VTI

sevseg_decoder

I mean… yeah?  In some ways it was easier. I have been selling covered calls a lot over the last few years and up until this year it was a lot less likely my shares would get called away from me. It was also a lot easier to buy into ETFs with a solid sense you would make money in the medium term.  At this point I’m getting incredibly cash heavy and idk how to convince myself I should buy VTI shares when it seems unlikely they wouldn’t dip a long ways in the not-too-distant future. For me it’s honestly stressing me out a lot more this year.

sol_beach

Fund (Ticker) 1-Year Return 3-Year Annualized Return 5-Year Annualized Return Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) 15.74% 18.78% 14.04% Invesco S&P 500 Momentum ETF (SPMO) 20.50% 23.15% 18.55% Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF (SCHG) 19.88% 21.90% 17.99%

EnragedMoose

VTI or VOO. Call it a day after you decide.

Echo-Possible

We know damn well you're lying through your teeth. Here you are on May 7 (the May low) telling everyone Google was overvalued at 17x PE lol. [https://www.reddit.com/r/investing/comments/1kh2185/comment/mr402h1/](https://www.reddit.com/r/investing/comments/1kh2185/comment/mr402h1/) >They're also at 17x earnings, which is actually quite expensive for a company that faces significant risks of becoming obsolete. You have a looong comment history of trashing Google the last year. It's quite clear you have an agenda and were shorting Google. Just accept that you were wrong and move on. Google is ripping and you missed out because you're not good at evaluating stocks. Stick to VTI.

ClassIINav

You have to turn it into an Inherited IRA and it has to be done first at Merrill then can be rolled out. MerrillEdge is their self directed service. It has access to all the same cheap ETFs as anyone else. You can just do the so called “VTI and chill” thing and it’d only cost VTI’s very cheap expense ratio. I have Edge and been quite happy. I like the perks having >$100k in them gets me with Bank of America.

gmenez97

Know what's in your 401K, what's available, and why your investing in it. Pull up charts of the tickers and google every term you don't know. I use a Boglehead investment philosophy which uses total market funds that are weight by market cap. Common ETFs are VT, VTI, and VXUS.

eagles16106

Just keep the VOO you already have (unless it’s in a tax advantaged account) and start buying VTI.

dog-lover-78

Isn’t there too much overlap between voo and VTI?

eagles16106

Go like 70% VTI, 30% SPMO

wookmania

Over a reasonable time horizon those are definitely lower risk than most. Particularly VOO and VTI.

Rich-Contribution-84

Index funds are absolutely the way to go for 99% of people. Simple. Cheap. Tax efficient options. There are some exceptions in my portfolio - I own 10 individual stocks in my taxable account because I started buying them 20 years ago before I moved to buying 100% index funds. But over the past decade or so, I’ve just been buying 80/20 VTI and VXUS. My current 401(k) match options are fantastic but the fund options are not - so my 401(k) is all in a TDF. But that’s not wildly dissimilar from the 80/20 US/international total market split that I have across my HSA/IRA/Roth/taxable.

Deep_Find

Great question! The 5% rule makes sense for most portfolios, but individual stocks can serve specific purposes beyond just returns. Some folks pick individual stocks to have more control over ESG factors—like avoiding certain industries or supporting companies they believe in. Others enjoy the learning process; owning Apple or Microsoft makes you pay closer attention to tech trends and business fundamentals than you would with VTI. There's also the conviction play angle. If you've done deep research on a company and truly understand the business better than the market does, that 5-10% allocation might outperform over time. Warren Buffett didn't diversify into 500 companies for a reason. What's your main goal—pure returns, learning, or something else?

taplar

>How much should I keep liquid (just a couple months of expenses, or more)? This is a personal decision. It is recommended that your emergency fund be any where from 3-12 months worth of expenses. The more uncertain you feel your job, health status is, the larger this should be. I personally believe in having a staggered approach to your emergency fund. There's the portion of your emergency fund that is there for same day, oh \*\*\*\*, I need money right now to pay for some emergency. That amount should be in a checking account or HYSA. The remaining portion that you feel comfortable having access to not same day can go in a money market fund. >For investing, is the rule of thumb just to go with broad index funds (VTI/VOO, etc.), or should I be thinking about something more specific? The lazy, I don't have time or don't want to think about it approach, would be to put it in VOO or VTI or VT, or a different ETF that offers something comparable. It gives you built in diversification to spread risk. If you want to spread risk more, I'd suggest reading up on the [Boglehead three fund portfolio](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund_portfolio) theory. >If you were me, what would you likely do? My approach to allocations is to have a 5%/25%/70% allocation split, with 5% being in a money market fund, and the remainder split between a fund like VOO and a fund like VIPIX. The more (un)certain I am with the market I'll adjust out of or into VOO more. But that's my personal approach. For you all I will say is, given your income level, you should be focusing on maxing out pre-tax options before contributing to post-tax accounts. Income of $250k puts you in the 24% or 32% tax brackets so you're getting into the upper brackets. As such you most likely will benefit more from reducing taxes now in favor of potentially having lower taxes in retirement, unless you expect your taxes in retirement to not be lower.

mbgsd

Hey all, 36, USA, making $250K year, objectives are save as much for retirement and/or big future purchases, no huge capital expenses upcoming. Okay with some risk, but rather steady and secure. $450K in 401K, $20K Roth IRA, some other investments ~$30K, random ~$10K in stocks on RH. I saw a post the other day which made me feel pretty dumb…someone found another person’s ATM receipt, showing $55,000 in their checking account. They posted asking if people really do this?? Just keep money sitting in their checking account and not growing. Any interest… and I honestly realized how stupid I’ve been. I’ve been working really hard to save money and I think I’ve just had a lot of comfort seeing the number grow and potentially having full access to it in case of a big emergency (??) I know I should be putting this in the market or a high yield account. I’m learning more about investing smart, but feel a little overwhelmed. I’m trying to figure out how much money I should realistically keep in my personal checking account versus putting it to work. My questions: How much should I keep liquid (just a couple months of expenses, or more)? Where should the rest go? Savings account, brokerage account, retirement accounts, something else? For investing, is the rule of thumb just to go with broad index funds (VTI/VOO, etc.), or should I be thinking about something more specific? For context: I’ve got steady income and no immediate big expenses on the horizon. Just trying to stop being lazy/stupid with this cash and make smarter moves. If you were me, what would you likely do?

aceofsuomi

Reddit is a shitty source for investment advice. It's VTI or VOO and VXUS 70/30 and little else. There are more philosophies of how to invest your money than the one espoused by Jack Bogle.

ButterrySmooth

VTI shares and hold for 25 years

NonVideBunt

That’s fine until they are not and you’re lost your money. Meme stocks are fine for a small portion of your portfolio if you have to play but VTI will continue to grow but if you have all your money in the wrong meme stock and it goes belly up or you don’t sell at the right time you’re hosed.

ConcentrateOk523

You are absolutely correct! The biggest mistake and regret of my life was listening to a Vanguard advisor who told me to diversify into BND and VXUS. I only did 20 percent BND and invested in VXUS. However if I stayed 100 percent VTI I would have a million dollars more. Diversification no longer works in this environment.

CuffytheFuzzyClown

Because stocks don't always go up, they can go down too. Especially highly concentrated ones as you'd find in QQQ comapred to VT/VTI.

noodlessentme

Put in 65-70% in lump SPY/VTI and keep the rest (of the allocated investing money) to buy when people start acting like chickens with their heads cut off

gmenez97

Learn Boglehead investing and the ETFs, VT,VTI, and VXUS.

Pale_Drink4455

For the entire history of the stock market of well over 100 years it has earned 10%. Trust the facts and be fully confident of putting that monthly in S&P funds such as VTI, VTSAX etc and let it cook over time in two ROTHS and the rest in a brokerage. You don’t need an advisor to do that. it’s simple and effective and why pay someone a lot of money over time to charge a yearly fee.

Key_Interaction2314

Hi All, Not sure if this is the right place to post, but I want some opinions/advice on my current investing situation and what exactly I am investing into where. I am a mid-20s adult and live in a MCOL - HCOL cost of living area as a remote worker. I make \~ $85,000/year from my salary. Below is my investment breakdown: ***Bi-Weekly Paycheck: $3,302.52*** **Pre-Tax Investments** * 10% of Paycheck into 401(k) through Fidelity (FXAIX): $330.25/paycheck * Company Match (50% on first 6%): $99.08/paycheck **Tax Payments** * State/Federal Taxes: $723.74/paycheck ***Post-Tax Paycheck Balance: $2,248.53*** **Post-Tax Investments** * 10% of Post-Tax Paycheck into Personal Portfolio: $224.85/paycheck * 70% into FZROX: \~ $157.40 * 30% into FZILX: \~ $67.46 * Max Roth IRA: $269.23/paycheck * 70% into VTI: \~ $188.46 * 30% into VXUS: \~ $80.77 ***"Take Home" Paycheck: $1,754.44*** The $1,754.44 goes into my Checking Account. Once a month, I move $715.55 (10% of monthly salary) from my Checking Account to my Savings Account (variable APY, but \~4% right now). I accumulate \~ $8,586.55 in my savings a year from this. Let me know if anyone has any suggestions or questions. I appreciate the input in advance!

ConcentrateOk523

Do not be concerned about anything. Just stay 100 percent VTI.

ConcentrateOk523

I really wish I had been 100 percent VTI last 9 years. Do not diversify ever! Cost me a million dollars and I regret it everyday. What decline?

UnObtainium17

Added more gold. My target is around 15%. I'll have to sell a bit of my VTI and other stocks to reach that.

Srnkanator

I vote I should have used cash to buy VOO or VTI mid Feb 2022.

Avalonisle16

Exactly. VOO or VTI aren’t  the etf’s to worry about as they’re diversified. As someone else mentioned they’re the broad market 

Avalonisle16

Correct. I wouldn’t take profits from a VOO or VTI fund - that remains until you retire - then you withdraw what you need. 

Sashamirae17

Starting to build a dividend-focused portfolio and slowly shifting towards more ETFs for stability (SCHD, VTI). Also keeping a small allocation in growth stocks like NVDA/AMD. Trying to stay consistent with contributions and not overthink short-term swings. Curious what everyone else here is focusing on lately

Heyhayheigh

Why are you using mutual funds? Roth or something? If it is taxable just use VTI and VUG. ETF’s are more tax efficient in taxable. There’s nothing wrong with growth. Just pick one and set to auto and work to increase the auto. Most people stick to QQQM and VOO. But VUG is fine replacement for QQQM. Just pick one and set to auto. Work to increase the auto. Spend less invest more. Only sell when you have something urgent to pay for. You sound like you’re falling for paralysis by analysis pretty early. You can shift the auto later. Just don’t sell. Learn as you go, if you shift to VOO or whatever fine. Just don’t sell to switch (that is an example of selling without having an urgent expense to pay for). Do this for a while and you see money is easy. Best of luck!!

Willing-Promotion685

VTI and sp500 already have a growth tilt. Not sure the benefit of an even more concentrated position.

Sashamirae17

Markets feel like they’re at a weird crossroads right now. We’ve had strong performance from tech and AI-related names, while defensive sectors have lagged. I’m curious how much of that momentum can carry into Q4, especially with rates still high and unemployment ticking up slightly. Personally, I’m staying diversified: keeping a core in index ETFs (VTI, VXUS) and holding a bit more cash than usual in case volatility picks up. Also watching earnings revisions closely, if they start rolling over, that could be the first crack in the current rally. What’s everyone else doing heading into year-end?

Vast_Surround_4007

Just buy the whole market VTI ticker and stay there through thick and thin and with time you will gain significant wealth. \*It's as simple as all genius\*.

Ambitious_Worry_3382

also if i decided to take the route and invest into VOO or VTI, would it be wise to put all 7k into one or just a portion? I can always invest a portion into a roth aswell just to get something started with that. I know i wont need a majority of this money now but thinking about when im 60 is scary because im not sure what life will bring say 5 years down the road

Willing-Promotion685

VTI and chill

Sammslol

80% VTI 20% VXUS. End

Pale_Drink4455

VTI, VOO, VTSAX and chill for the next 30 years.

Vonnanstine

Forget the CD’s. Have an emergency fund in your savings account, preferably 3-6 months worth of pay from a job. Invest the rest into S&P 500 etf like Vanguards VOO. Add in VXUS for international exposure ex US. Or instead of VOO, just VTI and VXUS is you want something simple. No need for CD’s unless you plan on using that money within a few of years for example a down payment on a car or house or similar big purchase. As others have said as well, if you have a job and steady income, open a Roth IRA and if you can max it out every year.

BeastBuilder

Stock market wasn't a mistake. Your mistake was picking individual stocks based on some 3rd party analyst recommendations. If you aren't going to learn the ropes yourself, and not set up emotionally or financially for those types of risk then stick to ETFs (VOO, VTI, VXUS etc), and keep say 5% or so to gamble on individual stocks you like. You have your entire portfolio exposed to 3 companies that you don't know anything about. From an investing standpoint that is crazy.

oloolaa

Thanks for sharing. I 100% agree that this really is a strategy that would trap people into long-term effort. Value factor, especially leaning onto small cap value, seems to require long-term holding and investing to combat short-term negative tracking error. I do see people quitting this strategy because of the huge deviation they see in short term when comparing it with market performance (such as VTI or VT). Thanks again for providing your opinions on this topic.

MechanicalDan1

I third this, although long holding VOO, VTI, VT hasn't changed.

0olongCha

VTSAX, or its etf variant VTI.

Duckonaut27

Rycey is one you don’t always hear about, but it’s an interesting company and has room to grow, imo. I have to wonder if there will be a dip soon though-the last couple days have seen some gains. The reason I know that is because ive been looking at it for a while now, and the instant I decided to buy some shares, it went up over a dollar per share. Thank me for that. Google is just a winner and will be for the long haul. VOO is a great ETF. Some people say VOO, some say VTI, but either way they are safe bets that have great returns, often better than individual stocks. You have to remember that ETFs are managed by people WAY WAY better than we are at playing the market.

TurboK21

I’ve bought all the duds at some point - Peloton, Nio, Nikola, Chargepoint, FUBO, ZOM, Lucid, Disney, Snap, Paypal 2021-2022 were not good years for me and I’ve only bought VTI since then. Learned my lesson lol

flytoai

Props for starting at 19 that’s already a big win. Honestly, you’ve got a lot of overlap (VTI + QQQ + VOOV all cover large-cap US). With the small amounts you’re putting in, you might be better off keeping it simple — like just VTI or even the target-date fund. The real game-changer is consistency. $20/mo now turns into a lot if you keep increasing it as your income grows. Don’t stress too much on the “perfect” mix yet — you’re doing the most important part already

flytoai

Props for starting at 19 🙌 that’s already a big win. Honestly, you’ve got a lot of overlap (VTI + QQQ + VOOV all cover large-cap US). With the small amounts you’re putting in, you might be better off keeping it simple — like just VTI or even the target-date fund. The real game-changer is consistency. $20/mo now turns into a lot if you keep increasing it as your income grows. Don’t stress too much on the “perfect” mix yet — you’re doing the most important part already 🚀

GaylrdFocker

Way too much overlap and no reason to have a TDF unless you're 100% in it. With your amount stick to 1 fund, either VTI or VOO would be my pick. Also VOOV isn't an S&P 500 fund, it's a S&P 500 Value fund. At your age, look for growth, not value and dividends.

Living-Giraffe4849

Go DCA VTI then pussy we know what we’re about

Forsaken-Mark-1898

Ive been going back and forth on this as well. I have about 3 yrs until I stop working. My Bucket 1 is fully funded by my mil retirement which covers all monthly expenses and with a $1700 a month positive delta. Bucket 2 will be funded when I redistribute (2) 401ks. Right now Im looking at VOO, VTI, VT and SCHD. Bucket 3 is my Roth IRA and some precious metals. The IRA contains three bonds which have a yield of between 4.3% - 7.4%, as well as some REITS, International and Small/Mid cap ETFs.

Garey_Coleman

I’m getting ready to invest but posts like these make me want to stick it in VTI or VOO to play it safe even though the potential to get filthy rich is low

Scr0ll0

23M. I’m currently following a portfolio of 3% BNDW, 63% VTI, 34% VXUS. In the wake of potential rate cuts in the coming days/weeks, how much stock should I sell, and should I switch to short term treasury bonds instead of BNDW?

mikek2111987

Put that money into VTI and walk away for a little bit, step back and take a look at your trading. Are you actually analyzing charts and companies, or just following WSB trends? If it's the latter, you're just gambling

AdBroad8788

Any thoughts on VOO vs VTI? Expecting the 500 companies will outperform the market as a whole long term?

ppith

There's a reason it's called index and chill. If you're not retiring in the next five years, then you shouldn't care about reducing equity exposure and buying US Treasury bills or bonds. Ignore all the noise and always buy whether the market is going up or down. In the long term, you will hopefully see the average returns of VOO/VTI. When the market tanks, that's the rare sale. Our income is a little more than yours at around $388K combined. Wife had RSUs from 2022 to 2024. She never sold a share until after she was laid off. In previous years, our income was closer to $340K including those RSUs. We also had a paid off house since the fall of 2022 (though maybe not worth as much as yours since ours is around $600K). I cashed out an old pension around October 2022 for around $180K since my previous company was only expecting it to grow by 5% a year until retirement and the lump sum versus monthly payments until death all assumed 5% growth. I figured with VOO/VTI I could do better. I bought when the S&P 500 was around 400 and then it immediately dipped below for a few months. To give you some context, our investments hit $1M for the first time in June 2023. Exactly two years later June 2025 it hit $2M. This was a portfolio based on 85% SPY/VOO/VTI, 5% MSFT, 5% QQQ, and 5% BRK.B. MSFT was sold for VOO/VTI this year. I also worked part time for a startup and cashed out around $27K after the company was bought out. After paying long term capital gains taxes (I bought startup shares for less than $20, the most I could purchase), that money also went into VOO/VTI. This happened after we hit $1M in investments. There will be some future years where we may be in a recession. In fact, the yield curve inversion of the 10 year US Treasury versus 3 month US Treasury has predicted the past few recessions. However, these are the Black Friday sale times. How many years or months the sale lasts depends on the event. These are the times you want to buy as many shares as possible. Source (click on max and observe the events that occurred after the yield curve was inverted): https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/T10Y3M

kitty_snugs

Join me on the VTI or VT and chill train. Index and ignore, then find some hobbies not involving trading.

literanch

Ok, dad. These positions are ~2% of my portfolio. I don’t have to post “my moves” when it’s largely VTI, NVDA, UNH, and HIMS shares that I hold for the long term.

MapleYamCakes

>How do I navigate if recession hits General advice is not to invest more than you’re willing to leave in the market for a minimum of 5 years. Diversification also helps. VT is total world stock market and captures every publicly traded company on the planet. Alternatively you could go VTI/VOO + VXUS to control your exposure to US and International independently. BNDW is total world bond market. Alternatively you could go BND + BNX to control your exposure to US and International independently. Recommend doing some reading on r/bogleheads

thonda27

And don’t know which one is easier, but I opened one up 2 yrs ago for kid that was 10. Put in 60 week and have it in VTI and VUG

DoctorMario1000

I’m up $268k ytd just buying/holding stonks and VTI 🤷

sloth_333

I max my wife and I backdoor roth every year. We have over 100k already. It’s all invested in VTI, VT and VXUS. 90% of that is just the 7k per year. We are late 20s and early 30s for reference. It’s going to be substantial by retirement

username_taken1776

Formatting tip, if you add two rows (hit enter twice), it will start a new paragraph and makes your holdings easier to read: Roth IRA: 100% VT Employer Simple IRA: 100% SPIAX HSA: 100% FZROX Brokerage: SOFI, HIMS, NVO, VTI

Whipitreelgud

You believe you are losing money because of socio-economic-political uncertainty because of Trump. I don’t think you would benefit from more research due to your s-e-p beliefs. You should DCA average buy VTI or a similar fund and just commit to contributing on a regular basis. You might also benefit from a hobby or practice to help with your anxieties. I am not endorsing Trumpanomics in any way. You need to do some redirection

Lukekulg

Try the Bogglehead sub. Seriously. A full market ETF, can't go wrong. You're not likely to beat the returns & are likely to underperform them. VOO / VTI or SCHB & SCHF. Or whatever your broker's equivalent is. Good luck.  It's like anything else: practice and just doing it. Paper trading helps. Pick a ticker & just spend a weekend learning everything you can about the Co. Go to their site check out their financials yourself. The reports on Yahoo or wherever aren't really super useful. You'll get there. Damn near every single investor ever has been exactly where you are.

bush_killed_epstein

u/sharpetwo has shared a nice comprehensive explanation as to why long vol is discouraged for the average options trader (someone who has more knowledge and resources than, say, a buy-and-hold VTI guy, but way less than a full time options trader working at a derivatives firm). And why even when the pros do long vol, it is usually to capture a mispricing in the volatility surface rather than for directional speculation. HOWEVER - I will be the one to go against the grain here and say that it is worth it to at least investigate the world of long gamma. Out of the 3 long vol applications that u/sharpetwo mentioned, I actually think regime shifts have a lot of possibilities for the keen amateur trader. I also think it is possible to profitably time volatility via directional bets on stocks exhibiting short to medium term momentum or mean reversion, whether caused by a regime shift or not. Yes, its hard. Yes, implied volatility is often dialed in pretty well. But the market is not some all seeing eye that perfectly prices everything in. # Philosophical Reasoning I think it's important to remember that behind the candlesticks is a worldwide auction consisting of many different groups with vastly different utility functions. Many have considerable constraints that they must operate within. Both legal constraints and constraints imposed by their investors. Think about it - a pension fund cannot swing trade NVDA. They must hold a very reasonable basket of stocks and bonds that they continually average into and hold for a very long time. Market makers must stay delta neutral. Hedge funds have a million weird risk constraints they must follow to a T. Nowadays a huge portion of people saving for retirement just buy and hold index funds. All of these different priorities held by the various market participants lead to a market that tries to efficiently price things in, but in my opinion falls short quite often. Many academics have written about the way that momentum and mean reversion factors seem to persist over time despite the fact that they \*should\* have gone away once they became common knowledge. As retail traders betting our own money, we have the advantage of not needing to adhere to any outside constraints. In other words, we are uniquely nimble. And there is a flipside to the challenge of having to be right on direction, magnitude, and timing: the market compensates you **very** well when you are right. At the end of the day, it all comes down to expected value and probability. Is your probability of winning greater than the odds implied by the cost relative to what you stand to make? If you can't reliably answer yes, you shouldn't trade. (comment continued in reply)

Jawsumness

VTI

scm66

Buying and holding VTI

Murda_City

Do you work? If yes do you have access to 401k? If yes take the match. If no move on to Roth IRA. Open Roth IRA. Deposit up to $7000 annually. Think of a Roth IRA as a folder. You have to open the folder and then buy something like stocks or etfs in the folder. You want an index fund like $VTI. It tracks the index and annually gains 8-10% on avg. Some years up some down averagjng out to 8%. Once that moment crosses the imaginery line from bank to Roth its gone till you retire. Very few exceptions. Keep 2-3k out as an emergency fund. Put the rest in a money market account that gains a bit of interest. Then in January youll be able to start investing in next years Roth. Invest $600 monthly till you reach the $7000 cap.

SirGlass

>but others say "Holding too much of your portfolio in one investment, even a diversified one, can leave you overexposed to risk. This does not really make sense , most target date funds do not hold "One investment" they hold usually some mix of USA stocks , foreign stocks , bonds This is not "One investment" it may be one mutual fund but it holds all sorts of different investments Its perfectly fine to invest in one fund as long as the fund is diversified like a target date fund is. Fore example take two portfolios 1 . VT 2. Split between VTI , VOO, QQQ, SCHG, SCHD , SPLG, IVV, VYM what one is more diversified , 1 2. holds a bunch of overlapping funds that concentrate on USA large cap stocks, just holding a bunch of funds is not diversification , you have to look at what the underlying funds hold VT is a world index fund that holds almost every public company on earth, 2 is a bunch of funds that only hold USA companies and concentrated on large cap companies. 2 is actually less diversified despite holding a bunch of funds

ConcentrateOk523

I have over $500,000 in bonds. Would have had so much more not owning bonds and being 100 percent VTI.

LopsidedBeat56

I (18 y/o) bought 207 shares ATCH at 0.47 for my ROTH IRA. I know it would probably be better to buy for my brokerage account, but I want extra money to put into VTI and VXUS. Whats the estimate for ATCH and how long should I hold?

ElectricOne55

Ya my hardest decision has been on what to invest in in the taxable account. For the IRA I'm split amongst VOO, FBGRX, and MSFT. For the taxable account, I'm in between VTI, NFLX, NVDA, V, and META.

Impossible-Bed555

Hey all, Thought I would ask this question on this forum. Our total net worth is $6.5M spread as follows: 1. ⁠401K - $1.3M (92% SP500, 5% Bonds, 3% cash earning 4.5% yield) 2. ⁠Company DCP plan: $800K (40% SP500, 60% Cash earning 4.5% yield) - laddered to start the first payouts starting in 5 years spread over 10 years. Not contributing more to it. 3. ⁠Individual account: $4.4M (60% VTI, 5% I-Bonds, 35% cash earning 4.5% yield) I’m slowly converting the cash in Individual account to VTI through DCAing $25K every other week. And especially concerned the upcoming interest rate drops which will reduce the yield on cash. Still at least 15-20 years away from retirement age with 1% debt and no house. We rent. Living well below our means with annual expenses around $150K. Both earning. Any advice on whether I should go lump sum right away into VTI given how inflated the market is right now? Any other suggestions on how my allocation should be and should I do CDs? Not looking to go 100% stocks. More comfortable at 80/85% and have at least a year or two worth of emergency cash.

Valvador

Subreddits are full of different groups of people with different opinions. If you watch a single subreddit long enough you'll notice the same message that was buried one day is suddenly the top post on a different day. It's not that the subreddits opinion has changed, but maybe the community that is in rotation at that time is different. Use Subreddit comments and post to get a general "read the room" from people willing to share, and the rare occasional sincere individual that is actually sharing the deeply complex mental process for how they came to a conclusion that they did. When half the posts are "VTI/VT and Chill" you know you are talking to sheep that aren't putting effort into their posts and are regurgitating things that made them feel good. Slogans for the average fool that just wants a simple answer with no nuance.

UnableCurrency

New to stock market and directly on penny stocks - bro please build a solid base with VOO, VTI and QQQ and then some concentrated bets on specific stocks and then and only then head here to this big casino - called PennyStocks.

Low-Jackfruit3321

I would do 50% SCHG and 50% VTI. ETFs are more liquid that real estate and historically have better returns

logisticalgummy

I answered 1M in house and 1M in VTI. However if it’s purely for investment I would do 100% VTI.

logisticalgummy

1M for a house, 1M in VTI.

lugnutsareloose

Invest half in a lump sum and DCA the rest over 24 months. Most would say DCA on a set schedule, but personally I go heavier when the market is deep red. It's more of a psychological thing than anything. Also sideline cash is still paying like 4.1-4.5% so it's not like you're burning it to inflation. At least until rates are cut marginally. Lump sum the whole thing would statistically be the highest performer, but I'm with you on things being far from normal rn. Also, if the US makes you weary split your allocations to VTI and VXUS in a ratio that makes you more comfortable. That way you control how much you're invested in the US vs everywhere else.

Slothrop75

Jumping in after an 80% spike is usually chasing FOMO. For beginners, I'd skip the high-volatility plays like OPEN. Start with ETFs like VOO or VTI to learn the basics before gambling on individual stocks. Your future self will thank you.

No_Raisin_1838

Probably VT or VTI+VXUS given how high the PE ratio of US stocks are right now.

dooknuckduster

SCHF looks like a international ex-US developed fund, and doesn't include ex-US emerging markets holdings (Taiwan, China, etc) Two low cost funds would be VTI or ITOT, (total US, SCHB is pretty close) and VXUS or IXUS (total international, including developed, emerging, and frontier markets). Or a single low cost fund with both US and ex-US would be VT or SPGM.

AnimatorIcy4922

I would either get heavy on research or DD on some of the companies you’re interested in, or put your money in an ETF like VOO or VTI.

SunshineSeattle

$VTI

FINomad

I already have over $2M invested in VTSAX (mutual fund version of VTI). I'd throw the new $2M in there as well. No real estate for me. I want passive income, not a job dealing with people in the RE industry.

WorldofLoomingGaia

Any particular reason to do VTI+VXUS instead of just VT?

Willing-Promotion685

Just buy VOO or VTI and chill. If you want international add in VXUS. You’re young and don’t need bonds or cash. The 0.25% expense ratio is not much but it’s just waisted money.

DoctorMario1000

Makes me happy to keep dumping money into VTI anyways

Lakeview121

There are advantages to a 529 plan. Paying off the vehicle is a good move. Drive it for the next 15 years if u can. Then dollar cost average into a broad based index fund like VTI of VOO. You’re on the right track, congratulations. I don’t know. You might consider putting g 5K into juniors 529. There are a lot of tax advantages and it will take some heat off later.

QuarterFlounder

Investing in a "list" of ETFs doesn't make a lot of sense as you will likely have significant overlap, unless that is your strategy. You might want to just find one or two that you like. I'm invested in QQQ and VTI, but I might ditch both and just go full VOO or VTI like a lot of investors do. Just make sure you know and understand the holdings.

2alphastyle

Really depends on what you are looking to get exposure to. VOOG is my top pick. QQQ is good. VTI is a nice and stable one. iBit is a solid moon shot play. One thing you need to do is look under the hood of everything you hold and check your exposure. You can scoop up a bunch of ETF’s and might think you are diversifying but really 30+% of your portfolio is NVDA, MSFT, and AAPL. Chat GPT can do a surprisingly good job at helping you figure that out. But, be careful about taking its advice.

gmenez97

Look at expense ratios for VTI, VXUS, BND, VBIL. These ETFs are basically what you have.

BrewerCollie

You can put $7,000 each into an IRA each year. Research which makes more sense for your situation (Traditional or Roth) and $14,000 should be earmarked for that this year. S&P500 (VOO), or something even more diversified like VTI or VT.

5uNmk

PLTR ORCL NVDA are my winners. I have 3/4 in VOO VTI

pain474

The same answer is the every time it is asked multiple times daily. Buy an index fund like VTI and chill.

Sufficient_Winner686

At this point, you just need to put the nearly 100k into ETFs and let them ride while adding to it each paycheck. SPY will cover the SP500, VTI will cover the total stock market. QQQ will cover the NASDAQ. VXUS will cover the total international market. Go lower in international and lean into tech as rates go down. Tech relies on borrowing which is heavily affected by rates.

thetreece

Then definitely don't buy QQQ. There's no sound reason to base your investing profile on whatever the top 100 non -finance stocks are currently treated specifically on the NASDAQ. Buy VTI and VXUS.

pedro380085

The stock market has had a very positive year so far, and with the Vanguard indexes (VTI, VOO, VXUS) having already grown 20% this year (on average is below 15%), it's likely that a correction might come soon. But you never know when that might be. It could be tomorrow but could also be 12 months from now. Between now and then your potential rewards are going to be cut? Are you ok with this?

Here4Snow

You want to preserve principal, which is T bills or HYSA, not the market, in that short of a timeframe. You don't need tax advantaged. You need Safe and accessible. You don't use Roth to hold downpayments for real estate. You can't put that much in there at once. It's for retirement. If you're in a high tax bracket (high income), you should realize there is no need to take from your own future. Leave the Roth to cook. If you want to change your holdings, go ahead. If you want VTI, why not buy $20,000 in the Roth account and then leave it be? You're overthinking for the wrong goals.

Immediate-Run-7085

Yes portfolio value doesn’t change but your access to cash does. Say you buy that $10k of VTI in a brokerage. Now it’s down when you need the down payment. So you’ll have less for a down payment as cash but more in the Roth which doesn’t help you