VXUS

Bossanova12345

I feel like I would move this comment up to the top if I could. It’s so simple and common sensical. You can ALWAYS invest in conviction bets once you have a good foundation. Whether that foundation consists of VT or some combo of VOO/QQM/SCHG/VTI/VEA/VWO/VXUS is irrelevant. Foundations first.

ktempo

I’m 30. Invested in VTI / VXUS. I’m not needing money anytime soon. I couldn’t care less if we got a 20-30% crash. If the market became abolished, I’d need to learn how to shoot a gun rather than worry about money.

DudeWithTudeNotRude

Don't buy individual stocks anymore, or don't consider them part of your retirement bucket. For you, probably just buy VT and bonds for the rest of your life at this point (though split out VT into VTI and International like VXUS if you ever open a brokerage, to take advantage of the foreign tax credit). If you really want stocks, then only spend "fun money" on it. It comes from the concerts/gambling/etc. part of your budget, and it's not part of your US/International/Bonds investment distribution. It's money that is gone when you spend it, like other fun money. If it grows back, that's the fun part. bonus!

HipOut

Are you just trying to argue just to argue? Like you’re just going to keep saying “yeah but” and not offer any alternative? VTI + VXUS is an extremely safe and balanced portfolio. Add some bonds and hold some cash too. VTI is one of the largest and most popular ETFs in the world, the chance of it liquidating is extremely extremely low. It’s got 122 billion in assets compared to the “death watch” of an ETF that has less than 50 million. VLIQ was liquidated at 44 million. Just google it man AI will tell you. Sheesh

PSUBagMan2

I go VTI and VXUS in retirement accounts and VOO in brokerage

HipOut

Literally all you had to do is buy and hold VTI and VXUS for 15-30+ years I’m not sure why you’re trying to over complicate things. Trading on emotion is dangerous

holylight17

The funny thing is that VXUS is still up +0.78% YTD, while VTI is down -3.61% YTD.

bunko8

I feel like it’s going to get very ugly this weekend because there are no real negotiations happening. Once we reach Friday, Trump will make up some BS about how the Iranians aren’t willing to come to terms and send ground troops in. Then, once a couple American troops die, the war will enter a much bloodier, prolonged phase. I’m thinking of selling off some VOO and VXUS tomorrow because next week could be a market bloodbath.

Internal_Field5970

I have some VT VOO VXUS and VYMI as my long holds and that I play with the rest 

drew-gen-x

Compare charts b/w $SPY vs $VXUS. One is still above its 200 DMA and up more after hours than the other. Hell, throw $GLD vs $SPY as well. You don't have to be bullish on the US AI bubble economy or even $SPY to have skin in the game. I've been BTD but I don't own the $QQQ or $SPY.

drew-gen-x

Expand your fishing pond and buy something like $VT (world plus US) and $VXUS (world minus US).

Axe_Raider

me reading this thread a day later and VXUS back down another 1.11%

bigboyvapesinc

\- 50% VOO, 25% VXUS, 10% BND, and 15% individual stocks you research that you might like/believe in. \- Set up auto buy so you buy VOO, VXUS, BND, etc monthly to dollar cost average and build your porfolio. \- Make sure DRIP is on (dividend reinvestment plan) so when your ETFs pay you 4x a year, you buy more of the stock using the dividend. I recommend using Fidelity or Charles Schwab as your platform. \- Finally, leave it all alone and never sell until its time for retirement or to rebalance your porfolio. Profit. And one last tip, don't ever fuck with options, ever.

jrex035

There's absolutely nothing wrong with index fund investing. Statistics show that most traders don't beat the S&P in the long run and index investing is *way* lower stress with lower risk. And yes VOO is one of those S&P indices, but there are a bunch. You might want to look into others if you're interested in diversifying, QQQ covers the Nasdaq, VTI covers the entire US market, VXUS covers the global market excluding the US, etc. Most of these have low expense ratios (the cost you pay to park money in these funds) but be careful as some do not. Your broker might also have accounts specific to them (Fidelity for example has FXAIX which covers the S&P like VOO does, but with a smaller expense ratio).

mightylordredbeard

Just invest in VTI, VXUS, and maybe VYM or VOO (those are my 4). I do a 2:1 split on VTI and VXUS. For every 2 shares of VTI I have one share of VXUS and that covers US and foreign market funds. That’s where for me my return and I feel it’s a pretty safe investment. Just remember though anything you read on this sub isn’t advice, it’s just the ramblings of retards.

Ok-Opportunity642

This blend is actually quite aggressive for a 15-20 year horizon. While the cost efficiency is excellent, you are essentially double-dipping VOO with VTV and VGT. This creates a concentrated bet on one sector that will likely fall harder during a market correction compared to a simpler approach. I usually use the portfolio cross-referencing on trylattice to spot this kind of diworsification and check stock filings for better geographic balance. A simpler 70 percent VTI and 30 percent VXUS split would give you similar growth potential with way less maintenance and better diversification.

Altruistic_Emu_146

VOO to echo what others have suggested, and you can do a weekly DCA. My friend invests 1k every week on it. I add monthly to it and whenever I have a spare. Can add some VXUS to the mix too if you want international exposure.

kronco

I'd look at the mix used by Vanguard target date funds as a starting point (they have thought this through). Perhaps as a core holding then add other funds for any "tilt" you prefer. Example: VTIVX (2045 target date) with some VXUS added if you want more international then the 35% VTIVX uses. Or maybe VTIP for some inflation protection (which Vanguard will later add as the target date approaches). [https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/profile/vtivx#portfolio-composition](https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/profile/vtivx#portfolio-composition)

subfloorthrowaway

VT is a good mix imo. It's about 60/40 in VTI (US total market) / VXUS (international).

Snowman33001

NVDA and BTC and MSFT and AMZN. This is my brokerage. My other account is VTI, VXUS, and QQQM but don’t trade at all in that.

mightylordredbeard

VTI, VXUS, VTO all have done me well.

Present-Gur6025

You don't lose unless you sell, first of all. Second, Trying to time and manipulate the market because of a war that's been brewing and poked at by Netanyahu for 30 years just.... doesn't seem very smart to me. Maybe just stick to the boglehead method. VTI / VXUS / BND and chill out. Set automatic deposits and buys and then hide the app. Don't look at it. If you're sick, just fast, don't eat sugar until you're better. Doctor won't do anything besides bill you and maybe suppress some symptoms

Phlawless_Phallus

You are basically making yourself less diversified by adding a bunch of funds with either overlapping or contradictory themes. Sprinkling in a bunch of funds at random like this makes you less diversified vs. just using a broad fund like VOO because they overweight and underweight what appear to be arbitrary segments of the market. If your goal is diversification you should remove most or all of the random funds and use a VOO + VXUS split or equivalent.

Economy-Ad4934

ha 90/10 VXUS/VTI is wild. Even as someone who has a high VXUS % I couldn't go past 50%

JoshL3253

This is why you hold VTI + VXUS. If you don’t believe in US market, you can do 90% VXUS and 10% VTI, or none at all. lol.

subfloorthrowaway

I have made thousands and thousands of dollars putting my money 70/30 in VTI/VXUS (and so have millions of others) over that time dawg. This is the most basic, boring way to make money, but it's good money.

LurkerFailsLurking

VXUS and chill.

Bam2458

VXUS +3.5%, nice.

junger128

I’m not doing anything different from a year or two ago. VTI/VXUS

TheOliveYeti

Nope I'm decades from retirement and I'm still buying VXUS and VTI regularly The market is irrational. No point wasting time and energy trying to understand it

jason082

VXUS, yes. I loaded the boat after Trump crashed everything last April and have funds going in regularly to buy more.

let-it-rain-sunshine

VXUS is beating SPY for past 1year

ajovialmolecule

VXUS?

Cav829

One of my 401s is pretty Boglehead and it's a mix of an S&P, VXUS alternative, and like 5% intermediate bonds. Also long bonds are getting kind of interesting tbh since they're at such stupidly historic lows.

Leading-Air9566

what percentage did you use for each? what did you mean by non-us equities (like VXUS?!)

meandjarvis

60% VOO, 20% VXUS, 20% QQQM, you're double-weighting tech since those giants are already in VOO. I went a different direction: IVV (S&P 500) + non-US equities + gold + BTC. Less overlap, more genuine diversification across asset classes, not just geographies.

Rart420

Dude, you’re timing VXUS? Seems like such a god damn hassle lol. Just keep DCAing.

NineSidedBox

I sold all my VXUS on March 16 at 77.52, and now slowly buying back in. I'm spreading it out over about 10 weeks, so far I've bought back 5.75%, at ~2.53% lower.

Economy-Ad4934

Same as every paycheck. VTI/VXUS across all accounts.

Correct_Mastodon1112

Calls: EQNR, FANG, XLE Puts: EEM, VXUS, HYG Stop stop stop buying msft calls and the like for the love of god.

ILoveKombucha

For long term investing, I'd recommend a "Boglehead" portfolio. Take a breath: this is actually really easy. It will involve 3 investments (3 things you buy). You don't need to manage 20 stocks or anything like that. The portfolio will include: 1) STOCKS / BONDS. 2) Within the STOCK portion, you want USA Stock / International Stock. Common ETF's for this would be VOO / VXUS. VOO is the S&P 500; the 500 largest USA companies. It represents the US market. VXUS is thousands of international stocks, with zero US stocks. This diversifies you. You have to choose an allocation. A sensible beginning allocation would be around 80/20 (US/International). 3) Bonds: you would pick a bond ETF like BND or VGSH. You have to choose an allocation between stocks and bonds. Bonds are generally much lower return than stocks, so for long term investing, people usually recommend less bonds, with a gradual adding of bonds as you near your retirement date. So for stocks/bonds you could do 100/0. But I think 80/20 is fine. IF you want to keep things exceptionally simple, it's hard to go wrong with a 3 fund that looks like this: VOO/VXUS/BND 60/20/20. It's not romantic. People will tell you that you could optimize for higher returns. But 60/20/20 is a very sensible portfolio at any age. You would probably do better than 80% of all investors with that portfolio, and you don't even have to think about it. 4) If you want to set aside money for more near future (5-6 years), you should put THAT money more towards bonds, money market, etc. Your return may be lower, but you don't want to gamble with money you need in 5 years. Stocks (VOO/VXUS) are absolutely gambling if you are dealing with short time spans (5-10 years). Stocks are not gambling if you are looking at 10-30 years (the longer the horizon, the less of a gamble it is). 5) You need to learn about account types: Roth vs traditional, 401k vs IRA vs taxable brokerage. Accounts are just vehicles that you buy investments within. In other words, you could have roth IRA, a traditional IRA, and a taxable brokerage account, and ALL of these accounts could hold your VOO/VXUS/BND portfolio (or something comparable). 401k/IRA are RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS to be used to game the tax system in your benefit. Taxable brokerage is an account that doesn't shield you from taxes, but allows you total freedom to add or withdraw as you please. The biggest issue is that 401k's don't always have the exact investment choices you want, and may have higher expense ratios than other choices. If you get employer matching, you should ALWAYS contribute to that match, no matter what (free money; literally stupid to not do it). Just pick whatever investments they have that approximate VOO/VXUS/BND (they all usually have something like this). Go slow, learn a little at a time. Outside of all the above, if you want to, you can learn about investing in individual stocks (which is what this forum focuses on). Most folks who try to pick individual stocks will do worse than if they just bought VOO/VXUS, as we discussed above. So newbies should always start with the basic VOO/VXUS, and only add on individual stocks if you are bored and want excitement. Don't rush into it - it's not necessary to ever buy an individual stock, and if you don't know what you are doing, you'll just worsen your performance. Good luck\~

PearlDrummer

VOO, VTI, VXUS with repeat contributions and chill

bofoshow51

1. You are trying to time the market because you sound like you want to buy some foreign country indexes just because things seem bad right now. This is a bad investment move and mentality, you should be thinking long-term position, 20+ years out. 2. International diversification is smart, it helps capture a greater portion of the market for very little risk. Do not try to gamble on one specific country, that is again trying to pick winners and losers, which over 90% of (pro) investors fail to succeed at. Buy broad international index funds like VXUS.

diggida

I'm an idiot so I just have VXUS.

groovymandk

My buying qqqm and VXUS they are more beaten down than the dividend ETFs I own

IndexFundGuy

the overlap between VOO and QQQM is real but it's intentional, not a mistake. VOO is already like 30-35% tech. adding QQQM is a deliberate growth tilt, not an accident. you're essentially saying "I think large cap tech outperforms over the next 20 years." a lot of people do and it's a defensible bet. The downside is what happened in 2022 — Nasdaq dropped 33% while the broader market dropped less. with this portfolio you'd have felt that harder. if you can hold through that without panicking it's fine. VXUS at 20% is a mild underweight vs global market cap (\~40% non-US) but totally normal for someone US-tilted. Overall this is a coherent portfolio not a chaotic one. the simpler version is just VTI+VXUS but yours is fine too. If you want to dig into what's actually inside each of these and how they compare on holdings/fees: [wealthiq.co/best-etfs-to-buy-2026/](http://wealthiq.co/best-etfs-to-buy-2026/)

vacantbay

100% VXUS

Bossanova12345

VEA VWO VXUS all good.

AutoDefenestrator273

Don't forget VXUS!

Reddit0sername

Yeah definitely buy a chunk Monday. By a little VXUS too.

PResidentFlExpert

Meh the cure for high prices is high prices. This will boost investment in US extraction tech and capacity. Only change I’ll make when I buy back in to have less VXUS and more VTI.

Scorpio_Rex

This. VTI and VXUS are the way to go. Otherwise VT and chill.

greenline-sam

VXUS feels like your best bet. Picking a single country like Switzerland or China alone is too risky in the scenario you're picturing. China is a tricky market for a few reasons. Yes, it is a giant economy, without a doubt. But it's also hypercompetitive as a market, whittling away a lot of margin, and plenty of rules and restrictions to normal stock buying among its citizens and firms that make it a little less predictable than American markets. Doesn't mean stay away 100%, but it's not as simple as drawing the line that "2nd biggest economy = my 2nd biggest exposure"

Hazuuzuu

VXUS and chill then?

jonchillmatic

VXUS is a good index fund that has the rest of the world. 70/30 VOO/VXUS split is one I use. It's growth oriented but balanced a bit vs 100% VOO that some advocate for growth. I have a bit of SCHD mixed in as well. Generally I think you want to set up your mix so that you are prepared for various market conditions but a lot of what you do depends on your age, goals and risk tolerance.

DinnerNo5925

SCHD is a div etf. If you’re young or got 15+ years, just go VTI 80%. You can DCA each month. Keep it in SGOV to get interest before you buy each month. Maybe have a very small hedge in gold 2%, you can use IAU and some in a growth ETF like VB. VXUS is good for international exposure but the war and what is happening in America right now is going to impact everyone.

poorman_stocks

Great position to be in at 35 — you've already cleared the biggest hurdles most people struggle with (emergency fund sorted, house down payment separate, solid income). Here's how I'd think about the $70k: The core framework: ETFs first, individual stocks later (if at all) For someone who wants to "grow money safely over time," broad index ETFs are the answer — not because they're flashy, but because they're the mathematically boring correct choice. Something like VTI (total US market) or VOO (S&P 500) gives you instant diversification across hundreds of companies. You don't need to pick winners; you own a slice of all of them. If you want some international diversification too, pairing VTI + VXUS (international) covers essentially the entire global market. Very solid, low-cost foundation. On mixing in individual stocks It can make sense to allocate a small portion (10-20% max) to individual stocks IF you're willing to do the research. The key is buying companies trading below their intrinsic value — what value investors call a "margin of safety." You want to understand what a business is actually worth before you buy it, not just what the market prices it at today. Most people skip this step and buy based on momentum or headlines, which is how they lose money. On timing with $70k Dollar-cost averaging (DCA) — investing a fixed amount every month rather than all at once — reduces your risk of buying at a peak. With a lump sum this size, spreading it over 6-12 months is reasonable and helps you sleep at night. Biggest caution: don't let perfect be the enemy of good. The biggest risk for most people isn't buying at the wrong time — it's staying in cash too long waiting for the "perfect" moment that never comes. Time in the market beats timing the market.

CJoshuaV

Split it VTI and VXUS

Reasonable_Switch645

Cutting the cutter. I'm in my accumulation phase (mid 30s)... can do 100/0 un-lev until 50. But I wanna lev so 80/20... here is my question.. a lot of books speak about TA but rules based info is limited. And we know why.. but that shouldn't stop an investor from asking right? Imagine shitting on an investor cause he asked if we should leverage below 200d SMA. There is nothing magical about that number but consensus have agreed that volatility is double said SMA while 12M forward looking return is roughly the same.....make what you want out of this info but it's sure as hell useful to someone like me who's interested in leveraging my folio. Had I had not interest in leverage 100% VT is such a lovely position .and for those with the itch ....applying dual momentum would either put you in 100% VTI or VXUS (vxus has been the default position for a while now....it's just the market signaling what it what's to signal)

ubelblatt

It sure ain't VXUS. Bought that to diversify from US stocks with an international ETF. Everytime VTI is down VXUS is down just as much if not more.

Retropixl

Yeah overall it sucks, tbh though I think things like QQQ and VOO will rebound much quicker than something like VXUS.

Retropixl

Andddd VXUS is done 10% in the last month.

AirwickS

EU said nah to protecting the Strait. Mango pressure campaign is failing so far. VXUS going to be choppy.

L_DUB_U

I copied your comment into chatgpt because I am slightly hungover and not feeling like figuring it all out myself. With currency exchange it's a 2% win for the CAC. However all of those gains are lost after fees and currency conversion. I'm not here to argue I have owned VXUS since 2019. It's an ETF I just let ride because for many years it just remained flat. In 2019 I purchased it for 50.96 a share and in December 2024 it was 59 a share. It wasn't until this past year that there was much growth. The shares I bought in 2019 have a 46% growth where my share of SPY bought in 2019 have132%. Being diverse is important but I don't think I'm going to change how much international stock I buy from what I am doing.

Optionally_Invested

Tbh, I don’t focus too much on individual stocks, my main priority for now is broad indexes. At the moment, only these three individual: MSFT, GOOG, and DOCU. The latter is the most interesting in my opinion, as I don’t see how AI is an enemy of DocuSign. If anything, it’s a booster for their product. As for the indexes, I’m selling puts now on the classic ones: VOO, VTI, VXUS, and I just started with SMH and XSD. As gold seems to be coming back to a more reasonable price, I’ll probably add IAU into the game.

milkplantation

Eh, even after that fall VXUS is +24% over the past 2 years, the exact same as VOO but VXUS has a PE of 16 to VOO’s 26. US has the best businesses in the world but they’ve overpriced with more space to fall. More room to run for VXUS.

1-Dollar-Doge-Coins

You may not be doing so hot then. Since the war started, international markets have dropped about twice as hard as the US (comparing SPY to VXUS).

Partial-Dune69

Yeah, my portfolio's heavy in VXUS too... thinking of rebalancing into some dividend stocks to weather this Iran war storm. Anyone else doing the same?

sirzoop

VXUS has entered a correction (down 11% currently) Gold is 0.4% away from a bear market (-19.4% currently) Silver has been in a bear market for a while (-40%+ currently)

chromegreen

International is obviously worth investing but the VXUS passive all market approach is going to include some garbage and unforeseen risk. Look at the performance of FIVA and FNDF in comparison. VTI might be fine for US holdings but once you go international some competent active management really seems to help.

Upbeat-Reflection821

Down 1% for the year, just started buying the VXUS dip with the 30% cash I set aside just in case. Other than that, auto invest the max for my 401k and Roth, for as long as I can stay employed.

Butter_with_Salt

VXUS is getting clobbered every day

Own-Selection-1053

VOO has outperformed VXUS for the last 2 years. Whats your definition of “making out like a bandit”?

OriginalTouch6371

It was for like a day lol. It’s been driving me crazy that the Trump administration goons have continued to talk about the stock market being at ATHs and how great it is when it’s been outperformed by VXUS for several months at this point.

basementdweller263

Appreciate the detail. A couple thoughts: • SGOV vs VTIP: SGOV is basically rate exposure (cash like), VTIP adds inflation linkage but can still move around because real yields change. For your “must be there” money, SGOV/T bills still makes sense. VTIP feels more like a small sleeve in the 2–5 year bucket rather than a core cash substitute. • AGNC: I’d be careful treating it as “low volatility” capital preservation. It is an mREIT with leverage and rate/spread risk. The dividend looks stable until it is not. If you want income with less blow up risk, I’d personally rather keep the short bucket boring and take risk only in the long bucket. • If your max pain is ~10% over 5 years, a simple framework is: – Bucket 1 (recast certainty): SGOV/T bills/CD ladder – Bucket 2 (flexibility): mix of short duration plus a modest equity sleeve (VXUS or SCHD) sized so a bad equity year doesn’t break the plan If you’re open, what rough % of the total is “must be available for recast” vs “nice to have for opportunities”?

aelsi

its very obvious to people who also own something like VXUS which is exposed to intl currency. I moved most of my retirement savings from US SP500 type funds to VXUS about 2 years ago and I've made out like a bandit

YesterdayAmbitious49

Hope y’all prepped for this. Between Berkshire, cash, and my 3 individual utility stocks I feel kinda somewhat in a decent spot. I was just starting to feel better about my 15% VXUS but now that’s crapped the bed. I do have approximately 10% cash ready to buy the dip. I raised the cash when VTI was at 334. Thinking I might start deploying cash if we dip -10% on the index.

Tamed_A_Wolf

Ahhh so it’s your fault VXUS is in the dirt.

VoidMageZero

VOO > VXUS, I still don't believe in OUS tbh

456M

VXUS now in correction territory, down over 10% from ATH.

Just_Butterfly4052

VXUS red YTD.

zdsmel

VXUS 😞

withmymagazines

I just lost my job and have bought about 2k of VOO/VXUS in the past two months, just started investing. I need this money now, and as the market is going down it seems to make sense to sell. I'm only down $100. If I sell, is there a certain amount of time I need to wait in the future when I'm able to afford investing again that I can buy these positions?

Just_Butterfly4052

How is VXUS such a piece of shit?

No-Dust-1722

You’re absolutely right that I’m looking for capital preservation with some flexibility - I wanted to keep the post more general and fundamental so it wasn’t just people telling me to buy gold and bitcoin (you see how well that worked) Those buckets seem sensible. I’m currently 80% SGOV and 20% other short-term, mostly AGNC because it has a monthly dividend and low volatility. From other comments in this thread it seems VTIP has some advantages over SGOV so I’m considering that in the mix. I do have some tolerance for volatility in the short term bucket but I think less than is required for the S&P in its current state. VXUS and SCHD seem to be more stable/drawing down less than other ETFs but also seem able to capture at least some upside if equities start running away again. I do have a target amount for a recast but that plan is very tentative - it’s honestly just my “no better ideas” plan because reducing bills just makes life easier. The 2-5 year plan is really about financial flexibility, but housing is such a huge part of that that it is difficult to treat it separately. I think I’m more interested in capping overall draw-down - I think we could handle a 10% loss within 5 years without risking other opportunities. I figure that’s like a 70/30 SGOV/VXUS split (or similar) but I haven’t spread-sheeted it yet.

MajesticExperience46

BABA and AMZN. Also stacking more VXUS and QQQ. Happy hunting.

CalebVanPoneisen

AAPL and VXUS. Sold all my Apple shares in January because I didn’t feel like it had the value it once had to keep spiking. Waiting to see how market evolves before I buy something else. VXUS because I think SPY is the better stonk.

CornerOne238

Get rid of silver, EART, and individual stocks. That's high volatility and not for beginners. Keep VXUS and add SPYM, 80/20. Keep adding to them when you can. Don't check portfolio daily. Before you know you'll be up 50% and then you can stomach some volatility, probably.

Unfair_Explanation53

Long term investor so not to worried. Bulk is in VOO VXUS

Consistent_Laziness

Ummm I don’t follow. Could you expand on this? The etf is FLCNX. It’s in my 401k option. It’s 10Y return is similar to that of voo it’s heavier in tech I also have 30% going to FTIHX the international option basically VXUS

Cacttrum

You’re thinking about the right things, but there’s a small misconception here — diversification isn’t something you “start later,” it’s something you decide on from the beginning. Right now you’re actually very concentrated: almost entirely US, and heavily tilted toward tech (VOO + QQQ + MSFT/GOOGL/AMZN is a lot of overlap). That’s fine at 20 if it’s intentional, but it’s not really diversified. Also, international exposure isn’t “safer” — it’s just a different driver. Same with bonds: they’re not for higher returns, they’re for reducing volatility and protecting against bad timing (especially closer to retirement). So instead of thinking “what age do I diversify,” a better way to think is: → When do I need stability over growth? Typically: • 20s–early 30s: mostly equities (you can stay aggressive) • \~10–15 years before needing the money: start adding bonds • Closer to retirement: increase stability further For international, you can add it anytime — even 10–20% already makes your portfolio more balanced globally without hurting growth much. Your current setup is basically a high-conviction bet on US tech continuing to outperform. That can work, but it’s a bet, not diversification. If you want something more balanced without losing growth, even a small shift (like adding VXUS and reducing overlap) would already make a big difference. If you want to see how concentrated your current setup actually is: [https://portfomemo.com](https://portfomemo.com)

No-Dust-1722

I agree with a lot of this, I also have a significant position in VXUS and it has been doing pretty well. Thanks for the tip on VTIP, it looks interesting, but I’m not sure I understand the difference between that and short-term treasuries like SGOV? Is it because the rates are adjusted differently?

Cacttrum

You’re actually on a very good track — the mindset shift from stock picking → structured allocation is the big win. A few quick thoughts: • Your allocation is a bit overcomplicated. VOO + SPYG already overlap a lot (both US growth), so you’re more tech-heavy than you think • 40% individual stocks is quite high at your stage — that’s where most hidden risk comes from • VXUS addition is good — that’s real diversification If I were simplifying: → Core: VOO + VXUS (70–90%) → Satellite: individual stocks (10–30%) On lump sum vs DCA: Statistically lump sum wins, but DCA is totally fine if it helps you stay consistent (which matters more at your level). Defensive stocks (JNJ, PMI) are fine, but don’t overestimate them — they still drop in market crashes. True diversification = different asset classes, not just “less volatile stocks”. Honestly your biggest risk isn’t timing — it’s hidden overlap and complexity. I’ve been using this to sanity check allocations and see real diversification vs perceived: [https://portfoliomemo.com](https://portfoliomemo.com)

interstellara_

I think the ingredients for this stagflation vs the past really matter. We see that our allies are alienated by trump's actions and are working around us, so we know trade is going to continue around and outside the US. I feel safe enough continuing to DCA into VXUS and other broad international index funds for moderate growth. If real stagflation hits, raising rates is the only thing that is going to control it, so we're going to see better returns on CDs and HYSAs than before, which some people will move back into; CDs were huge back in early 80s stagflation years. I'm not so sure about real estate, it really depends on where and when, because high prices have been the game for so long. VTIP is where i'm parking any extra money outside the emergency fund that I'm not investing, but will need short term. It beats my HYSA for now. And then there's gold ETFs, or maybe just straight up gold if you want to take that risk in your own hands (I don't), materials ETFs, etc that might be a good buy. I have a very, very low percent of funds in gold, like literally less than 1%. I got in when it was $3000 last year.

DarkVoid42

actually he is correct - VOO+VXUS has lower management fees than just VT and chill if you split it out. but that requires more thinking.

subfloorthrowaway

You can just do VT as a conservative bet, which is basically 60/40 VTI/VXUS. I like 70/30 VTI/VXUS personally, but all-in VT is fine too. You are very diversified with this. If you want to be even more conservative toss in 10% BND or VBIL or SGOV.

Bill_Clintons_Desk5

VOO and VXUS are the bastard children of my port

DietAny5009

Do it earlier. Don’t wait. Spend time learning while you deposit each month.. Do it now. Make some mistakes and figure out your risk tolerance. Even if you’re putting 20,50,100 a month. Low cost, broad ETFs (we do VTI and VXUS now) should be in the mix. Probably 50% or higher of your overall portfolio but if you want to go high risk/high reward then do it. You could hit.

aspire-every-day

If we keep an allocation in bonds that doesn’t drop as much, it’s a rebalancing opportunity to pick up more VT / VTI / VXUS on sale before the market recovers. Just don’t sell equity positions when they’re significantly down.

No-Dust-1722

It’s going to be hard to beat 4.6 right now with anything that approaches “safe” in this market, at least on a time horizon like 8 years. Volatility is pretty wacky right now and there is a lot of concern for market corrections and pullbacks. That being said, I have part of my savings in higher-yielding ETFs and equities that I’m betting on not totally crashing in a down-turn. SCHD, AGNC, and VXUS are a few of them off the top of my head. I’m always at least half SGOV though.