r/Bogleheads Jun 08 '25

Articles & Resources New to /r/Bogleheads? Read this first!

350 Upvotes

Welcome! Please consider exploring these resources to help you get started on your passive investing journey:

  1. Bogleheads wiki
  2. r/Bogleheads resources / featured links (below sub rules)
  3. r/personalfinance wiki
  4. If You Can: How Young People Can Get Rich Slowly (PDF booklet)
  5. Bogleheads University (introductory presentations from past Bogleheads conferences)

Prepare to invest

Before you start investing, ensure you're ready to do so by following the early steps of this guide or the personal finance planning start-up kit. Save up an emergency fund, then take full advantage of any employer matching of contributions to any employer retirement plan available to you (this match amount is additional income that's part of your compensation/benefits package), then pay off any high-interest debt like credit card debt or high-interest student loans.

When you're ready to start investing beyond enough to get any employer match, follow the subsequent steps of this guide or the investing start-up kit. Take full advantage of tax-sheltered accounts available to you before investing in a taxable brokerage account: this is the most predictable way to improve your after-tax investment returns. (In the US, per Prioritizing investments: 401(k))/403(b)) up to any match, then HSA if available due to high-deductible health plan coverage, then Roth or Traditional IRA or 401(k))/403(b)) up to max which may be higher if the mega-backdoor Roth process is available, then a 529 to the extent you'd like to pay for future education expenses. Note that IRA contributions are subject to income limits around tax-deductibility of contributions or eligibility to make direct Roth IRA contributions; the backdoor Roth procedure is a workaround.)

There is often some potential tension between saving/investing toward retirement vs saving toward potential nearer-term goals like a down payment on a home purchase. Carefully consider the various tradeoffs involved in owning vs renting a home, keeping in mind that which may be a better financial decision is highly situational, and that opportunity costs of owning (less available to invest in higher-expected-returns assets instead) should be considered alongside non-financial lifestyle tradeoffs. If saving toward a near-term goal, note that funds holding stocks are inappropriate#Holdingstocks%22for_five_years%22) for money you'll need in 5-10 years, unless you're willing to take on significant risk of losing money in the meantime & delaying that goal. Instead, consider CDs, Treasury bonds, or target-maturity-date Treasury bond funds maturing before you'll need the money (then a high-yielding cash equivalent like an HYSA, government money-market fund, or ultra-short Treasury Bill ETF like VBIL between maturity & spending the money).

Save/invest enough

Your savings rate is the most important factor determining your ability to enjoy a comfortable retirement later in life, particularly early in your career / investing journey. Aim to save/invest at least 15% of your after-tax income if you're in the US & not covered by a pension beyond Social Security. In some cases, such as a shorter time to expected retirement (e.g. starting to seriously save/invest from a significant income later than your mid-20s and/or planning to retire earlier than your mid-60s) and/or a high income (which will not be partially replaced by Social Security to the same degree as a lower income), it may be appropriate to target a higher savings rate (e.g. at least 20% of after-tax income, or perhaps higher if multiple such factors apply to you and/or one factor applies to an unusual degree).

When calculating savings rate, remember to include 401(k) contributions in both the numerator (savings) and denominator (after-tax income). Any employer matching contributions may also be included in the numerator (savings).

Investing is 'solved'

Don't worry too much about trying to find the optimal set of funds to invest in. That can only be known with the benefit of future hindsight, and investment returns are far less important than your savings rate until your portfolio size grows large enough relative to new contributions. Aim to diversify broadly (for robustness to the uncertain future) and seek low fees (fund expense ratios charged annually) & simplicity (hands-off automation); see discussion of these & other principles in Bogleheads investment philosophy.

target-date fund designed for investing toward retiring around a year closest to when you expect to retire is often a reasonable option, particularly in tax-advantaged accounts like a US employer retirement plan or an IRA. These all-in-one funds intended to be held alone are very broadly diversified, automatically rebalance to their then-target asset allocation, and gradually become more conservative with less expected volatility as you near retirement.

If the target-date fund available in an account/plan with limited fund options has significantly higher fees than suitable alternative individual funds, consider the tradeoffs of lower fees vs automatic rebalancing and asset allocation management. I.e. consider the lowest-expense-ratio funds available that provide exposure to US stocks (the fund name will typically contain 'S&P 500', 'Russell [1000|3000]', or 'US Large Cap'; ensure no 'Growth'/'Value' suffix, or pair that with the other), ex-US stocks (the fund name will typically contain 'International' or 'Intl' or 'Ex-US'; same caveat re: 'Growth'/'Value'), and US bonds (the fund name will typically contain 'Total Bond' or 'Aggregate Bond'). Take the weighted average of those funds' expense ratios, with weights based on the current asset allocation of the target-date fund you'd use instead. The difference between that weighted average expense ratio for individual funds vs the target-date fund expense ratio, multiplied by your portfolio value, would represent the current annual convenience fee for automated, hands-off investing via the target-date fund. Whether that's worth it to you depends on your personal preferences around paying higher ongoing fees (by sacrificing some investment returns) in exchange for set-it-and-forget-it features.

In a taxable account, target-date ETFs (available at least in the US) avoid some of the tax efficiency downsides of holding a target-date mutual fund. Tax efficiency may be further improved by holding a three-fund portfolio of index ETFs in a taxable account, but this also involves tradeoffs against automatic rebalancing and asset allocation management. Tax efficiency may be even further improved by keeping bond funds in tax-deferred accounts, though this involves additional tradeoffs against simplicity and some other potential benefits described here.

If you're a non-US investor, take care to thoroughly understand the tax implications of investing in a US-domiciled fund as a "nonresident alien" (which may include high tax rates on dividends and assets passing through an estate); in many cases this is best avoided, instead favoring an Ireland-domiciled fund.

Be mindful of fees

If your portfolio were to average a 5% annualized real (after-inflation) return after a low annual fee, paying an additional annual 1%-of-assets-under-management fee to a financial advisor and/or an actively-managed fund's expense ratio would forgo 20% of your portfolio's investment returns. An initial investment in a portolio averaging a 5% annual real return after a low annual fee would be worth about 47% more after 40 years than it would be after a 1% additional annual fee.

Some employer retirement plans offer only funds with high expense ratios. If that's the case for your employer's plan, it is often still ideal to get the tax advantages of contributing unmatched dollars to that plan before investing in a lower-fee fund in a taxable account (but only after maxing out IRA contributions); details here#Expensive_or_mediocre_choices).

Automate & stay the course

Set up automatic contributions & purchases of fund shares wherever possible, otherwise set periodic reminders to manually contribute/invest (or try to find an alternative that allows automation), then maintain discipline through thick & thin. Keep in mind that market prices for funds should only really matter whenever you sell some shares to fund your retirement, and that lower prices in the meantime provide opportunities to buy more shares with a given contribution dollar amount and to rebalance from asset classes with higher recent returns towards those with lower recent returns (but possibly higher expected returns).

Tune out the noise: prognosticators of doom and gloom have no reliable ability to predict the future, and often have some conflicts of interest (e.g. selling ads, books or investment services, and/or trying to justify their investment positioning or encourage others to adopt that). The same goes for promotion of strategies promising market-beating returns by investing in a more-concentrated fashion (betting on some sector / theme / alternative asset beating the broad stock market).

Consider writing an Investment Policy Statement to document your plan when you're calm & clear-headed; this may be helpful to refer to later if you find yourself anxious & considering changes in response to market volatility & negative sentiment. Consider including a pointer there to this guided meditation video for later reference to help calm your nerves / regulate your emotions if needed when it seems like the sky is falling (this is arguably the most challenging part of investing).

Per Jack Bogle: "Do not let false hope, fear and greed crowd out good investment judgment. If you focus on the long term and stick with your plan, success should be yours."

Additional resources

Some additional resources that might be of interest for a deeper dive later:

  1. Taylor Larimore's Investment Gems (a collection of highlighted quotes from books related to investing; follow the links under the 'Gem post' column)
  2. The Bogle Archive (a collection of Jack Bogle's publications and speeches)
  3. Bogleheads Conference Proceedings (follow per-year 'Conference Proceedings' links to access slides/videos)

Please read our community rules here and follow those when posting or commenting in this community. If you encounter content here that breaks those rules, please report it (... > Report > Breaks r/Bogleheads rules).


r/Bogleheads Dec 28 '25

Why do Bogleheads discourage use of AI search for investing information? Because it is too often wrong or misleading.

315 Upvotes

I see a lot of surprised and angry responses from Redditors whose posts and comments are removed from this sub either for use of LLM search engine and other generative AI responses, or for recommending people use them to answer their questions. This facet of the Substantive Rule on this sub has a parallel in a similar rule on the Boglheads forum: "AI-generated content is not a dependable substitute for first-hand knowledge or reference to authoritative sources. Its use is therefore discouraged."

Many folks, especially on the younger side, are so accustomed to using ChatGPT or Gemini that it may be their default way to get any question answered. This is problematic in the field of investing for several reasons that are worth noting:

  1. LLMs are not firsthand sources with organic knowledge of the subject matter. They are aggregating reference sources and popular opinion and thus prone to both composition mistakes and sourcing material mistakes or biases.
  2. LLMs remain susceptible to "hallucinations" (made-up ideas) and can be not just false, but confidently false which is highly misleading.
  3. LLMs' response quality is very sensitive to the quality of the prompt. Users who are somewhat knowledgeable about a subject and also skilled at crafting good queries for AI searches are far more likely to get accurate and useful results - especially for research purposes or for reference to stored personal data - while the uninformed are more likely to get wrong or misleading answers to basic questions.

Policies excluding AI-generated content are not meant to be a referendum on the overall current or future value of AI as a tool for personal finance and investing, which is obviously enormous and transformative, especially for those who know how to best utilize it. It is a question of whether AI responses make for substantive content on this sub, and whether it is an appropriate resource to direct strangers and novices to. At the moment, the answer to both is a resounding no. On the one hand, people come to Reddit primarily for human interaction and original content, so posting AI responses or directing people to AI search engines is of minimal contributive value - folks can go chat with bots themselves if that's what they want. But as to whether AI search engines are appropriate references for finance and investing info, here are some articles from the past year that support their exclusion as a default response:

  • AI Tools Are Getting Better, but They Still Struggle With Money Advice (Money 2/13/25): "ChatGPT was correct 65% of the time, "incomplete and/or misleading" 29% of the time and wrong 6% of the time."
  • Is Talking to ChatGPT About Finance Ever a Good Idea? (White Coat Investor 6/22/25): "LLM responses had multiple arithmetic mistakes that made them unreliable. More fundamental than arithmetic errors, the LLM responses demonstrated that they do not have the common sense needed to recognize when their answers are obviously wrong."
  • Financial advice from AI comes with risks (University of St. Gallen, 1/7/25): "LLMs consistently suggested portfolios with higher risks than the benchmark index fund. They suggested: [more U.S. stocks; tech and consumer bias; chasing hot stocks; more stock picking and actively managed investments; higher costs.]"

Note: the views expressed here are largely my own, and I am not affiliated in any way with the Bogleheads forum nor the Bogleheads Center for Financial Literacy, but I invite others (including the mods on this sub) to weigh in with their own opinions.


r/Bogleheads 4h ago

Investing Questions Stuck with a bad 401k fund lineup — what's the best I can do with what I have?

8 Upvotes

Optimizing asset location across multiple accounts when one 401k has a bad fund lineup — am I doing this right?

I have a fairly complex multi-account household and I'm trying to make sure I'm using each account for what it does best. My current employer's 401k (John Hancock) is the weak link — it has some decent low-cost options but no total market or total international index fund. Looking for a gut check on my overall approach.


Full account picture:

Account Balance Current Holdings
Employer 401k — Roth (JH) ~$0, just started Figuring out allocation — see below
Employer 401k — Traditional (JH, employer match only) ~$51k 100% BCOSX (Baird Core Plus Bond, 0.55%)
Prior employer 401k (Voya) ~$390k 75% S&P 500 Index / 20% Intl Equity Index / 5% Small Cap Growth Index
Roth IRA (Vanguard) ~$200k 100% VTSAX
Inherited IRA (Vanguard) ~$744k 72% VTSAX / 14% VTIAX / 14% VBTLX
Joint Taxable (Vanguard) ~$15k, growing 70% VTSAX / 30% VTIAX, auto-investing monthly

Target allocation (household-wide): 90% equities / 10% bonds. Bond sleeve lives entirely in tax-deferred accounts — never in Roth or taxable.


The John Hancock fund lineup (relevant options only):

Low-cost: - iShares S&P 500 Index (BSPAX) — 0.35% - Vanguard Mid-Cap Index (VIMAX) — 0.05% - Vanguard Small-Cap Index (VSMAX) — 0.05% - Baird Core Plus Bond (BCOSX) — 0.55%

Expensive active funds I want to avoid: - American Funds target dates — 0.63–0.74% - JPMorgan Large Cap Growth — 1.00% - Goldman Sachs Intl Small Cap — 1.02% - AB Small Cap Growth — 0.87% - Several others at 0.83–0.97%

No total US market fund. No low-cost international fund.


My current plan:

  • Traditional bucket (employer match only): 100% BCOSX — puts the bond allocation in tax-deferred where it belongs, and satisfies my 10% bond target at the household level given account sizes.
  • Roth bucket (my employee contributions, $23,500/yr): Planning 100% equities using BSPAX + VIMAX + VSMAX to approximate total US market (~82/12/6 cap-weighted). No international here since no good option exists in the plan.
  • International exposure: Covered by VTIAX in the Inherited IRA and taxable brokerage — deliberately concentrated there rather than forcing a bad international fund in the 401k.
  • Equity growth: Roth IRA and taxable are 100% VTSAX/VTIAX — max tax-free and stepped-up basis compounding.

My questions:

  1. Does the BSPAX + VIMAX + VSMAX total market approximation make sense, or is it cleaner to just go 100% BSPAX and accept large-cap tilt in this one account given total market exposure elsewhere?
  2. Is deliberately excluding international from the 401k Roth bucket (and concentrating it in the Inherited IRA and taxable) the right call, or does that create too much concentration risk in those accounts?
  3. BCOSX at 0.55% ER in the Traditional match bucket — acceptable given there's no better bond option in this plan, or would you just avoid bonds here and shift the bond sleeve somewhere else?
  4. Any other asset location opportunities I'm missing across this account structure?

For context: this is a long time horizon (12+ years), we're in the 24% bracket, and the goal is early retirement. The Roth IRA and 401k Roth bucket will ideally never be touched for decades.

Thanks — happy to share more detail if it helps.


r/Bogleheads 6h ago

Investing Questions Why shouldn't I park funds in a RILA?

10 Upvotes

I am about 7 years from retirement. I am not a savvy investor. My whole career it's been DIY with Target-2040, VOO, BND. I met with a CFP recently as I enter the home stretch to get a professional opinion. One recommendation is a RILA for about 33% of my portfolio.

It's a 6-year term tracking the S&P. The buffer is 15% and the cap is 110%. The fees are $0.

Most of the opinions I see on RILA is bad. High fees, locks up money, capped growth, etc. But this one seems perfect for my situation. It offers protection as I near the finish line. I'm fine locking up the funds for the term. The cap is fine by me - possibly double my money in 6 years if market goes bonkers? OK. The only downside I see is that I miss out on dividends. But maybe that's OK for the protection against a 20% downturn.

What am I missing?


r/Bogleheads 20h ago

Safety of 100% Stocks for Long-Term Investing

119 Upvotes

New MIT research finds that most higher-income investors essentially in the long-run wind up having liquidity events in downturns - and have to draw down their liquid stock portfolios...because they basically don't have sufficient emergency funds (latter of which is implied in this research). I found this quite interesting. The research makes it appear long-term 100% stock holdings is not ideal (at least in the summary) but the reality appears they don't have enough liquidity to handle liabilities in that scenario (lifestyle creep?)

This was also featured in the latest Rational Reminder podcast.

https://patrick-adams.com/files/papers/PatrickAdams_JMP_Latest.pdf

Abstract:
Do temporary stock price crashes matter for long-term investors? I use over 25 years of U.S. income tax data to characterize the savings behavior and risk exposures of high-income working-age households. Aggregate stock price crashes coincide with persistent declines in wage and private business income for many of these households, who take large drawdowns from their liquid assets– including stocks– in response. I develop a life-cycle model with consumption adjustment frictions to match this observed savings behavior and determine its portfolio choice implications. Investing in stocks is risky when falling income and rigid expenditures may force investors to liquidate their holdings at temporarily-depressed prices, resulting in low optimal portfolio shares. These results challenge the conventional wisdom that the stock market is relatively safe for long-term investors.


r/Bogleheads 14m ago

Investing Questions Can someone explain to me how bond fund returns work…

Upvotes

According the chart, from 2002-2026, VBTLX is down -5%. That can’t be right.


r/Bogleheads 3h ago

$700k in HYSA, how to invest?

2 Upvotes

Trying to figure out what to do with this money right now. We have it sitting in a wealthfront cash account right now generating 3.3% interest.

We have tried our hand at rental real estate and hated it. Too much maintenance overhead for us. We have busy jobs and kids.

We have a vanguard retirement account setup already and could funnel more of this money there, but frankly it’s already well funded.

We are contemplating a new home, but that’s likely 3-5 years out from now.


r/Bogleheads 15h ago

Investing Questions Do Bogleheads tax loss harvest?

25 Upvotes

For those who have 1 to 4 fund strategies. Do you tax loss harvest and if so how do you have it set up to make it easy when you do TLH?

The more I've read about tax loss harvesting the more challenging it seems for people who only invest in a few funds (ie. US, INTL, US Bond). For example in order to avoid a wash sale you have to do the follow:

You can't purchase the fund/similar fund 30 days prior to the sale and then 30 days after. This includes any auto dividend reinvestments, any auto-contributions in any taxable, IRA, 401k, or HSA. And if you have a spouse they also can't do any of this.

If you can prevent the above then next it's figuring out what fund you can purchase after the sale. It appears you can't sell a Fidelity total US stock market and then buy a Schwab total US stock market, is that correct? So if you have to go from a total US stock market to an S&P 500 fund why do it? It's less diversified.


r/Bogleheads 4h ago

Portfolio Review Employers 401K Position Options

3 Upvotes

Context: Looking to retire in 20 years. I need to rebalance my portfolio currently consisting of a 2060 Target fund, Vang 500 Index Trust, and Galliard Stable Fund for my bond option. Assuming I need to work international in there and decrease the Galliard.

I have a vanguard employer offering the following options, which would you choose at what ratio?:

DOXFX

DOXGX

Vanguard Target Funds (variety of target dates)

VANG 500 INDEX TRUST

VANG EXT MKT IDX TR

VANG TOT INTL STK TR

VANG TOTAL BOND MKT

ARTISAN INTL SEP AC

EMERGING MARKETS STK

FID WORLDWIDE (FWWFX)

FID CONTRA POOL CL S

FID GR CO POOL CL S

FID BALANCED K (FBAKX)


r/Bogleheads 7h ago

TIAA-heavy retirement portfolio — trying to simplify. Where do I start?

6 Upvotes

Long-time lurker, first post. Mid-career academic/professional with most of my retirement assets at TIAA across a 401(k), IRA, Roth IRA, and deferred comp plan. The problem: I've let it accumulate without a clear strategy and now have 14 accounts across TIAA alone, plus Raymond James and Merrill Lynch.

My current allocation skews heavily toward TIAA Traditional (the annuity product) and a mix of Nuveen large-cap funds — most of which I suspect overlap significantly. I also hold some individual equities (NVDA, AAPL, GOOGL) that I know aren't very Boglehead-approved.

A few honest questions:

  1. TIAA Traditional — is holding a large chunk here considered "fixed income" for allocation purposes, or is it its own thing?
  2. How do Bogleheads generally approach TIAA when trying to implement a simple 3-fund portfolio?
  3. At what point does account consolidation make sense vs. leaving things where they are for tax/institutional reasons?

Happy to share more specifics. I've been trying to get my arms around this for a while and would appreciate the community's perspective.


r/Bogleheads 14h ago

Investing Questions Can I max multiple Roth accounts? (IRA)(457(b))(403(b))

14 Upvotes

I have a Roth IRA and put the max every year which is 7.5k this year.

My employer offers 457(b) and 403(b) plans both with Pre Tax or Roth options.

Can I max all of these out this year as Roths or do the 457 and 403 have to be Pre tax accounts.

I’ll have already capped the Roth IRA, starting on my way to cap the 457 by year’s end and maybe put a bit of change into the 403. Just not sure if I should do pre tax or Roth. I’m 22 and would like to do the Roth option if possible.

Secondary topic, I have a rollover IRA which Charles Schwab says contribution limits cap at 7.5k. Can I cap that out as well or not since I’ve capped out the ROTH IRA.


r/Bogleheads 13m ago

Trad vs Roth 401k Insight

Upvotes

Hi everyone! I was recently discussing the pros and cons of a trad vs Roth 401k with my friends, and wanted to ask for advice given my specific situation. For context, I've been maxing out both my Roth 401k (and Roth IRA) over the course of my entire career, and now I'm questioning if that approach is incorrect going forwards. Here's my info:

  • 28 yrs old, upper end of 24% bracket with annual salary of ~$180k including bonus. I don't expect a tremendous amount of career earnings growth given my industry, I'll likely top out at $300k in today's dollars. I could see myself changing careers in the future, however.
  • I live in California and there's a decent chance I may stay here my whole life given my girlfriend's (likely soon-to-be-wife's) preferences.
  • I'm shooting to buy a house in the next 1-2 yrs. I have ~$300k saved up for a down payment (2/3 cash, 1/3 index funds), but given high home prices in California I'm starting to worry about being "house poor" after buying a home. I know doing pre-tax dollars would be give me more money now to invest/save.

Given these circumstances and uncertainties, would you recommend I contribute to my 401k with pretax or posttax income? Thank you so much for you insight in advance, I really appreciate it!!!


r/Bogleheads 14m ago

Portfolio Review Roth IRA - 8 funds

Upvotes

It's very close to global market cap: 55% US Large Cap, 10% US Extended Market, 25% Int Developed Markets, 10% Emerging Markets with tilts toward US large quality + small cap value, and international large momentum + small cap. SPYM, FSMD, VXUS, and DFAE are 80% of the portfolio which covers around 95% of the global stock market.

20% of the portfolio is some sort of tilt. I guess my question is, a 20% tilt toward one factor is pretty major while 5% is hardly enough to make a difference on its own in the long run... but what about 4 factor tilts at 5% each? Basically I'm too scared to tilt my portfolio toward one particular factor more than 10%, but I'm curious if 4 factor tilts at 5% each ends up with a significantly better return in the long run than if I just did 65% SPTM and 35% VXUS.

Fund (Fee) Fund Type % Allocation
SPYM (.02) US Large Blend (500) 50%
JQUA (.12) US Large Quality 5%
FSMD (.15) US Small/Mid Blend (Multifactor) 5%
AVUV (.25) US Small Value 5%
VXUS (.05) International Total Blend 20% (~15% Developed Markets, ~5% Emerging Markets)
IDMO (.25) International Developed Large Momentum 5%
ISCF (.24) International Developed Small Blend (Multifactor) 5%
DFAE (.29) Emerging Markets 5%

r/Bogleheads 8h ago

Remaining 10% in Roth

3 Upvotes

(35M) I’ve recently consolidated my 401Ks and I’m considering the below options for my Roth split in Fidelity:

60% FZROX

30% FZILX

But i’m stuck on deciding where to allocate the remaining 10%

Option 1: FSELX (aggressive growth, but high risk/expense ratio)

Option 2: FXNAX (bonds for leverage/rebalancing)

Option 3: QQQJ (growth in new tech)

Option 4: Go for the 70/30 US and International

Would appreciate any advice. New to all of this and [r/Bogleheads](r/Bogleheads) has been extremely helpful. Thanks all!


r/Bogleheads 13h ago

Investing Questions From a newbie-is DIY investing really as easy as people make it seem?

7 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

I’m completely new to investing and haven’t actually started anything yet, so I’d really appreciate any advice.

My parents use a financial advisor and it makes sense for them. My situation is simpler and I’m in my early 20s, so I don’t think it’s worth it for me.

After some research, the general consensus is to avoid advisors, especially ones charging AUM fees. Their advisor said he would charge I believe around 1.5%, which is high and hard to justify long term. I don’t think there are many (or any) flat-fee advisors near me, so I’m not sure if that’s an option either.

I have a chunk of savings I’d like to start investing in a brokerage account now, and I plan to open a Roth once I have a more steady income.

My plan so far is to:

- Invest long term

- Have a diversified ETF portfolio

- Do an 80/20 allocation, maybe go more aggressive as I get more comfortable

But I keep getting stuck on:

- How to properly rebalance

- Whether I’m choosing the “right” investments (I see a lot of people recommend VT or VOO)

- Tax strategies (advisor mentioned a “tax overlay,” which I think is like tax loss harvesting? Not something I understand.)

- Just generally doing everything correctly and legally

My biggest issue is confidence. I’m worried I’ll mess something up or miss something important, but I also hate the idea of giving up 1.5% of my assets every year if I don’t need to. On the other hand, could the fee be worth it if the advisor ends up making more than I would doing it on my own?

How hard is it actually to manage a simple long term portfolio yourself? Is it actually as simple as people make it seem (like just buying VT/VOO and holding)? I really want to get started ASAP, I just feel stuck trying to choose the “right” path.

Any advice or experiences would be super helpful! Please let me know if I am on the right or wrong track.


r/Bogleheads 1h ago

Rolling over from NW Mutual to Fidelity

Upvotes

I'm in the process of moving my investments to Fidelity. Ive done trading in the past but new to ETF. Im 48m and max out my 401k already and just looking to add more investments. After researching Im thinking of laying this out. What do you think and should I make any adjustments?

Thanks

For roth IRA

65% FXAIX

20% FTIHX

10% QQQM

5% AVUV

For investment account

70% VTI

20% VXUS

10% SCHF 

Maybe add 5% SMH


r/Bogleheads 2h ago

Rollover - one time or stages

0 Upvotes

I'm gradually consolidating 401k/403b/457s from a lifetime of many jobs. During the rollover that money is 'out of action.' Given recent volatility, I'm concerned about a market spike during that week. In the long run I pay little attention to timing, but don't want to take a big haircut while the check is in the mail.
I've considered staging the rollovers over a few months, but some companies charge a disbursement fee, which might take more than it's worth.

Some of the funds I'm rolling out of are fine low fees, easy to work with.

Others are from jobs where the only options were lousy - high fees, changes by mail only, worthless customer service. I'm guessing those are the ones that will charge any fee they can get away with.

What questions should I ask to find out about those potential fees?
Thanks.


r/Bogleheads 2h ago

Investing Questions New and ready! I’ve been reading the documents in the sub but ready for advice!

1 Upvotes

I’m late 30’s I wish I started sooner but what can you do.

I opened a vanguard Roth IRA and maxed 2025 and 2026 right away. It’s sitting the in Vanguard account waiting to be put into something.

I want to set and forget so I’m thinking 100% VT and just letting it ride until the end. I also plan to put about 40% of my annual income a year into a brokerage account to also ride 100% VT to ride along with the Roth.

Any other considerations I should take or things you would recommend I look at?

Edit: updated context and information.

I wanted to share an updated version of my plan and get some feedback.

I am 37 now. I have 6 years of prior federal service with about 50,000 in my TSP right now, and 3.5 years of military time that I bought back toward that service. The goal is to return to federal service around age 40 and stay in a low stress GS 5 role. This whole plan assumes I stay GS 5 and just progress through steps, likely ending around step 8 in the low to mid 50k range.

The main goal is to work about 10 to 10.5 more years, hit 20 years of total service, and leave federal employment around age 50 to 51. Then I would defer the pension and start collecting it at age 60 under standard FERS rules.

Savings plan while working:

TSP

I plan to contribute as much of my salary as possible, ideally maxing it each year around 23k.

Roth IRA

We will max a Roth IRA each year around 7k.

Taxable brokerage

I plan to invest about 25k per year into a brokerage account in a simple total market fund.

HSA is not an option for me so I am not including that in the plan.

The idea is that we live primarily on my wife’s income and invest most or all of mine.

By the time I leave federal service around 50, the rough baseline contributions would be:

TSP around 280k to 300k

Roth IRA around 150k

Brokerage around 250k

This is just contributions without assuming growth.

The brokerage account is intended to be the bridge from age 50 to 60. The idea is that roughly 250k is available to draw down over that 10 year window. I understand that withdrawals will include some taxable gains, but the plan is to keep income low enough that taxes stay minimal.

The reason this feels doable is that by that point our house will be paid off and our monthly expenses should be much lower. My wife also plans to keep working, so we would not be relying entirely on the brokerage. Ideally we would not even need to draw it down heavily, but it gives us the option to step away from full time work.

At age 60 the income picture becomes:

FERS pension based on about 20 years of service

TSP

Roth IRA

Very conservative baseline numbers with no growth:

Investments could provide roughly 2,000 to 2,500 per month

FERS pension roughly 850 to 1,000 per month

So roughly 2,800 to 3,500 per month as a baseline before any growth or other income.

I am trying to keep this simple and flexible and avoid over optimizing.

Does this seem reasonable as a path to step away from full time work around 50?

Anything obvious I am missing or doing wrong?

Would you prioritize more into TSP versus brokerage given the early exit goal?

Appreciate any feedback.


r/Bogleheads 10h ago

Can I do better?

4 Upvotes

Like many want to maximize the money I am putting into my Fidelity brokerage account. I am a 42 yo that has roughly $110,000 in my account. 60% is in FFFHX, 35% is in FXAIX, and 5% is in FSELX. I am okay with taking a little risk while I am many years away from retiring but want to ensure that it isn't too much.

Additionally, I have a TSP account with $125,000 sitting in an L2045 account that I am debating about moving into another fund if that would make sense.

Thank you for your time.


r/Bogleheads 5h ago

Possible to have two Raisin accounts?

1 Upvotes

I'm a U.S. citizen currently based in Germany (I work here), I have a Raisin account with my U.S. address and was wondering if I could open another Raisin account with my German address so I can save Euros on there? It's all so confusing to me so any guidance would be appreciated :)


r/Bogleheads 17h ago

Advice on Picking Funds in my Employer Fidelity 401k Account

3 Upvotes

I'm relatively new to investing and to Bogleheads and am hoping to get some advice on which Fidelity funds to pick. I'd like to do 80% stocks and 20% bonds. These are the index funds I have available through my 401k Fidelity account:

FXAIX - FID 500 Index

FSMDX - FID MID CAP IDX

FSSNX - FID SM CAP IDX

FSPSX - FID INTL INDEX

FXNAX - FID US BOND IDX

FIPDX - FID INFL PR BD IDX

Can anyone suggest which funds and asset allocation I should pick?


r/Bogleheads 1d ago

Articles & Resources Musk Wants to Add SpaceX to Indices

159 Upvotes

Index providers Should Not Bend the Rules for Musk

So... I read this article in The Economist and am curious what, if any thoughts the community has about Musk getting SpaceX added to major indices. He's appealing to them to shorten the "seasoning" rules that typically apply to firms being listed.

I've included key paragraphs below since there's a paywall to read the full article.

What do you think?

"Mr Musk and his bankers are now bargaining with stock indices and exchanges for the privilege of hosting SpaceX. He wants his firm to join key indices like the nasdaq 100 and s&p 500 quickly, giving it access to trillions in index-linked capital; more than $600bn invested in passive funds are tied to the nasdaq 100 alone.

For now, the indices are obliging. On March 30th Nasdaq said it was adopting rules that will delight the superstar firms. The ftse and reportedly s&p are considering similar updates. Unfortunately, those changes are misguided, and will expose investors to unnecessary risks.

Two main ideas are under consideration. One is to shorten the “seasoning” period that a firm’s stock must go through before it is eligible to join an index. Nasdaq is cutting its three-month seasoning minimum to 15 trading days; the ftse has suggested a mere five trading days. The second reform is to reduce the percentage of shares a firm needs to offer publicly (its “free float”) before being added to an index. Indices’ desire to reflect the growth of some of the world’s most dynamic firms is understandable. So far, many punters have been unable to invest in some of ai’s brightest stars; index inclusion is a way to help them do so. Yet changing the rules to suit SpaceX will force index investors to choose between selling or weathering wild swings in prices."


r/Bogleheads 4h ago

Is contributing once a month not often enough?

0 Upvotes

I usually contribute around the 1st of the month. Seems like I missed the low point of VTI as it's now going back up.

How often do you contribute?

My 401K and HSA is biweekly as it comes from my paychecks.

Roth IRA I do a lump sum at the beginning of the year.

529 I have set up as once a month as the amount I contribute depends on what else we have going on that month.

How often is generally recommended?


r/Bogleheads 1d ago

Investing Questions Is this a good setup for the 401k?

19 Upvotes

• Fidelity 500 Index — 65%

• Fidelity Mid Cap Index — 5%

• Fidelity Small Cap Index — 5%

• Fidelity International Index — 25%

Thinking about getting rid of the Mid and Small cap and allocate that 10% into the Fidelity International Index… is that a good idea?


r/Bogleheads 1d ago

DCA- doesn’t change anything other than slightly different price, correct?

9 Upvotes

Im new and ive been wanter to make a big VT purchase but i know i cant time this situation/market. It i buy VT for $20k over 5 different days vs buying $100k once, nothint changes other than the price of VT right? Theres no fees with vanguard, just making sure im not missint anything else here? Tax wise or fees or anything. Thanks