VTI

Digital-Doc-777

I think 80% VTI and 20% VXUS would be a lot simpler.Want some more growth? Put 10% into SCHG.

sunnbeta

Overwhelmingly VTI and VXUS But to your specific question, also a small portion to QS as my high risk potential high reward, if they can figure out how to scale a viable solid state battery tech… already up over 2x from buying in some in 2023-2024, but probably adding some more because it’s looking slightly more promising 

soundsfromoutside

This was the first year I really began investing and invested in VTI. Love it so far. Once I get over my gambling habit, I’ll focus on ETFs only (eventually…some day….)

baseballer213

TL;DR: For a Roth IRA where you want to automate contributions and invest every dollar, Mutual Funds (SWTSX, SWISX) are often easier to manage than ETFs because they fix your “leftover cash” problem. Great question! They are very similar but have a few key differences for your situation: Mutual Funds: You can invest any dollar amount (like $625.00), so every penny is put to work immediately. No “leftover” cash sitting around. You can set up automatic monthly transfers that buy the fund directly. This is “set it and forget it”. They only trade once a day at the market close price. ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds): You generally have to buy full shares (e.g., 1 share of VTI costs ~$270). If you have $625 to invest, you buy 2 shares and have ~$85 sitting in cash until next month. They trade like stocks throughout the day, so prices change constantly. In taxable accounts, they can be slightly better for taxes, but inside a Roth IRA (like yours), this does not matter at all.

baseballer213

You are overthinking the precision. Schwab doesn’t do fractional ETFs, but their mutual funds allow exact dollar investing. Swap your ETFs for Schwab’s mutual fund versions (like SWTSX for VTI and SWISX for VXUS) to hit your exact 80/15/5 split and invest every penny. If you stay with ETFs, put the leftovers into SWTSX instead of SNXFX. It is cheaper (0.03% vs 0.05% expense ratio) and tracks the total market just like VTI, making it a more efficient parking spot for your excess cash.

Own-Character395

I'm up well over 100% on VTI and other people are just getting in today. I guess I will hold it for another decade

SnS2500

\> I could put the extra money into that isn’t SNXFX Don't sweat amounts less than $15 for a month. \> Should I move to another company who will allow my to buy fractional shares You could, but you have a $15 option there with SNXFX that performs about the same as VTI, so again, don't sweat having less than $15 uninvested for a month. At best you'll miss out on about $2 a year total compared to having fractional shares. You're doing fine. Also, since this is a Roth, you can swap things around whenever you want.

cdude

Schwab is a great brokerage and bank despite not offering fractional share. Buy SWTSX instead of VTI.

Dsrtfsh

Maybe you should consider fund management check out Voo, VTI, Ftech

cheddarben

At this point, I think SPY and even VTI is dangerous. People think they are diversified while some put everything into it. They are not diversified.

weedmylips1

VTI is just US, VT is world

ConcentrateOk523

Put it in VTI

TKDNerd

I would have waited VTI more but it looks pretty decent. Some of those small caps are speculative and I would give more weight to GOOG but overall it’s not terrible.

lessels35

Exactly. The boring SPY/VTI stuff still holds like 80% of the assets for a reason. VXX is wild when you think about it. derivatives of derivatives of derivatives. No wonder people blow up their accounts on that thing.

BorderQuiet8673

Nice allocation, I've been eyeing AVUV for a while now but keep chickening out and just throwing more into VTI instead lol. How's that value tilt been treating you lately with all the growth madness

drbigtoe

Max out your roth and buy VTI or VOO. Then open a brokerage account and buy the same thing with whatever you have left. Then don't touch it for 40 years

Huhuix

Yeah got GOOG, BRK and VTI as core holdings from a few years ago. Been doing well. But been adding a few financials, healthcare, and energy stalwarts in the Roth. BX, BLK, COR, MCK, V, JPM, ELV, ISRG, VDE

Odd_Rip_568

Congrats on maxing out both Roth IRAs! That’s huge, especially while paying student loans. Your plan with VTI/VXUS is solid.

ahamsic11

Diversification doesn’t mean having 25 holdings. Having that many holdings is absolutely unnecessary. I have 3 holdings and I consider myself very diversified and I’m confident with that. I’m 40% VTI, 30% Canadian Market (VCN), 30% Global (VIU). Don’t look at what other people do and make YOUR decisions based on that. Someone could get incredible returns one year and then crash the next, especially if they’re picking stocks or day trading. You can be “conservative” while still having 100% equities if you do it right. Bottom line, investing should be BORING.

tooclouds

Yea I saw the bid-ask of VTI and it's horrendous. Funny enough my first time placing the order I got mid price. Not saying that I will continue to get mid price, but just mentioning it. Additionally, the plan is not to continue buying LEAPS forever, this is the third best way to leverage per the book. Once my portfolio hits about $35,000 I plan on transitioning to futures products such as /MES. I say $$35,000 because you need at least $25,000 overnight to hold futures products in a ROTH IRA. I'll look into that boglehead post, but I've heard of things like RSSB which I think is 200% stock and 100% bonds if I'm not mistaken. I think the expense ratio on it wasn't the best, but I'd have to run the numbers to see if it's worse than VTI (which it might be). The book actually mentioned doing this on SPY, but I don't have enough money in my account to buy SPY leaps lol. I thoroughly enjoyed that bell-curve meme and would say it's the most accurate thing I've seen in my life hahaha. Will continue to post progress for information purposes. The web is bleak on this topic from my own research (specifically this strategy).

Sagelllini

I'm 68, and retired, and believe in owning stocks and not bonds. They don't need the money now and have 7 to 10 years ahead in the accuulation phase. There is no reason not to be 100% stocks. I prefer 80/20 VTI/VXUS but the Schwab equivalents will likely perform virtually the same. You can go with you plan and just forget the bonds and TIPS, because they won't perform as well as the others and if the market does have a hiccup having 15% in them isn't going to save the other 85%. It would also be more tax efficient for them. You don't need the advisor and whatever they would charge. Just DCA as you suggest.

baseballer213

Congrats man, that's a huge milestone. Maxing two Roths while paying down student loans takes serious discipline. VTI/VXUS is solid. Set it and forget it. Keep that momentum going into 2026.

weasler7

As someone who has held leveraged ETFs and also fairly familiar with options, I can see A LOOOOOOT of ways of this failing. For example, just look at the bid/ask spread for the ETF you're choosing (VTI). There's low options low options liquidity and every time you want to roll you are going to take a haircut. You have not run a backtest to estimate your risk of ruin with leverage. This strategy is also absolutely about increasing your lifetime returns since you are levered up for 20+ years. As an aside, I recommend reading through this bogleheads thread (https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=326588) on a similar strategy which holds triple leveraged ETFs hedged with bonds. Something you may notice is that there are many participants in this experiment in 2020 reporting their results, but in 2025 there's only one guy reporting back. I would absolutely not be running this strategy if 18k is a lot of money for you. Probably a waste of time and the effort you put into this is better spent trying to increase. Good luck though. Please post progress every now and then.

Secret_Pen_9712

I got VTI for total market exposure and some SCHD for dividends. For individual stocks, I’m holding Apple and Nvidia too, but I’ve been slowly adding Microsoft and a bit of Tesla for growth. Thinking about sprinkling in some international ETFs for diversification because U.S. heavy portfolios can feel risky long-term. Your S&P position sounds solid, and honestly, it’s hard to beat that simplicity. I like your plan to build up Apple, Amazon, and Nvidia, they’re still strong plays.

HL3HopiumOverdose

Basically, they have some money, right? And instead of just using that money to invest, they are borrowing money (leverage) to use that in combination with their own money to invest in a diversified portfolio of stocks, specifically ETF's and mutual funds. An ETF is a collection of investments like stocks or bonds. A mutual fund is when a group of investors pool money together and a fund manager takes care of it. The manager either buys a lot of diversified stocks (actively managed) or the fund just mirrors an index like the S&P 500 (passively managed). Every person owns a tiny piece of the money in the pile. Using leverage is a double-edged sword because if the market goes up, the money pile grows fast. If the market goes down, it shrinks fast. The measure of how amplified that difference is, is called volatility. High volatility means stocks shrink or grow fast, low volatility means its much more moderated. A leveraged position becomes more volatile because the more money you put in a stock, the more of your own money is put at risk. Let's say you put $10k on an ETF like QQQ (tech), half of your money being leveraged (borrowed money). That is 2x leverage. This means if the market dips 10%, the amount you lose is 2x that because your equity (the money you truly own, subtracting what you owe) absorbs that impact instead of the money you borrowed. So instead of you losing $500 on your equity, you lose $1k. When you leverage money, the broker you leverage money from will require a maintenance margin, which means your equity must always be at a certain percentage of total assets. If you go below this percentage, the broker will issue a margin call which forces you to deposit cash to meet the minimum or sell assets to reduce the loan. If you cannot do this, the broker sells your investments automatically. When you have a leveraged position, every loss you take is felt by your equity, which means you are much more likely to be issued margin calls. The equity itself is put at risk which means you're basically gambling your money for a stock position to go up when your leverage is as high as 3.2x (the leverage we're seeing in the post), even if the portfolio is diversified. EDV is interest-rate sensitive which means that the value of EDV becomes volatile when interest rates change. This is dependent on if the Fed (the federal reserve) fears economic recession or inflation. If they fear economic recession, they cut the interest rates, which offsets losses and allows some breathing room if there's a sharp economic downturn. But if they fear inflation, they raise rates, which amplify losses. Since EDV holds long-term bonds (25-30 years), they are really sensitive to interest rate changes, because the interest rates and bond prices move in opposite directions. The duration of bonds has a big effect on how volatile it is. EDV is a good investment when inflation and interest rates by extent is stable, but a horrible one when it's not. VFMF is designed to reduce swings by holding less volatile stocks. It's still doesn't eliminate risk because it can still face market-wide crashes. With a 3.2x leveraged position, this reduction in risk is mostly negated. VTIAX is an international stock fund, which means its exposed to foreign economies, currencies, and political risks. This means any exchange rate swing can amplify your gains or losses. This is less correlated with U.S. stocks, but it can still drastically fall in global recessions. VOO tracks large-cap American companies. It's pretty ordinary. VTI and VTSAX covers all American stocks, from small-cap to large-cap companies. Small- and mid-cap stocks are more volatile, and market swings impact VTI and VTSAX broadly. You can see that their portfolio reacts heavily to economic and political events. With 3.2x leverage, if some sanction results in a 5% total market crash, his equity (which is $5M) is reduced by 16% which is a staggering $800k loss. That's only 5%, and if they face a margin call, losses are much worse. This is why this strategy is precisely horrible.

Newbiewhitekicks

VOO, VTI, VXUS, QQQ, SMH, and VT all at the same time.

Brilliant_Ebb_2942

Solid mix! VTI and VXUS give great exposure. Have you considered adding some dividend stocks for balance!

HotFoxedbuns

What’s the point of growth and mid cap and small cap, just buy VTI

092Casey

VTI has been at around 330-334 since September 15th. Thats 2 and 1/2 months, but with major crashes in between down into the 320s.  I dont know what everyone is getting excited about; sure, Powell should cut rates to get a boost and Santa rally hopefully, but we've gone nowhere for 3 months almost. Theoretically, sitting in cash since Sept up to now would be better than sitting in VTI.

MONGSTRADAMUS

45/30/15/10 VTI/VXUS/AVUV/AVDV presently

BinBender

VTI has returned 9.3% annualized since its inception in 2021. I would definitely dump everything there to keep the capital liquid, and get the best returns over time. You can always take money from your investments and pay on your mortgage later, but you can't put your house in the market (without refinancing). Just be prepared to hold through downturns, don't panic sell if the market crashes, just "invest and forget", and you'll be good.

The1Drumheller

Almost doubling your money since 2020 isn't exactly an accomplishment. 10k invested Jan 1 2020 would be about 23k today if you had just parked it in VTI and forgotten about it.

CuffytheFuzzyClown

It's rather too complicated. VTI and chill, if old add bonds. Saved you 14 minutes and nonsensical YouTube bullshit.

Cav829

Just to add to this, if you're new to investing start simple with ETFs. Essentially, let someone more experienced with you manage the balances. Remember 93% of investors can't beat parking money in VOO or VTI. Do a little exercise: create a watchlist on Yahoo Finance and put an equal amount of money on stocks you are interesting in with VTI or VOO. Track this over 3-6 months and see what happens.

Whisperingstones

Shoulda VTI + chill, or use $1000 to start with, rather than the whole 27K. Intermittent fasting should help you control IBS as well, along with ditching carbs / inflammatory "food products"

NetZeroSun

Thanks for the link in the post. It is doing well but had the dip earlier. So depends if you got in at all time high and need to be patient. Generally international does not do the same 1 to 1 performance as US stocks in the past. But with recent volatility I the trump administration, ilia dollar fluctuation and I believe further international investment away from the US. International is growing. Look at the trend how it’s recovering. Still. It’s a good idea for diversification if you don’t do that already. Such as a simple rule is boggle heads broad market and international mix. Or VOO or VTI and mix with VXUS (or your international fund). Hopefully above makes sense.l so you spread the gains in several areas. International can gain and dip with the US markets but they are not the same obvious for a variety of reasons. My personal beliefs is the trump admin policy will cause further volatility and make international more appealing for investors.

Ok-Sheepherder7898

$50k seems like a lot, but if that makes you feel safe then that's fine. Put the rest in VTI or VI or VOO, whatever.

resemble4132

Down -20K. This is the end for me. 😓 Buy and hold VTI from now on 💔💔

First-Finger4664

What fund are you talking about? The global VXUS index etf has beaten the US VTI index handily this year (+27% versus +16%)

FINomad

Yes, I would absolutely choose $50k in VOO over GOOG. I'm old enough to have gone through the dot com bust when I was a teenager. If you're asking this question, I assume you aren't old enough to remember the dot com boom. Do you even remember the 2008 GFC? The markets can change faster than you can possibly imagine. No sector or individual company is immune from having their stock price devastated. I retired at 35 and was pretty much all VTSAX (VTI) once I stopped day trading after the dot com bust. Even now that I've been retired for 7+ years, I simply keep three years of expenses in cash and the rest is still in VTSAX. I don't care whether NVDA, MSFT, GOOG, or whoever is next has a good run -- I hold them all and go about enjoying my retirement.

bam2350

Minimal risk: HYSA, SGOV, Treasury Direct, CDs Historically dependable but has risk: VOO, DIA, VTI, ect. Plow money into saving while you can -- establish your emergency fund, max those tax advantaged accounts, pay yourself first, save for your next car, save for a down payment on a house

InjuryEmbarrassed532

Historically the SP500 has been carried upwards by a relatively small number of stocks, it’s not something new…which is why I just keep buying VTI. Picking and timing stocks can be fun, but will almost certainly underperform severely a long time mostly index holding strategy.

AccreditedInvestor69

Yes, in your case it would be easy just buy VTI and VOO puts OTM, find your beta weighted portfolio delta and just buy enough puts to cover your position if it falls 5-10%. At that point you could hold it during a market downturn sell when we bottom out and buy more VTI and VOO and wait for things to improve ride it back up and keep making money.

Dry-Drink

*"VOO and VTI has so much overlap I dont even know why you're doing that to begin with"* Tax loss harvesting. *"about "boomer index funds" while leveraging yourself into EDV, VTI and VOO?"* What boomer invests in EDV? Also, some of the positions I black out because my advisor asked me to. Those are more alternative assets and that's most of my investment. And as for the actual Vanguard funds, hey buddy, I don't like it any more than you but my advisor says I gotta take some medicine so I accepted some in them. *"but im not sure what you're bragging about?"* Half of this thread are people telling me I'm certifiable insane, and then other half tell me what I'm doing is not that big of a deal \*shrugs\*.

sciguyx

let me get this straight. you are talking shit about "boomer index funds" while leveraging yourself into EDV, VTI and VOO? VOO and VTI has so much overlap I dont even know why you're doing that to begin with. second, I applaud you for being "safe" and using those ETF's but im not sure what you're bragging about?

CoolWerewolf

I got 70k cash and 2k shares of VTI what's the play

CoolWerewolf

Once you hit 2,000 shares of VTI and moving five figures a week it's just numbers on a screen

Dry-Drink

Less than a third of my assets are VOO and VTI or equivalents. Around $2.4M out of $7.3M assets. Obviously, with hindsight, I should have gone 100% VOO and VTI, then I would be way way ahead of any leveraged S&P500 ETF. Unfortunately, i cannot predict which asset class will outperform, so I use many.

Particular_Sport5818

Just for fun, today I started a second RH account and threw $1000 into a completely passive portfolio -- 70/30 stocks/bonds, with stocks also split 70/30 between US and international, so $490 VTI, $210 VXUS, and $300 BND. The plan is to leave it untouched for the next year, then punch myself in the face if it ends up outperforming my active account percentage-wise. 🤣

AtXrt

It's more for people who are retired and living off of their portfolio without an income. Bond funds function like cash in the portfolio, but generate income through dividends. If you are retired and there is a crash and you need money, you can sell bond fund shares instead of selling stock and locking in losses. Bonds usually are comparatively stable during a crash. When you draw from the portfolio in retirement you draw 1. Checking account 2. Cash from the cash sweep/HYSA/money market 3. Sell bond shares 4. stocks only if you have to. You keep DRIP off in retirement, so your yearly rebalance has a sell high buy low effect. For example if you keep a 70/30 stocks to bonds split with 50/50 VTI/VXUS you would first use unspent cash to buy bonds, VTI, or VXUS to reach your desired allocation. If you don't have cash, you would sell high on whatever had a good year; VTI, VXUS, or bonds and buy whatever is under your desired allocation.

the-real-batman3

Thanks. Yes mostly VTI but have some stock that have done 200% so not bad. Have good chunk of $ past 2yrs in HYSA for down payment on house…wish it was invested but oh well. 4% no risk

Throw_Me_Away_78

He's got 90% on VOO or VTI. For all his talk about beating the market he's just investing in the market anyway.

v_x_n_

You asked for moderately conservative so you own those returns but that was your risk tolerance at the time. If you are more comfortable now perhaps diversify into diversified index ETF like VTI or VT? It depends on your personal risk tolerance and only you know why that is. Can you stomach large swings in the market and look at it as a chance to rebalance?

ra2eW8je

sooo many ppl still keep getting fooled by these "professionals". if you don't know what you're doing in the stock market, just buy SPY or VOO or VTI or something similar and hold forever.

SummerSpringWinter

This dude is betting against the most heavily weighted company in most index funds.VT, VTI, S&P500, QQQ. It’s like America’s flagship stock.

hinault81

That's tough. It's easy in hindsight to feel ripped off, knowing what we know now. $113k in VTI, don't look at it for 10 years and now you've got $450k. But if your $113k turned into $50k, you probably would've felt ripped off as well. Advisors don't necessarily have your interest at heart (they probably bought a fund with your money and never thought about it again). But they're kind of screwed one way or the other, because if the value of your holdings went down significantly, they'd have to answer. Plus you may have needed that money in a year for a house or something. I know you say you didn't want to do much research due to life things at the time, but that was 10 years ago. There's nobody to blame, but I just think going forward it's one of those things it's easy to shoot yourself in the foot without doing just a marginal bit of homework. $113k is a lot of money, a little bit of reading goes a long way. If someone spent $50k on a car, or $1k on a phone, or $7k on a vacation, they would probably look a little at what they're buying. I started investing around 2011. I remember sitting down with the advisor and they were talking about "MERs" and dividend funds, and stocks, and bonds. I couldn't tell you what any of those meant. Seriously, I knew nothing about investing. I gave them all the money I had at the time, $30k. And after that I went to the library and got some books. Millionaire Teacher, Wealthy Barber, etc. And within a few months and reading some books, I knew enough that MERs at 2.5% (Canada) and dividend funds weren't for me, and I moved things to index funds. JL collins, simple path to wealth is a good book as well.

Due_Distribution1520

80/20 VTI/VXUS is pretty solid and keeps it simple - SCHG might be overkill since VTI already has growth exposure For the years thing, you can contribute to 2024 until April 15th 2025, then after that it goes toward 2025 contributions

UnitedElderberry

Thanks, great advice. As I was considering the options I became more and more risky. I’ve tuned that back I think. Planning to do: 60% VTI 25% VUG 15% Cash in SPAXX I think this is much less risk averse, while still allowing a good growth opportunity and not as much major drawback damage.

w33bwhacker

It's a nonsensical question anyway. By definition, for anything other than the best-performing investment over the last N years, there is always *something* that outperformed whatever you chose. Put it all in VTI? Someone will say you should have put it NASDAQ. Or you did that, and someone will ask you if "it was worth it" to do that, instead of just YOLOing on NVidia. And then the next guy will ask you how sad you are that you didn't put all your money in BTC. Ex-US investment paid off this year, and it crapped the bed over the last decade. That's life. Next decade, it could be the other way around...by conventional valuation metrics, international stocks *are* undervalued!

Soggy_Fudge9266

Is this not due to the clever policies of the U.S. government? The U.S. system was designed for all American citizens to buy stocks. Peter Drucker already predicted the dominance of the stock market by pension funds in his "The Unseen Revolution" in the 1970s. Currently, about half of U.S. mutual funds seem to be held by pension funds. The U.S. population is projected to continue increasing until 2070s, according to the IMF and others. I believe this suggests that for the foreseeable future, the number of people buying mutual funds will likely exceed those selling them. (The population increase might be slightly questionable now due to Trump's policies, perhaps?) Given that pension funds tend to hold onto their mutual fund investments, the combination of the pension system and the population growth forecast ensures that capital fundamentally continues to flow into the stock market. As a Japanese person, the S&P 500 is popular as an investment target even in Japan, and I personally purchase an ETF (VTI) similar to the S&P 500.

Nosemyfart

You lost 200k and this is what you want to go with? Please just use 2-3 index funds and call it a day. Personally, I would just do VTI + VXUS 70:30 and call it a day. Sleep really well at night too. And with 10k/month, baby you got a stew going.

LanceX2

....just buy VTI

Adventurous_Elk_4039

\>Does that seem reasonable long term? Yeah absolutely. VTI/VXUS in any ratio from 80/20 to 60/40 is usually recommended. And if you want to have a small percentage set aside to factor tilt or make some plays, nothing wrong with that at all.

Barbaricshrooms

Thanks for the reply! I don’t mind putting some thought into my investments, like rebalancing once in a while. I’m okay with a little extra effort to hopefully get more growth since I won’t be able to invest much until I finish my internship and education and have a more stable career, but I don’t want to be constantly watching the news or making frequent changes. I was thinking of using VTI + VXUS as my simple core and then keeping small tilts like SMH/SPMO/AVUV to lean a bit more into growth while still mostly “set it and forget it.” Does that seem reasonable long term?

Barbaricshrooms

Thanks for the reply! I don’t mind putting some thought into my investments, like rebalancing once in a while. I’m okay with a little extra effort to hopefully get more growth since I won’t be able to invest much until I finish my internship and education and have a more stable career, but I don’t want to be constantly watching the news or making frequent changes. I was thinking of using VTI + VXUS as my simple core and then keeping small tilts like SMH/SPMO/AVUV to lean a bit more into growth while still mostly “set it and forget it.” Does that seem reasonable long term?

CoolWerewolf

I own 2,000 shares of VTI because I believe in the orange man and 🇺🇸🏈🦅🏈🎆🎇🧨 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

Yogurt_Up_My_Nose

10,800 shares of SCHB which is basically VTI. also 2 shares of SPY at $420.69

BagHoldersOfAmerica

I do schf, 3000 shares but VTI good

Sensitive-Mango3216

VTI is solid but yeah being 100% US is kinda limiting yourself. I'd probably throw some of that 5k at international exposure before switching to SCHG - at least you're getting more diversification instead of just betting on large cap growth SCHG isn't terrible but like the other comment said, you're basically just concentrating your bets when you already have those companies in VTI anyway

dritu_

VTI: 40% KMLM: 20% DBMF: 20% GLDM: 10% TLT: 10% Gets close to S&P returns with 1/3 the drawdown. https://testfol.io/?s=5lit5gboz6a

Far_Line8468

Based parents. They should take all that money from you, stick it in VTI, and lock you out of touching it for 2 years.

trontomoon

Try to convince your parents to at least let you invest in passive ETFs like VOO, QQQ, and VTI. This should be more than enough at your age. If they still don't allow, then save up as much as you can till you are 18. Great work so far!

Scandalcraft

VTI dropped 5% from ATH  I added 10% of my cash to that position. 

rpv123

My “fun” portfolio that represents about 5% of my overall savings is up 111% since last year with no added stocks since Nov 2024 and I’m still only putting money into “safe” ETFs because I have the ability to recognize that I probably got lucky with AMPX going up 5x what I paid for it and it includes Walmart as well which helps. I’m still putting most of my money into VT/VTI (yes, I know they overlap, I don’t care because I like my specific ratio/risk analysis and I think the argument that they’re redundant is dumb.)

InitiativeSeveral652

VTI

Shoty6966-_-

Like 70% VOO and 30% VTI and chill man 😎

Rybred22

With all due respect you do not sound educated on houses or stocks or ETFs. So, put savings in VTI and take $150 from your pay every 2 weeks and automatically invest it in VTI. Should take 15-20 min to open an acct and set this up. If you do this and don’t touch it for a while it will be worth twice as much every 7 years.

RedParrot94

You must be young without a family. Remember, it's INSURANCE. You are buying it to protect your family. Sure you can put the payment into VTI every month, but let's say you put in one payment into your brokerage and then die. Your family get $250 whereas if you had whole life, they'd get $250,000.

The-WideningGyre

I'm personally not bullish on META, but I've never been, so obviously not the most accurate there. SNDK seems solid, and partaking in the compute hw buildup. However, I think you may have missed the main run-up (of course, nobody knows). ADBE I'm pretty skeptical. I think AI stuff (which they also do well) is going to shrink their market substantially. Like half the low-level graphic designers are going to be out of a job because you can ask AI to produce a logo and get something similar. ROBO is interesting -- I hadn't seen it before. I personally would say 5% for ROBO and VRT, 10% for SNDK and the remaining 80% in either VOO, QQQM, or VTI. Okay, this is your play money, so bump up the %'s in single stocks, but I'd personally look into other options or plays than ADBE or META. Some of it depends on what is going on in your main account, and how concentrated or balanced it is. I do think for "play" stocks, that you're hoping will explode, there are more interesting options (drones, quantum compute, space, cybersecurity, materials like uranium or rare earths). Be clear, it's gambling, but that seems to be what you want to do anyway.

FINomad

>Since you're already heavily invested in VTI, putting the additional $5k into SCHG (Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF) could help diversify your portfolio a bit more within the U.S. stock market. No. Exactly the opposite. SCHG holds 197 stocks, 99% of which are already in the 3,539 held in VTI. By holding SCHG, you are becoming **less** diversified than holding VTI by itself. NVDA is 6.6% of VTI. It is 10.8% of SCHG. AAPL is 6.4% of VTI, 9.9% of SCHG. MSFT is 5.6% of VTI, 8.6% of SCHG. See how you are less diversified by holding SCHG? You're just holding more of the top stocks. You can use [https://www.etfrc.com/funds/overlap.php](https://www.etfrc.com/funds/overlap.php) to see the overlaps.

Reasonable_Friend616

VTI = total market. SCHG = large-cap growth. So the choice is really between staying fully diversified or leaning into growth.

SpellAccomplished541

True. I just want to share so young people buy VOO/VT/VTI/etc instead of listening to hot tips.

jb59913

I'd just stay with VTI. There is a lot of correlation between those two funds. Additionally, I wouldn't want to increase my concentration to the tech sector higher than 50%.

baseballer213

You have $170k in cash earning yield while your Roth fights itself. VOO and VFIAX are identical tax-twins, and holding a Target Date fund with individual ETFs defeats the entire purpose of paying for its auto-balancing strategy. VIGAX is just the expensive subset of the S&P 500 you already own. I'd consolidate the Roth overlap into VOO or VTI, keep the cash liquid if the house purchase is imminent, and stop complicating a simple game.

Then_Past_4646

I've worked in Tech for 25 years, don't invest in tech unless it's in VTI, seen the bubbles burst multiple times.

Dapper_Addition_3837

Yes, you should probably fire her and go VT & chill (or VTI + VXUS).Quick math on your situation: * $450k at 1% = $4,500/yr you’re paying * Over 25 years at 7% real return, that 1% drags your end balance by \~$600k–$700k (compounding is brutal) * Your returns = S&P 500 minus 1%, not plus anything * She won’t even help with a 529 → you’re literally paying for nothing you can’t do yourself now You’re young, disciplined, already educated yourself, and have 25+ years. That’s the exact profile that almost never needs a 1% AUM advisor. The only real value left would be behavioral coaching in a big crash, but: 1. You sound level-headed 2. Even if you panic once, one bad move still costs way less than $600k in fees Do this instead: * Move everything to a low-cost brokerage (Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab) * 90-100% VT (or VTI + VXUS) + tiny cash bucket if you want * Rebalance once a year or let it drift * Set up your own 529s, HSAs, etc. — you already proved you can Keep \~3-6 months expenses in cash/high-yield, then let the rest ride. You’ll sleep fine and be hundreds of thousands richer in retirement.If you ever get to $2M+ and life gets complicated (multiple properties, big tax issues, estate planning, etc.), you can always pay a fee-only CFP hourly or a flat fee ($2k–$5k) for a real plan then.Right now you’re just paying $4,500 a year for autopilot you can set yourself in an afternoon. Pull the plug.

teckel

Invest in VOO, VTI or VT at first. no reason to over think it. Once you have $20k or so, then maybe you could consider other options, or not, you can just hold those and nothing else.

CEO-of-SOXL

First things first you should be in FXAIX instead of VTI. Expense ratio is lower.

Particular_Sport5818

Stick with VTI. At 27, you have time and don't need to chase gains.

tugrulthelol

This is probably not the place to ask that question, but as a legit answer its fine if you stick with VTI

catastronot

Should I sell all my VTI in my Roth and buy VGT instead? Current value is 27.3k. I have 155k in taxable and 23.5k in 401k. 27yo

MattieShoes

Forget about "safest". That isn't to say you should ignore risk, but anything worth long term investment will carry some risk. It's S&P (Standard and Poor's), not smp. You can do whatever you like -- it just alters the risk/reward scenario. S&P 500 has gotten good returns and *probably* will in the future. You could broaden exposure with something like VTI which invests in several thousand US stocks instead of about 500, but the returns have been near identical. You could have international exposure with something like VT, but it has been underperforming the S&P 500 since 2008 because US stock returns have been so good. But that could certainly change at any time.

Low-Jackfruit3321

VTI

NotEasyBeingGreener

An ETF like VT is going to give you the most diversification. It is roughly 60% VTI which is the total US stock market index and 40% VXUS which is total international. VTI is pretty close exposure to the S&P 500 (VOO) but also includes mid and small cap companies (about 10% by weight) https://www.etfrc.com/funds/overlap.php?f1=VTI&f2=VOO

6541191

For a truly "set and forget" ETF investment, I'd recommend using a major brokerage like Vanguard, Fidelity, or Charles Schwab. They're established, well-regulated, and have survived multiple market cycles. For your 20-year timeframe, consider a low-cost total market ETF (like VTI or VOO). The fees matter tremendously over decades - even 0.1% difference compounds significantly. Most brokers now offer automatic investments, so you can regularly contribute without lifting a finger. Also, consider using tax-advantaged accounts (IRA/401k) before taxable accounts for long-term holds. Remember to rebalance occasionally (annually is fine) even for a hands-off approach.

Sarpatox

If you don’t want to think about it, look at some etf funds like VOO (S&P 500 companies) or VTI (which is the total market index). You can also find ETFs for different industries like tech, energy, airlines, etc.

Able_Head_7372

Since you're already heavily invested in VTI, putting the additional $5k into SCHG (Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF) could help diversify your portfolio a bit more within the U.S. stock market. SCHG focuses on growth stocks, particularly in large-cap companies, so it might provide more growth potential compared to VTI, which is broader and includes more value stocks. However, the risk with SCHG is that it might be more volatile, given its emphasis on growth, especially in the tech sector. If you're comfortable with that potential for higher returns but also higher fluctuations, it could be a good complement to VTI. If you prefer to stay with the simpler, more diversified approach VTI offers, sticking with that for the extra funds might feel more comfortable.

dead_voxel

I personally do 80/20 DFUS/DFAX as an alternative to VTI/VXUS. I believe DFUS is superior to VTI because it uses academically-informed flexible implementations like filtering out junky small caps and delaying investing in IPOs (there's a YT video by Ben Felix on this). These strategies should allow it to beat VTI in the long run (and it has so far since its 2021 inception). Similarly, I expect DFAX to beat VXUS in the long run. Outside the US, factor tilts have had superior performance to "vanilla" market cap weighting. This combined with the above-mentioned academically-informed flexible implementation should allow it to beat VXUS long term. After months of researching this topic, I came to the conclusion that this combo works best for me because of its simplicity and the fact that I don't have to worry about winning sectors/countries. Plus, there's a satisfaction in owning a part of 12,000+ companies worldwide.

HaruoPanda

If your buddy's looking at a 20-25 year horizon, I'd suggest avoiding individual stock picks and leveraged ETFs for the bulk of the IRA. Those leveraged ETFs are designed for short-term trading, not long-term holds (decay can kill returns). For long-term success, consider a core allocation to a low-cost total market ETF like VTI or VOO (70-80%), with perhaps a tech sector tilt via QQQ or VGT (10-15%) if they want some growth exposure. If they're genuinely interested in crypto, a small allocation (1-3%) through something like GBTC might make sense, but emphasize this should be money they're comfortable potentially losing completely. Remember: diversification is what builds sustainable wealth over decades.

Mantissquirrle

I'd stick with VTI for broader market exposure, but it depends on your goals. VTI gives you the entire US market (including small/mid caps), while SCHG focuses on large-cap growth stocks that could be more volatile. Since you're with Schwab, SCHB would be the closer equivalent to VTI (and commission-free), though VTI has a slightly lower expense ratio (0.03% vs 0.03%). The question is whether you want the diversification of the total market or if you're specifically betting on large growth companies outperforming. For a long-term retirement account, VTI's diversification typically makes sense.