VTSAX

MrAuzzy

I will probably never do international. VTIAX only returned 5.6% in the last 5 years vs VTSAX returned 12.6% in the last 5 years. Not even close....

MusingsAndMind

VTSAX and NOT very relaxed.

jvolkman

But get VTI instead (the ETF equivalent of VTSAX), because it's easier to port between brokerages.

HappyCaterpillar2409

If you're really a long-term investor then put everything you have into VTSAX. You will beat every investor on Wall Street over the next 20 years.

Kinda_Quixotic

Yeah, I’ve invested in VTSAX, so there have been gains. But there is the very real counterfactual of seeing colleagues who are completely indifferent to investing making huge returns because they didn’t think about diversifying. I’m trying to think of it as a stochastic poker like game - the best you can do is play the rational strategy, which generally works best over longer horizons.

RevolutionaryGate742

People keep mentioning free float. But thats not why you shouldn't be worried. Index inclusion isn't instant. S&P 500 requires 12+ months of being public and positive earnings, and even total market funds like VTSAX have seasoning periods. Vanguard isn't dumping 3% of your money into SpaceX on day one. Also, targeting a valuation and getting it are very different things. Ask WeWork how that went. And even if they do hit those numbers, one overpriced stock in a $50T+ market isn't going to wreck your portfolio. That's literally the whole point of indexing.

MusingsAndMind

me before wsb "Put in as much as I can into a Roth IRA and 401k, stick to a safe index fund, and enjoy slow growth that compounds more with each year! :)" me after wsb "VTSAX is doing a classic dead cat bounce and the top is undoubtedly in. Best to exit all markets or short if possible. The S&P 500 is going straight to zero."

ExiledSpaceman

VTSAX, NOC, [SAAB-B.ST](http://SAAB-B.ST)

MondayNightRawr

It’s called, “VTSAX and relax” for a reason

MusingsAndMind

been too much of a silly billy with my money (losing) so i'm just going to VTSAX and relax a bit until I build up enough to risk more

justicebiever

Nothing outside of blue chips. I simply don’t like to speculate any more so I mostly throw into a fund (my fav is VTSAX). If I had to pick within blue chips I’ve always liked Microsoft and Google. If I live to see Nuclear Fusion plants then there’s a very good chance Microsoft or google directly funded it. Tesla and Apple do not excite me.

cleanshavencaveman

Move $5mil into VTSAX at vanguard for ongoing income. At a modest 4% year gain and 4% withdrawal rate that’s $200k/year in your pocket to live off of. Sell the rest and pocket the cash. Buy a house. Buy some other houses to rent. Hire a therapist to help you sort your life out. Focus on your goals. You can retire at 30. Having 25mil in your pocket id you’d be able to find something you care about to pour your energy into.

rarebeauty89

Yes, I think you are exactly right because I deposited the $7,500 in smaller increments over the course of a few days and I only invested in VTSAX after I deposited the maximum. I’m assuming the dividends will automatically reinvest (I don’t think I was given an option when I opened the account), but I will double check.

kiwimancy

Probably you deposited the cash and left it for a couple days before buying VTSAX. It was swept to a money market fund and paid interest. Yes you can reinvest it into VTSAX. VTSAX does pay dividends quarterly, but that last happened in December. They are probably already set to automatically reinvest, so you won't need to reinvest manually next March.

rarebeauty89

For 2026, I just opened a Roth IRA with Vanguard. I deposited $7,500 and invested in VTSAX. I now have $2.19 in interest in my account. I didn’t do a backdoor Roth, roll over the Roth IRA funds for previous years from my other brokerage account, or anything else out of the ordinary. Sorry if this is a dumb question, but does anyone know where this small amount of interest came from? Can I just reinvest it into VTSAX within my Roth IRA? Is this a one time thing or will I have to manually reinvest these small amounts of interest periodically?

Frack_Off

My strategy for 2026 is to not change my investment strategy. Save 25% of my gross salary via automated weekly transfers including HYSA and money market deposits for growing my emergency and sinking funds, then mutual fund purchases targeting a 60/40 split of VTSAX and VTIAX (or their nearest equivalents) for retirement savings - maxing my HSA, and Roth IRA while capturing all potential employer contributions to my 401k and ESOP.

ogbrien

Two things can be true at once. Personally, I think AI is a bubble, yet I still buy VTSAX. I value the simplicity of indexing and I don't delude myself into thinking I'm the statistical outlier who can beat the market. That being said, if you put a gun to my head and told me to hedge against AI hype, lump-sum buying an index dominated by those exact AI companies is objectively the wrong move. Timing and sizing of purchases and time of sell contextually matters a lot at the current market if you're optimizing for reducing overvalued AI exposure. You can't hedge a sector by buying the fund that is most heavily weighted in it

ogbrien

Sell it and buy VTSAX or SPY and thank me in 20 years. You can't stomach a 1000 dollar all in loss on a singular stock? Small price to pay to learn the lesson that you're not a stock picker with the rest of the 95 percent of the traders that cant beat SPY.

Positive-Tax-5488

i bought from VTSAX today and opened a position on QQQI and SPYI

helloworldalien

Lol me peaking outside my boring VOO VTSAX and assorted etf hole after buying intel calls on Friday and selling this morning cause I had some extra cash.  Yeesh. Looks like time to buy more VOO!!!

A_Crafty_Platypus

VTSAX/VTIAX and relax. No need to complicate a good thing.

dmiller224

Sell and put it into VTSAX

SpiritCollector

I don’t like 529’s either. Open a brokerage account in their name (you will be on it too) and contribute to that. Buy something easy like VTSAX.

BeYourBestYou

ha. then that's good. I'd invest what you can. Especially if you don't have much of a retirement and you're already 36. You want that compounding interest to work for you, and the longer you wait, the slower it takes. Just a few to consider. * [**Vanguard 500 Index Fund (VFIAX/VOO)**](https://www.google.com/search?q=Vanguard+500+Index+Fund+%28VFIAX%2FVOO%29&oq=what+are+the+best+vanguard+index+funds&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgAEAAYgAQyBwgAEAAYgAQyBwgBEAAYgAQyCAgCEAAYFhgeMggIAxAAGBYYHjIICAQQABgWGB4yCAgFEAAYFhgeMggIBhAAGBYYHjIICAcQABgWGB4yCAgIEAAYFhgeMggICRAAGBYYHtIBCDc4ODlqMGoxqAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&ved=2ahUKEwiam7Djz4ySAxUlp44IHeSEK2cQgK4QegQIAxAB): Tracks the S&P 500, offering exposure to large U.S. companies, recommended by Warren Buffett. * [**Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSAX/VTI)**](https://www.google.com/search?q=Vanguard+Total+Stock+Market+Index+Fund+%28VTSAX%2FVTI%29&oq=what+are+the+best+vanguard+index+funds&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgAEAAYgAQyBwgAEAAYgAQyBwgBEAAYgAQyCAgCEAAYFhgeMggIAxAAGBYYHjIICAQQABgWGB4yCAgFEAAYFhgeMggIBhAAGBYYHjIICAcQABgWGB4yCAgIEAAYFhgeMggICRAAGBYYHtIBCDc4ODlqMGoxqAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&ved=2ahUKEwiam7Djz4ySAxUlp44IHeSEK2cQgK4QegQIAxAD): Covers the entire U.S. stock market (large, mid, and small-cap) for maximum diversification. Growth & International * [**Vanguard Growth Index Fund (VIGAX/VUG)**](https://www.google.com/search?q=Vanguard+Growth+Index+Fund+%28VIGAX%2FVUG%29&oq=what+are+the+best+vanguard+index+funds&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgAEAAYgAQyBwgAEAAYgAQyBwgBEAAYgAQyCAgCEAAYFhgeMggIAxAAGBYYHjIICAQQABgWGB4yCAgFEAAYFhgeMggIBhAAGBYYHjIICAcQABgWGB4yCAgIEAAYFhgeMggICRAAGBYYHtIBCDc4ODlqMGoxqAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&mstk=AUtExfDKbz5PsnR7toyro5yq47z0VJ4piTNMIfto6jEQs_HeFa-HosxD0k43zbVTO0jhXIq0_MysWI_Z_RrSuYOYJcLR_LMZM1DteAMe9c7dMSEBp6YDMNvmLsgQ1-HgNaQs41rhIsVGhtG6I6F65vtexH9glQ-lVbYT4iJPgFcdcm4xhnw&csui=3&ved=2ahUKEwiam7Djz4ySAxUlp44IHeSEK2cQgK4QegQIBRAB): Focuses on large U.S. growth stocks, heavily weighted in tech. * [**Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS/VFWPX)**](https://www.google.com/search?q=Vanguard+Total+International+Stock+ETF+%28VXUS%2FVFWPX%29&oq=what+are+the+best+vanguard+index+funds&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgAEAAYgAQyBwgAEAAYgAQyBwgBEAAYgAQyCAgCEAAYFhgeMggIAxAAGBYYHjIICAQQABgWGB4yCAgFEAAYFhgeMggIBhAAGBYYHjIICAcQABgWGB4yCAgIEAAYFhgeMggICRAAGBYYHtIBCDc4ODlqMGoxqAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&mstk=AUtExfDKbz5PsnR7toyro5yq47z0VJ4piTNMIfto6jEQs_HeFa-HosxD0k43zbVTO0jhXIq0_MysWI_Z_RrSuYOYJcLR_LMZM1DteAMe9c7dMSEBp6YDMNvmLsgQ1-HgNaQs41rhIsVGhtG6I6F65vtexH9glQ-lVbYT4iJPgFcdcm4xhnw&csui=3&ved=2ahUKEwiam7Djz4ySAxUlp44IHeSEK2cQgK4QegQIBRAF): For broad exposure to developed and emerging international markets. 

Kinda_Quixotic

Also, I just saw your age. FWIW - If I could go back to being 20 yrs old, I’d (1) max out 401k asap; and (2) open a Vanguard account and buy VTSAX every month. IMO gold does have a place. I like knowing I have 5-10% there, but it shouldn’t be your primary investment. *Bonus for a Mega Backdoor Roth if your employer plan has it

No-Needleworker5429

VTSAX

FossilizedUsername

Probably nobody told you this but there is this fund call VTSAX that actually has positive expected value. It's up almost 70% over the time period you posted! Crazy to think about what could have been!

trutheality

"Shares", "longer dated options", how boring. You may as well just sit in VTSAX. Where are the 0DTEs? Where are the **bets**?

MAFL55

So your plan is to gamble the money that you want to use for a down payment on a house in the stock market? Madness. If you’re looking to put money that you plan on using for a down payment on a house into something to potentially make money on, put it in a total stock market mutual fund that is your safest play. It should get you 10 to 20% a year. VTSAX would be my play.

Cruian

>also FZROX I believe will sample the index, not buy every single company , This is common to other US total market funds as well. The other day I found it on VTI/VTSAX 's prospectus for example, I'd fully expect to see the same in FSKAX's.

harrison_wintergreen

>-would it lessen chance of getting financial aid or loans? (I likely won’t qualify for aid) best case scenario is avoiding college debt entirely, through 529, grants, scholarships and tuition assistance from work. >-worse possible investment options than the market? I'm in Utah which has one of the better 529 plans nationally, and you can buy the entire market with VTSAX or an equivalent. >money tied up/lost if kid doesn’t go to college? this is a fair point to evaluate. as your kids get older you can honestly evaluate their personality and possible career track an adjust the 529 plan accordingly. someone who wants to do a 12 month trades certification will have different needs than a pre-med student.

Psychological_List81

Thanks for the input I don’t have VTSAX, I got VXUS and VNQI. The partial shares sucks because most all what investors have partial shares

BiggestMack01

Honestly, no. Vanguard is REALLY annoying and it took me weeks because the support is so shitty. First you have to call them to transfer your VTSAX shares into VTI, and you need to make it an exact share value (no partial shares), then you can tell them you’d like to start a full account ACAT transfer.

BiggestMack01

If you do decide to do it, make sure to utilize vanguards transfer function where you can transfer all VTSAX funds into VTI without selling them or losing any money

pr1ncejeffie

Hi all — I’m looking for guidance on setting up long-term investing for my kids (ages 11 and 9). I already have 529s for college, but I’d like to start a separate “retirement-style” pot for each of them — something that can compound for decades and eventually be handed off to them later in life. I’m in the U.S. My priorities are: * Tax-efficient (not heavily taxed along the way, if possible) * Low fees / low commissions * Simple, long-term growth approach * Ability to contribute monthly for the next \~20 years (until I retire), subject to any annual caps/limits depending on account type * Ideally something I can later transfer to them when they’re older (or that becomes theirs at the right time) My current brokerage relationships are with **TIAA (employee) and Vanguard**. Investment approach: I have a **high risk tolerance** since the time horizon is 20+ years, and I’m leaning toward a low-cost broad U.S. index fund (S&P 500 or total market). What do you think of these options, or would you recommend something else? * Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (**VTSAX / VTI**) * Fidelity 500 Index Fund (**FXAIX**) * Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund (**SWPPX**) Also: for the account structure itself, what’s the best route here — custodial taxable account (UGMA/UTMA), Roth IRA (if/when they have earned income), or something else? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

HumbleSupernova

That's the only account that is 100% VTSAX and that's where it's going to stay lol.

ImOnlyCakeOnceAYear

Haven't checked in in a while....I am 100% VTSAX. Has this fallen out of favor?

ParticularInitial147

#metoo VTSAX and chill. Well, also a dab of VTIAX, and some FXAIX in a 491K. Maybe some TSP C and I Funds. But mostly VTSAX and chill.

MusingsAndMind

puts on VTSAX

LazyJoeJr

VTSAX

Emotional-Power-7242

VTIAX is VXUS in a mutual fund. There's also VTWAX which is VT in a mutual fund (65% VOO/35% VXUS). You can transact as much as you want in an IRA with no penalty. For simplicity sake I would probably sell everything and put it all in VTWAX. But you could also sell just the target date fund any whatever VTSAX is required and buy VTIAX till you hold 70% VTSAX/30% VTIAX. This assumes you want no bonds. There's nothing wrong with bonds and there's actually a good reason they put them in the target date funds. So 100% of the account in three 2050 target date fund is also good.

chittershitter

Once you buy the investment your gains will be tax free. You should put the money in right now and enjoy a longer period of tax-free growth. Regarding the futures being up, you're basically asking "can I time the market?" The answer is no. Even with historical data that might show which months perform the worst, try and find those individual bad days or months on an actual long-term chart of a real fund like VTSAX. Dollar cost averaging isn't bad, but Vanguard has a whitepaper about that if you want expert advice backed by evidence. https://corporate.vanguard.com/content/dam/corp/research/pdf/cost_averaging_invest_now_or_temporarily_hold_your_cash.pdf https://investor.vanguard.com/investor-resources-education/news/lump-sum-investing-versus-cost-averaging-which-is-better The takeaway from that research can be neatly summarized as "the market goes up more often than it goes down, so for each day you delay investing the same dollar you will be more likely to be buying at a higher price than had you bought today."

DiegoMilan

In other words, VTI/VTSAX and chill

njdev803

First trading day of the year, which means maxing out my Roth IRA. Question for those of you with much more experience and knowledge than I: Started this Roth IRA back in 2017 and for those first two years dumped everything into VFIFX (2050 Target Date Fund). 2019 to present I have been putting it all into VTSAX because I realized I don't need bonds quite yet. Now as I'm learning more I realize I have ZERO international exposure, and it seems like maybe I should rebalance with my IRA to get to something like 70 / 30 split between US and International When I started this Roth IRA for whatever reason I chose the mutual funds over the ETF equivalents, and now for my 2026 contribution I'm only given a choice to contribute to another Vanguard Mutual Fund, the 2050 Target Date Fund, or VTSAX fund. If I wanted to throw this $7500 into an international fund, which should I use? Most of the funds I'm aware of are ETFs, and it doesn't seem I can contribute to an ETF, only Mutual Fund. Should I put it all into VTIAX (Total International Stock Market Fund) then? And how could I go about getting to that 70 / 30 portfolio balance? Can I transact within the IRA to trade some VTSAX shares to International Shares? Or maybe better to get rid of the 2050 Target Date fund shares in favor of International Shares? FWIW - 38y/o, total IRA portfolio around $100k (86k VTSAX & 14k VFIFX)

MinuteBusiness8445

VTI or VTSAX if you want simple and effective - just throw your $500/month at total market and call it a day

Jonathank92

about 19%. 95% in VTSAX. 5% in $goog. Bought in a few years ago and been holding. $58 a share on $goog. Like everyone else wish I bought more. About 101 shares.

c-u-in-da-ballpit

I was 80% in VTSAX in 2025 with smaller postions in Array, Nextracker, Novo, Kongsburg, and Fluence. But the major index’s have become too concentrated in the AI trade for my liking. So I’m taking a risk in 2026

981flacht6

I buy VOOG and IXUS in my taxable and VTSAX in my ROTH.

scarletknight87

100% S&P in 457 and 100% in VTSAX in Roth IRA and Brokerage. E fund in SGOV.

Improvcommodore

Same! VTIAX up 61% since I started buying it late 2022, and VTSAX…you know

burner70

This is an old rollover IRA from a previous job, was sick of watching it hover around 16k-17k for the previous 3 years mostly VTSAX. Not contributing to it at all. Watched & bought in the 20's down to 6, Karp's hair was getting crazier, they got IL6, every good news/contract the stock would drop, new govt contracts, no debt/cash. Holding until 384 or until I turn 60 (in 5 years), whichever comes first.

crywhenugetolder

VTSAX & Chill 😎

burner70

2007 x shares PLTR CB $11, 1 x MSFT, 35 x VTSAX, 119 x SOFI, 10x ARKK

modestirish

All I did was buy more VTSAX and VTIAX 😎

davidgoldstein2023

I just park my money in VTSAX and hang out here to watch moron lose millions lol

hb9nbb

so the key here is look at the top 10 holdings in he fund. they're the same top 10 that are in MOST funds right now. Which means you shouldn;'t be paying both a financilal advisor and 0.75% to own that fund. You could buy a Vanguard fund in any brokerage account and get very similar performance. For instance, VTSAX has a 0.04% expense ratio. (theres a bunch of similar vanguard funds, VTSAX is just one ive used)

RabidBlackSquirrel

I keep a simple workflow, mostly on autopilot. In order: * Emergency fund, cash in savings. Whatever amount you're comfortable with. * 401k to max match * Max HSA (if you have it) * Max Roth IRA * Max 401k * Other tax advantaged accounts you might have access to * All leftover cash at end of month to taxable brokerage (VTSAX) Only manual action is that last one. I keep my emergency fund cash in savings, it's easier to access and is immaterial in the grand scheme of things. Convenient access to that money is more important than squeezing an extra percent out of it.

luvlyjennibee

I was looking into the Roth IRA thing, so I'm glad to hear it come up as a suggestion. Means I'm not completely lost haha I will look into the VTSAX thing ASAP! Thank you for your help, and have a great holiday season!!

Imaginary_Hotel7606

Good on you for starting this early, most people don't think about investing until they're way older. With your risk tolerance I'd probably look into a simple 3-fund portfolio or just throw most of it into something like VTSAX and call it a day Since you're already crushing the savings game, maybe open a Roth IRA if you haven't already - that tax-free growth is gonna be huge over the next 40 years

Constant_Counter_595

This is solid advice OP. You're already doing decent with the tech picks but honestly throwing it all into something like VTI or VTSAX and forgetting about it is probably gonna beat whatever stock picking you're doing. The math is pretty brutal - like 80% of active fund managers can't even beat the market long term and they do this for a living That $250/month into individual stocks could probably just go into more index funds unless you really enjoy the research part

Bagman220

VTSAX and relax

FINomad

I've been holding the old people version of VTI (VTSAX, and VTSMX before that) since the early 2000s. It's what allowed me to retire at 35. I'm now 43 and keep three years of expenses in cash and the rest in VTSAX. Investing really is that easy. It's amazing how complicated people make it (including my younger self).

MaybeOnFire2025

I'm VTSAX, same church different pew.

rootstwo

Back in 2020 I rolled a 403b account and dumped it all into VTSAX (purchase price was $53 a share). Never touched it, still don’t plan on touching it… it’s sitting at $1.1mil today. Not a bad return in under 6yrs.

balljoint

Your post isn't helping, you're screaming about Inflation when the damage has already been done and has been priced in for a long time. Current inflation is 2.6% and has stayed around there for some time without the predictions of the doom sayers coming true. Or are you one of those people that says "the prices now aren't back to 2019 pre-Covid prices therefore inflation inflation inflation!!!". In that case the only thing that can fix prices would be a massive recession where we do nothing about it while creating massive deflation. This would do far more damage then 2008 and cause a depression that we woud have to self inflict until the Subway footlong was back down to $5. Problem is that every Subway would be out of business before your Five dollar Footlong reality kicked back in. I'm so sick and tired of this. Just buy VTSAX, VOO, SPY, and hold... that's it, you'd even be out performing Gold if you did that since 2020. You also wouldn't be shitting yourself every night waiting for the inevitable Gold bubble to pop. VTSAX and chill is what we used to say and back tested to 2020 has performed damn well! For the inevitable "BUT Erma Gerd Ma Inflations is still bad touch in the hoo hoo fun place" people. If a forest catches on fire and half of it burns down before you can put the fire out then you cannot be mad tht it's going to take a while for the Trees to grow back. That's our economy right now, the fire has been out since the Biden administration and we have been trying to do everything to promote growth, but no matter what we do it still takes time for tree's (the economy) to grow and fix itself. Also, odds are the forest isn't going to look the same as before it caught on fire, it could be for the better or worse, but we currently don't know. I hope that helps. Now VTSAX (or do ETF's VOO, SPY) and chill. Go read The Simple Path to Wealth: Your road map to financial independence and a rich, free life by JL Collins. You'll find this game is more psychological then anything else, but if you stick to the plan you'll win. It's what I used to FIRE and won't leave you a nervous insane wreck checking the markets at every moment. Toodles

anonUSAFguy

This is what I do. The only difference is I use VTSAX instead of VTI

___Art_Vandelay___

It doesn't really matter much, mostly all the same. Lots of people go with VOO or whatever their specific broker offers. We have Roth IRAs and a brokerage account with Vanguard, I went with VTSAX.

Awooga546

I own 3 right now in my regular brokerage account, all penny stocks. My long term retirement accounts are VTSAX, age targeted fund, and currently hedging the Russel market with RWM.

shmere4

I haven’t looked in a month but VTSAX was +19%

sharp1988

VTSAX and chill

Artistic-Western6342

Superior Diversification: VTSAX tracks the entire U.S. stock market, investing in large, mid, small, and even micro-cap stocks, representing approximately 100% of the investable U.S. market. This offers broader market exposure and reduces reliance on any single market segment. VLCAX, while diversified, focuses only on large-capitalization stocks, comprising roughly the top 85% of the U.S. market. Marginally Lower Fee: VTSAX has an expense ratio of 0.04%, slightly lower than VLCAX's 0.05%. While this 0.01% difference is minimal and won't significantly impact returns over 15+ years, it still means VTSAX is technically cheaper. Long-Term Strategy: For a truly "set it and forget it" strategy over 15 years, capturing the performance of the entire market provides more comprehensive growth potential and better hedges against specific sector or cap-size underperformance. In essence, VTSAX gives you the broadest exposure to the U.S. equity market at an ultra-low cost, making it an excellent foundation for a long-term retirement portfolio.

arcanition

VTSAX would be a much better, diversified option.

oberwolfach

1 basis point in expenses is inconsequential. I’d prefer VTSAX since it tries to cover the entire market, including small companies, and I don’t have an opinion on large vs small cap performance. However, the difference will be minor since the large caps in VLCAX are the vast majority of VTSAX’s weighting.

Hairy-Most-4274

i know basically nothing ab investing and am just sitting on money i've been saving from working since i was 16 (im 18), im going out of the country for a while and while i do that i dont want my usd just sitting in a bank account losing value so i chalked up a portfolio just as an idea, does anyone have any revisions or comments? i dont see myself needing to take anything out bc this is seperate from emergency fund, except for in around 3-4 years for a major surgery insurance doesnt cover but hopefully i wouldnt drain all of that and thats kind of askew from my main point now. 30 VTSAX or s&p 500 23.5 VTSAX or s&p 500 23.5 Dow jones industrial average 10 Gold  8 VNQ 5 Silver

HSuke

"VTI/VTSAX and Chill" is the reason I sat through all of the 2010s and 2020 without selling. The decision to not to anything special was my most profitable decision.

HappilyDisengaged

Looks great. I’d check out the boglehead strategy. Better off with just 2 funds: VTSAX, VTIAX….nothing wrong with qqq, but keep in mind vtsax is tilted tech at the moment Simple is better when it comes to index fund investing.

Wassailing_Wombat

VTSAX and chill

Easy-Yogurt4939

1. **QQQ:** \~10.05% CAGR. 2. **VOO (SPY Proxy):** \~8.76% CAGR. 3. **VTI (VTSAX Proxy):** \~8.85% CAGR. this is the annualized return for the past 25 years. Again, you are fixated on finding a shorter time range that comes after a once a lifetime event for your argument. You outperform QQQ the decade after one of the worst crashes in stock market history then you eventually get outperformed after another 15 years. Granted we all have decades ahead of us, but number and return talk, and they are saying QQQ is the winner.

commensense-engineer

I've been in tech forever, and trust me, tech (like tech stocks) is totally real. Data centers, chips, and all that tech stuff are just gonna keep growing and evolving. It's like the Industrial Revolution, the dot-com boom, and now the AI era – there'll always be new stuff that makes the old feel ancient. That's just how humanity evolves. Stick with a diversified portfolio (VTSAX/VTI) and you'll be golden.

ResponsibleSpell394

Thats just your algo bro. Find Jesus and VTSAX

-ayli-

From a portfolio composition point of view, there's nothing wrong with holding the same assets in IRA and taxable brokerage. From a tax management point of view, trades in your IRA and brokerage accounts could generate wash sales with each other. This will not be flagged by your brokerage on tax forms, but you are still responsible for figuring out and reporting the wash sale on your taxes. This is most easily avoided by not holding the same assets in both IRA and taxable brokerage. Technically, even VTI and VTSAX are substantially similar for wash sale purposes, so ideally you would replace VTI with a different ETF tracking a similar index.

___Art_Vandelay___

VTSAX and chill. Keep holding my lingering, long-ago vested BKNG shares for another year only selling if tax loss harvesting is in play due to my current company's share price plummeting since vesting.

WackyBeachJustice

I'm OK with market returns which is why I VTSAX and chill

LateralEntry

Losing 20lbs and spending more time with my kids. Financially, best performing investment was the VTSAX that I ignored

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.

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.

ExiledSpaceman

I had like 7k in Palantir but I sold during the recession spike. I was thinking to myself: "this company makes no sense". I still stay it despite the price going up by a fuckton. I went back to VTSAX and chill after that for the most part.

ETP_Queen

You’re actually in a good spot: big HYSA, lot of Vanguard, no obvious disasters. Main issue is you bought US large-cap like 5 different ways + a chunky NVDA/AMD tilt. I’d separate things: – “House in a few years” → keep boring (cash/CDs/short-term bonds). – “Retirement” → 1–2 broad funds (target date **or** VTSAX/VOO + some intl), not 6 overlapping ones. – Stocks like NVDA/AMD as a small side bet if you enjoy it. You don’t need a genius strategy here, just simplify and match each bucket to its time horizon.

Wassailing_Wombat

VTSAX and chill. Done

Strategian

I don't understand at all why the average semi-financially literate person of reasonable intelligence would need this arrangement. Want a Roth IRA? Open a Vanguard or Fidelity account. Pick a low cost index fund (VTSAX or a Target Retirement fund or something). Auto-deposit the Roth IRA annual maximum divided by 12 every month. Literally never think about it again except to adjust your auto-payment when the limit gets raised. This strategy is insanely cheap (we're talking like 4 basis points annually), takes 20 minutes to set up, and will probably match or outperform whatever your advisor is doing. Over 1% on fees and costs is absurd for an advisor who is basically doing nothing. You guys are just giving away money. Over a 40 year investing timeline, if she maxes her Roth every year, this arrangement will literally cost her like $1m dollars, no joke.

TheTrueAnonOne

Alternatively, I am legitimately up 400k+ using VTSAX which is basically VOO. Port size matters, and your willingness to add long term matters. Even if you can occasionally win gambling/trading scale is what's hard about gambling/trading. It took me around 10-15 years to get to this point but the ship is sailing now.

EatSleepCodeCycle

As somebody that invests monthly into VTSAX, I’m actively yawning when I see news about a crashing market.

Aaahh_real_people

The helpful answer is the simple one - stop messing around and put your money somewhere sensible like VTSAX

God_Dammit_Dave

r/bogleheads "VTSAX and chill." There's the whole strategy. Chill.

belovedkid

Shit like this drives me nuts. Cheaper doesn’t always mean better. 15 bps isn’t a lot and won’t blow up a thesis if it’s correct. I’m surprised RSP still charges .20 but let’s not pretend that’s expensive by any stretch of the imagination. VTSAX is a cap weighted index and isn’t even comparable.

Spittwadd

I'd agree, S&P 500 + NASDAQ are both heavily weighted in US tech. having both inflates tech exposure. If you want diversification, replace with broad market funds VTSAX/VTIAX precious metals are high-risk, low-growth assets. generally not recommended as a core long-term investment for retirement portfolios. I'd reallocate to intl/us stocks

LDRispurehell

Im probably one bad decision away from VOO, VTI and VTSAX for the rest of my life

bang_bros_r_us

Yes, sure thing! I’m going to just pile it all into VTSAX though, hope that’s cool!

flobeysolo

VTSAX and ~20% in VTIAX. Those are the admiral versions; VTI and VXUS are their ETF versions.

StatGoddess

VTSAX