some skillset involved and that it's mentally easy to be pivoting all the time, I'm saying that relative to what the Warren Buffets of this world will tell you, it's technically quite easy. The S&P is not some great difficult giant to overcome... otherwise QQQ wouldn't have beaten it the past 10 years, and that's JUST replacing one ETF with another smaller concentrated one that followed a long term technological trend shift. If it IS possible to beat the market ON PURPOSE, over time longer periods of time (short-term there is always a luck component). People don't want you to tell them that. For one I think guys like Buffett (who has beaten the benchmarks himself and knows plenty of people who have also done it using both the same and totally different methods than himself) are cognizant sometimes of their fame and don't want to accidentally inspire any gamblers. Active management is a form of trading, and trading is definitely active management. Anyone can open a brokerage today and lose all their money instantly, so it's dangerous to get into this game without some study and hard knocks. You basically HAVE to fail first in order to win long-term unless you just come into this with the right mindset from your prior life. Otherwise you won't fear the market enough to respect that you need one or more systems of risk management in place and actually execute them. ETF investors are basically trying to go with diversification as their primary form of risk management, this is fine - but it creates drag unless you pick the exact sectors that are outperforming the market and rotate in time to not give up that gap when things change. I think people underestimate what you can do if you commit all your time to this game TBH, especially now - doing research with AI is faster than ever (it's not a genie you still have to know how to use it and when to challenge it). I outperformed the market when I was a newbie investor several years ago for 2 years straight by about 4x over that period holding around 33 positions simply by trying out one of the popular stock picker services for like $75/year and making a few tweaks. Then I stopped to learn to trade, and now I for example have pivoted late last year into more of the commodity/scarcity super-cycle we're entering. VOO is down 0.81%, QQQM down 1%, VT down 1.4%... I'm up 10.20%, and before the war I was up 16%. That's a big drop-off recently but I've been purposely dealing some damage to my returns as well adding some new hedges for different tail-cases. I'm not the world's best trader by any means, my biggest positions aren't any bigger than about 5% of invested net worth and I typically won't put that into a single stock (targeted ETFs usually) unless there are multiple converging narratives (coinbase for example, short-term BTC trade over the next 1-2-3 years depending how this cycle plays out, but long term I want to also hold them for the agentic economy shift as a wallet provider). One of the things people are trying to avoid is volatility, what they don't usually think about is that over any given time-frame in order to outperform, an give asset or basket of assets MUST have increased vol. to outperform. This doesn't mean volatility = good, there are plenty of garbage stocks that IPO, fall off a cliff and die forever after a volatile period... but it does mean you have to learn to use volatility to your advantage if you want to outperform, people see that as scary. Personally I see throwing my life away at a normal job for any longer than I already had previously as a big risk, I think we take a big risk driving our cars every day... so I reframe risk, but traditional education didn't teach us that. It didn't teach us much of anything.

greenpride32

Aside from SATS, which I think everyone agrees was the most surprising additon, each company is growing top line 20-60% and all profitable with growing bottom line. This is why most people lose to just SP500. These new additons are adding value, yet you would just want to discard them with some lazy "AI/tech name". Do have any idea on their financials, what they do, and why their revenues (and stock prices) are booming? I own VOO, SPY (from before VOO existed), and the 3 other individuals VRT LITE COHR and did my DD on all of them.

Swimming-Shake5979

VWRA actually makes a lot of sense in your situation. As a non-US investor, US-domiciled ETFs like VTI/VOO/VT can be less tax efficient because of the 30% withholding tax on dividends (and potential US estate tax exposure). Ireland-domiciled UCITS ETFs are usually preferred since they reduce the internal withholding to \~15% and often come in accumulating versions. VWRA (Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF) is popular for exactly that reason. It gives you global diversification (developed + emerging markets) in a single fund and automatically reinvests dividends, which is helpful if your country taxes dividends heavily. For a simple structure, many non-US investors just do something like: \- 100% VWRA — simplest, fully diversified equity portfolio or \- \~80% VWRA + \~20% global bonds (e.g., a global aggregate bond UCITS ETF) if you want to reduce volatility Given you’re investing $10k upfront and \~$5k/month, consistency will matter much more than trying to optimize with lots of ETFs. A single global ETF is already extremely diversified. The only real consideration is timeline: if the money might be needed closer to 5 years, adding some bonds could help smooth volatility. If it’s closer to 10+ years, an all-equity global ETF like VWRA is very reasonable.

Perfect_Ad_3701

SPYM/VOO is 87% of VTI, and yes it has similar number of Mid caps as in VTI. SPYM/VOO has outperformed VTI by 11% in the last 5 yrs. Sure recency bias, but it is a fact, even though, it is said they perform similar. When small caps pop, VTI has 8% in small. which is so insignificant you would almost certainly do better with buying SPYM/VOO and some in VBR to avoid trash stocks that are in VTI. SPYM/VOO filters trash stocks unlike VTI. SPYM is cheaper e.r. than both VOO or VTI.

Ok_Visual_2571

And if you bought Spirit Airlines it went to Zero. Hindsight in 20/20. Most investors picking individual stocks trail the market. If you want to see if you have the ability to beat the market in real time, Open an additional or new account at Fidleity, put in $20,000 and invest $10,000 in individual stocks and $10,000 in VOO (S&P 500 ETF), and set all dividends to reinvest. Make as many trades as you want on the individual stocks and just leave the VOO alone. You will see in real time if you are beating the market. Most likely you will spend a lot of time energy and stress on the individual stocks side and will have no additional return to show for it. You can make 5 market-beating picks and one that goes to zero and lose to the S&P.

SmallCapsOnly

For example, to diversify in tech further buy QQQM(cheaper version of QQQ same package) and pair it with something like COWG now you have two tech funds that are non-correlated because COWG has a different method of tech fund selection. But when people buy QQQ, VT, VTI, VOO they say “great I’m diversified! Well congratulations if you invest $100,000 evenly between those 4 funds you now have $32,000 in the MAG 7 even though the total “funds” in the ETFs top over 10,000 individual companies 32% of the funds are in only 7 of the over 10,000 companies. True diversification is non-correlated asset classes and non-correlated sector funds. Will you end up fine with all your money in those 4 funds? Sure but it’s not as diverse as it could be 🤷🏻‍♂️

fec2245

Wait, but is QQQ better than VOO?

chikenbeer

1pm: Done trading, all in on VOO 3pm: Full port into puts after youtube video on japan carry trade boomer neighbor: Up 500% on VOO for 30 years

FullyAutomatedSpace

yeah. buy VOO with leverage

juveyjords

It is so so easy to beat VOO

Suitable-Classic-174

VOO and chill. But us gamblers like to lose money

Ocampo-Mark

VINIX and VOO are basically twins since they both track the S&P 500. Therefore stick with your 401k because the tax-deferred growth is more valuable than account diversification here. Maxing that 23000 dollar limit for 2026 saves you thousands in taxes right now. Additionally using AI tools like trylattice to check fund overlaps and stock filings is a big help and it can also help you decide on things like these by providing you with credible insights. Since you already have that 7 percent match locked in you should just keep compounding in one spot.

BillAdministrative85

Depends what you’re after, high gains, stability, predictable (as much as you can)? What’s your risk tolerance? Lots of good funds like VOO, VTI, SPLG. Find a nice etf that you like and that people recommend and hold long term. I invest in gold/silver, VTI, QQQ, SPLG, VZLA,GLD, HWM, DRUG. Not stock advise just what I invest in.

No_Arm_6582

Well, it’s official, my money market account is well outperforming my VOO. Hell, actually the cash I keep in my wallet is outperforming it as well

sirzoop

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

citrussake

Nah I’m done with options imma just VOO and chill I tapped out after today

ButterRollercoaster

I have $18,000 in realized short-term capital gains YTD. I also have $18,000 in unrealized short-term loss in SPY. Do I sell and switch to VOO for tax purposes?

Rough_Wave_130

VINIX and VOO are basically tracking the same thing (S&P 500), so the fund choice itself isn’t really the important part here. The real question is tax strategy and plan flexibility, not which index fund you’re using. I used to tell my clients to do it in this order… 1. Contribute to the 401k up to the full employer match (free money) 2. Max a Roth IRA if you’re eligible (more investment options and tax free growth) 3. Then go back and max the 401k The reason is IRAs usually give you far more fund choices and lower fees than many employer 401k plans. Out of curiosity though, what’s the expense ratio on the VINIX option in your 401k?

RyanStonepeak

There is no investment that you can do with $200 that will reliably perform better than just making a budget and sticking to it. $20 per month will do better after a year than $200 one time. That being said, there is a lot that you can learn by investing $200 that will come in really handy when you are able to invest a consistent amount each month. Start by looking up ETF's. SPY or VOO are great starting places. I also like SPEU for globalization. You'll want to get on a brokerage app that lets you buy fractional shares for some of these. I use Fidelity. I would also recommend paper trading (investing with simulated monopoly money) with a bit more to work with. Experiment on your paper trades. Learn what works and what doesn't in this format where it doesn't actually cost you anything. Investopedia is a great resource for learning what terms mean and some basic strategies. I'm a software developer by trade, and used to write code for financial trading software and I got 99% of my business knowledge from there.

fishing_pole

$VOO and chill. You can do this for years.

greenpride32

>The problem is that these stocks had experienced a huge bull market since 2018-2019. And so we are now in a corrective phase or a systemic change. You're not going to have any success with long term investing if this is your thought process. VOO or SP500 has 10% annual rate of return with dividends reinvested for 70 years. It is basically been on a bull market ride forever. What do companies such as MSFT MA V GOOGL do - they consistently increase top and bottom line year after year. Sure they can swing down due to macro issues, but this is a great time to buy more. What do growing companies do - they increase in valuation - this means they are always setting new all time highs. Would I buy today at $70 all time high if tomorrow is $80? Sure. The bulk of the companies you mentioned have no top line growth - you can only squeeze so much bottom line out of that. I have worked for Fortune 100 and Mag 7 - believe we spent alot more than any of those other companies on conferences, events, employee gifts and perks and RSU.

JoeyZaza_FutsTrader

Consider it an entertainment magazine. If you need basics on investing knowledge. Start with the Dummy series for Investing. That is pretty much what you need for basic terms and understanding how it all works. Then just buy VTI and VOO and do nothing more. -GL

understated_vibes

With $200 the biggest win isn’t picking the perfect stock, it’s starting the habit of investing. Many people begin with a broad ETF like VOO or VTI because it gives you exposure to a large portion of the market instead of betting on one company. Timing the market matters a lot less than consistently adding money over time. As your portfolio grows you can look at diversifying into other assets as well, and some investors eventually explore things like real estate exposure through platforms such as Fundrise alongside their stock investments.

Fourteen_Werewolves

Put it in an index fund like $SPY or $VOO or something. Look up definitions for an index, an ETF, etc if youre unfamiliar. Read "A Random Walk Down Wallstreet" by Malkiel

greenpride32

Did you do your DD before buying in? Aside from KDP all low/no growth, so with rising costs it means compressed margins. I don't think many are buy such companies for capital appreciation. If you were buying for distributions, better to use a diversifed ETF - SCHD or even SPYD. If buying for capital appreciation just buy VOO, or for less volatility SPLV.

Own-Opposite1611

Why do people expect SPY to skyrocket suddenly in a day? If anything it seems like something you hold onto long term like VOO

hankmoody711

As I was reading your reply I was thinking "seems like buying VT may be the better option than VOO" , then you mention VT. I'm leaning that way also.

Landslide_Micro

VOO is free and it beats at least 50% stock market participants in long term like 5 years

throwaway1654278358

I hope you don’t mean both VT and VOO…

SmallCapsOnly

Lmao brother Nvidia is almost 15% of some indexes. People that blindly index are so heavy in tech and AI and they have no idea. VOO is basically 7 companies are 30% of the total fund balance.

AdamantheusEnigma

i’m 23 with roughly the same in VOO/SCHG, and another 130K in RKLB. I’m not touching my ETFs, ever. Those are your baselines. Leave them be, diversify into 2-5 maybe more single companies that you’d be happy to own.

TheRealArmament

Holy fuck I have 200k in QQQ and VOO and it’s done absolutely nothing this year. Fuck these boring ass ETFs

ClaritXai

Not an idiotic question at all it’s a really common one when people first start learning about investing. Index funds are popular because they’re low-cost, diversified, and historically very hard to beat over long periods. For many investors, holding something like VOO or a total market fund is already a solid strategy. The main “risk” isn’t that index funds are bad it’s that you’re still fully exposed to the overall market. If the market drops, your portfolio drops with it. You’re also concentrated in whatever companies dominate the index at the time. That said, many long-term investors do just fine with a simple index-based approach. The biggest advantages usually come from staying invested consistently and avoiding unnecessary complexity rather than constantly trying to outsmart the market.

Moccabean70

This is the portfolio I’m concentrating on. Not sure what I want to trim and what I want to build up. Definitely will keep adding VOO/SCHD and probably JEPI. SCHD 15,866.62 JEPI $6,155.79 MU $3293.28 VOO $3,134.45 NVDA $1,645.29 QQQM $743.49 VYMI $497.35 VNQ $472.95 SCHG $365.16 SHLD $76.79

DarkVoid42

invest in VT and VXUS, XSX7 and VOO. cover the whole globe and dont restrict yourself to a single country which can go through a downturn. diversifying your risks is key.

Winterspawn1

The risk with SPY and VOO is that they both consist out of American companies only and are very tech heavy.

stbloc

VOO or VTI. If you want more conservative approach pick 2035 target date fund

Itchy-Back8245

VTI is a great pick if you want to stick to etfs. It’s been outperforming the S&P lately. I personally like a 5 way spit in my set and forget accounts. VOO, SCHD, QQQM, VTI, and VXUS.