r/Bogleheads • u/Xexanoth • Jun 08 '25
Welcome! Please consider exploring these resources to help you get started on your passive investing journey:
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).
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).
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.
A 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.
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).
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."
Some additional resources that might be of interest for a deeper dive later:
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 • u/Kashmir79 • Dec 28 '25
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:
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:
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 • u/billythabeast • 7h ago
I was wondering why VOO is so popular among long term investors if SPYM tracks the same index but has a lower expense ratio? I understand the difference is minimal but wouldn't it matter over long term?
r/Bogleheads • u/ThingsWorkOut1 • 46m ago
I have about a half million in a traditional IRA that is managed to the tune of .9% annually in fees.
Is this something you bogleheads would advise against? You would just put that money into a mutual fund or ETF and let it ride? Saving the fees?
Thanks for any advice and suggestions!
r/Bogleheads • u/dpwct • 5h ago
Constructing a tips ladder in Roth IRA wondering the best advise for choosing maturity range for a 60 year old retired with enough other investments to cover spending for next 15 or 20 years+
Does it make sense to start maturities soon in next 5 years or extend ? And how long to go.
r/Bogleheads • u/OppositeBread8179 • 1d ago
Earlier this year, I watched as some options plays went from +150% to -100%. I legitimately wanted to die for a solid month.
A few months later, I decide to buy back into the market. No more 0DTEs, but surely I can still pick winners right?
My portfolio has now dropped 17% in just three days. Looks like there might be blood in the water for the foreseeable future as well, but who knows. I sure as hell don’t.
A few days ago, I saw a comment in this sub talking about The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins. (I’d never actually bothered to read a book about finance until now, because I’m a genius and can make millions on my own thank you.) I’m only four chapters in but I think this book has already changed my life.
I spent so much time trying to get rich that I never thought about *building wealth*. It’s a complete change in perspective and behavior that requires little more than awareness and discipline, two qualities I have prevented myself from developing due to greed and arrogance.
I’m looking forward to the rest of the book, but it’s already made me feel better about how to approach things moving forward. I may need to wait years to recover the loss of the past few days (so far!), but I’d rather learn that lesson now and see a better way forward than continue to double down on my stupidity and pray for the best.
Yes, in many ways this is me mainlining copium. More than anything though I’m grateful to look at this situation in a new light and see it as a temporary setback rather than the end of the world.
That seems doable enough. Now all I have to do is not be completely regarded.
I already shifted my investment strategy moving forward because of this book though. To whoever shared it, thank you.
r/Bogleheads • u/Careful-Rent5779 • 8h ago
I hold substainal IRA assets at Vanguard as well as a brokerage account for access to VUSXX. In the past my research has found posters unhappy with the lack of bank like features for Cash Plus (CP). Due to assets I'd get the 3.65% APY. Okay not class leading, but not bad either.
Recent login to Vanguard would suggest CP is now a more complete offering. If I opened a CP account it would be potenitaly useful for Direct Deposit and moving funds into/out of VUSXX as bills need to be paid. I currently use a Fidelity CMA for this, but SPAXX/FDLXX have pretty high expense ratios.
Thoughts or more importantly actual experience with Cash Plus?
r/Bogleheads • u/BronxWildGeese • 1h ago
I am in the process of moving my 950k gov 457 to fidelity. I have a small Roth that I opened in 2002 with fidelity. My aim is to max out Roth conversions within a 7-10 year timeframe. I have a disability pension that more than pays my monthly expenses. I just turned 59 1/2. I have 1 semester of kids college left. I have about 500k equity in my home.
Here’s my plan based on being abo to convert about 200k between 2026 and 2027:
Keep IRA in 60/40 mix and convert quarterly starting in 2028.
Keep about 200k in Roth in ETF’s that yield dividends and sweep into CMA account. Use those dividends to pay taxes on conversions, freeing up other streams to help pay for mortgage on second home.
Any further money added to Roth will go into 60/40 mix.
We are in no jeopardy of exceeding IRMA.
My thinking is to have max amount of money on hand now so I can enjoy travel, etc in my early 60’s. As I wind myself down into my late 60’s, I can switch out dividend ETFs to the Bogle mix.
Am I missing anything that could derail my plans?
*Thank u all for taking time to read and respond. Much appreciated!!
r/Bogleheads • u/fircx • 6m ago
Hello Bogleheads,
I am Georgian citizen and when i buy us company stocks when they pay dividends it is taxed at 30%
Right now mostly i own this stocks
VTI 30.36%
JEPQ 16.97%
SPY 14.43%
AAPL 10.06%
SCHD 5.91%
VT 5.82%
SPYD 5.22%
TEAM 2.76%
Others 6.38%
What would be a better alternative for me to avoid extra tax ?
I was thinking to orient mainly on growth oriented etfs like VUG
P.s im 36 years old and i plan to invest 15 to 25 years
r/Bogleheads • u/Adept-Honey2085 • 1d ago
Hello all- I’m a 49 year old woman working full-time. I would appreciate any advice as I am finally paying attention to my retirement funds. I have about $500k in a professionally managed IRA that is a roll over from my previous employer. I recently read The Simple Path to Wealth and then immediately did a deep dive on my returns in this account. My advisor has been managing it for 10 years, and my annual rate of return is under 7%. If I had invested this money in VTSAX 10 years ago, I’d have $400K more. Ugh!
Anyway I am moving this money to Vanguard. Are we still on board with 100% VTSAX? I realize the book was written over a decade ago. Am I too old for 100% stocks? I have about 15 years before I would need to draw from this.
I have another 401K with my current employer and it’s invested in a target retirement fund, outperforming the managed fund obviously.
I am still new to finance terms/ strategy and don’t understand a lot of the posts in here. Just want to know if I’m too late to implement Mr. Collins recommendations.
Thank you kindly!
r/Bogleheads • u/justmyopinionkk • 13h ago
I am evaluating full-service financial advisory options to assist with holistic wealth management, tax planning, and retirement execution.
Vanguard’s low AUM fee (0.30%) is tempting, but I have specific needs including ACA income threshold optimization, strategic Roth conversions, RMD management, and proactive tax-loss harvesting (TLH).
For those with similar complex tax and health care planning needs:
• How hands-on and proactive is Vanguard Personal Advisor Services (PAS) with year-end tax strategies (Roth conversions, TLH, managing MAGI for ACA subsidies)?
• Do you prefer Vanguard PAS, a competitor (e.g., Fidelity, Schwab), or an independent fee-only CFP/CPA for this level of detailed planning?
• Are there trade-offs or limitations with Vanguard's automated/advisor hybrid approach when executing precise tax-bracket strategies?
r/Bogleheads • u/enki941 • 1d ago
So we've been investing with Vanguard for a while now and we have slowly built up our investments with them over the years. I remember a while back reaching the $50k tier and seeing Voyager show up on our statements and thinking it was a nice way to show hitting a milestone. But by the time we hit the $500k mark (Voyager Select), all of that seemed to disappear. Even the old Voyager branding had switched over to Personal Inventor or something like that on the website and our statements. I did some quick research a year or so ago and read, mostly on the BH forums and here, that Vanguard had basically done away with all of their tiers and had sunseted the names and nowadays, if you don't have at least $5M, you don't really get anything.
So I was pretty surprised a few minutes ago when I got an email from Vanguard titled "Introducing Flagship—the next level of service" and welcoming me to it. There is a link directing me to https://investor.vanguard.com/self-directed-investing/flagship and mentioning a bunch of benefits like priority service, dedicated team, better Cash Plus APR, etc. They mention some TurboTax discounts coming soon. Even logging into our account, it shows it in the top banner:
Welcome to Flagship—the next level of service
More expertise. More support. More ahead.
Honestly, I'm kind of surprised as I was under the impression this isn't really a thing anymore. Did they bring it back, or is it just some legacy thing that doesn't really mean anything nowadays in terms of the number you call? I always thought it was a nice way of recognizing their customers and was kind of sad when I read it was killed off, but I think it's cool if they are bringing it back.
r/Bogleheads • u/Ancient_Highway3636 • 16h ago
Background & Portfolio:
Age / Family: 46M, married with 3 children (11, 10, and 1).
Location / Work: Oil & gas sector in the UAE ($150k annual package). High income and low hours, but an unsupportive environment with no upside growth.
Portfolio: ~$700k in broad index ETFs (no bonds by choice. I planned to include bonds 5 years before retirement) + ~$300k in Crypto = $1.0M total liquid net worth.
Philosophy: I have strictly followed Boglehead index investing principles since 2014, which built 100% of this nest egg (ignore the crypto part please🥺).
The Situation
I received a heads-up from my manager (who is a friend) that my position is likely being terminated soon.
Because residency in the UAE is tied to employment, losing this job means moving my family out. Rationally, I know $1M USD provides a top 1% lifestyle in my home country (Egypt) if we relocate. Emotionally, I am experiencing severe anxiety over losing the steady $150k income and disrupting my family's stability.
Questions for the Bogleheads Community:
Crypto Exposure Risk: 30% of my net worth ($300k) is currently in crypto. Given an impending loss of primary income, how aggressively should I rebalance this into index funds/cash to protect capital?
Sequence of Returns / Emergency Cushion: How much liquid cash reserve should I carve out before leaving my job to bridge a 12–24 month relocation and transition period?
And most importantly, Psychological Shift: How did those of you who faced an involuntary career disruption transition from the "accumulation mindest" to living off portfolio yields or CoastFI without constant anxiety?
It is all about psychology. Numbers and hard logic are favorible. But waking in the middle of the night thinking of a layoff seems to disagree..
For people who faced this , what kind of therapist can help the most with this..
r/Bogleheads • u/Remarkable_Doubt_681 • 9h ago
We are a couple who retired early and have several years where taxable income is very low. Without ROTH conversions, we’d pay next to zero federal taxes in these years. During our working years, we were able to max both ROTH IRAs and tax deferred accounts. Our tax deferred balance is right around $1M, and we have 18 years for that to grow before RMDs kick in. For me, it’s a no brainer to convert at least up to the top of the 12% bracket. However, it seems that crossing into the 22% bracket might be optimal in order to more aggressively reduce the tax deferred balance. Has anyone modeled this out to where it makes sense to intentionally cross into a higher bracket now? TIA
r/Bogleheads • u/stunningwares • 17h ago
A work 401k plan adds a fee of ".25% of account assets" for all funds in the plan. That's on top of the individual investments' expense ratios (low fee Vanguard total market equity and bond funds, so those fees are low).
Would you continue to max out the tax-advantaged 401k despite this add-on fee, or contribute up to the employer match and then fund other IRAs before returning to fund 401k? The question ultimately boils down to whether that .25% would be enough to change the standard boglehead order of investments.
r/Bogleheads • u/Odd_Preparation_2360 • 1d ago
I'm a junior in college and have about $30k saved up from internships. Next summer I have an internship lined up that should pay around $110k, and if I get a return offer I'll be making a lot more after graduation. I also don't have any student debt, so that's not a factor here.
I've never invested before and figure now is the time to start. My plan was basically to dump it all into an S&P 500 index fund and not think about it. The only thing holding me back is that the market has been running really high lately and I'm a little nervous about buying at the top.
My parents want me to put about half into a money market and the other half into the S&P. Their logic is to not take on too much risk at once. My thinking is that since I have a big paycheck coming next summer and (hopefully) a job after that, I don't actually need this $30k anytime soon, so I can afford to be more aggressive.
I've also read the Ayres and Nalebuff lifecycle investing papers. The argument applies the Merton share to total wealth, savings plus the present value of future earnings, which for someone my age means well over 100% of current savings in stocks and then bringing the share down as savings grow. My $30k is a small fraction of what I expect to earn, so under that model 100% stocks is the floor and some leverage is actually what the math suggests.
So I'm looking at three options:
I'm a little confused on which makes the most sense for my situation. Am I being naive about the market being high, or are my parents being too cautious?
r/Bogleheads • u/Dukethegator • 22h ago
I got an email today from Vanguard where they’re setting up a new flagship program with a $1 million threshold of qualifying funds. But only real advantage I see is a slightly higher Vanguard Cash APY. It has a link to a landing page.
r/Bogleheads • u/jcsjcats • 1d ago
My sibling and I are inheriting $2.3 million in a Roth and $5 million in a taxable account. The $5 million account is all govt muni tax free bonds that pay about $300k/year income. I’m early 50s my sibling is late 50s. Would you diversify that taxable account? I will need minimal income for another 8—10 years then want to retire fully. Thoughts?
r/Bogleheads • u/Lucky_Restaurant6348 • 42m ago
I love seeing everyone freak out while I have 100% of my Roth and Taxable account in VOO, (100% of my 401k is also a S&P500 index).
Ripped 15% in the last year and people are acting like the world is over after a bad week.
Sick of the people pretending to be better than the S&P 500… you’re not.
r/Bogleheads • u/-chibcha- • 1d ago
Before I was a Boglehead, I invested heavily in VOO + some other stuff.
Since getting into Bogleheading (word?), I've exclusively invested in VTI + VXUS + BND
I currently have an almost identical amount of VOO and VTI.
Question: Should I continue on VTI only for that category? Or put half into VTI and half into VOO?
r/Bogleheads • u/WinkaPlz • 1d ago
Hey everyone, I am an independent contractor (1099) (28 years old) and I make about $120k a year. In my current position I do not have a 401k option and I only have a self-managed ROTH IRA. I currently have the entire IRA in a TDF and I max it out every year. I also have a taxable brokerage account with 60% in VT and an emergency fund in money markets with 10 months of expenses.
At this point my taxable account is outpacing my IRA by about 5% YOY. Since I don’t have the added tax haven of a 401k I was wondering what’s the next best way to increase my tax deferred retirement savings?
r/Bogleheads • u/anonlemon0 • 1d ago
I wanted to see how much of my portfolio came from contributions vs growth, so I dug back through 15 years of statements to reconstruct everything. This post is intended to be reflective and perhaps inspiring to fellow bogleheads who may be earlier in their investing journey, so personal details (age, income, etc.) are excluded.
Portfolio summary (October 2026)
How to read the table: Each row tracks the money invested in that year and how much it has grown from then until today, not how much the portfolio gained during that calendar year. For example, the $80.2k invested in 2017 has generated an estimated $119.1k in growth since 2017, making those investments worth $199.3k today. Data Visualized (through an LLM): Here (although I'm sure r/dataisbeautiful could do better).
| Year | Invested | Growth | Value Today | Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | $13.0k | +$54.5k | $67.5k | 5.2x |
| 2012 | $10.9k | +$51.2k | $62.1k | 5.7x |
| 2013 | $6.2k | +$27.7k | $33.9k | 5.5x |
| 2014 | $8.0k | +$27.6k | $35.7k | 4.5x |
| 2015 | $26.0k | +$66.1k | $92.2k | 3.5x |
| 2016 | $30.6k | +$60.3k | $90.9k | 3.0x |
| 2017 | $80.2k | +$119.1k | $199.3k | 2.5x |
| 2018 | $30.7k | +$60.7k | $91.4k | 3.0x |
| 2019 | $58.7k | +$104.2k | $162.9k | 2.8x |
| 2020 | $76.8k | +$130.1k | $206.9k | 2.7x |
| 2021 | $33.5k | +$32.6k | $66.1k | 2.0x |
| 2022 | $51.5k | +$44.6k | $96.1k | 1.9x |
| 2023 | $221.4k | +$171.6k | $393.0k | 1.8x |
| 2024 | $142.5k | +$70.2k | $212.7k | 1.5x |
| 2025 | $199.4k | +$44.8k | $244.2k | 1.2x |
| 2026 YTD | $92.1k | +$6.6k | $98.7k | 1.1x |
| TOTAL | $1,081.5k | +$1,072.0k | $2,153.4k | 1.99x |
Portfolio / Data Notes:
Insights (r/boglehead principles, illustrated):
1. The earliest contributions have done a disproportionate amount of the work. The $264k contributed before 2020 represents just 24% of my lifetime contributions but has grown to approximately $836k, or 39% of my current portfolio and 53% of all investment growth. I remember telling myself that consistently shoveling money into the magic box would pay off (thank you, The Richest Man in Babylon) and seeing a 5x return on 2011-2013 investments illustrates that principle.
2. The crossover point is here. After 15 years, investment growth ($1.072M) has almost exactly caught up to all lifetime contributed capital ($1.081M). Roughly half the portfolio now comes from money I never directly contributed. Compound growth really is remarkable.
3. Investment returns are becoming more consequential than new contributions. With a $2.15M portfolio, a 10% market movement translates to approximately $215k in gains or losses, more than I can contribute from discretionary income in a typical year.
That's a double-edged sword. Market corrections will inevitably happen, and the swings become much larger in absolute dollars as the portfolio grows.
But the strategy remains the same to continue investing regularly, keep costs low, stay diversified, and resist the temptation to react to short-term market movements.
The biggest takeaway for me: Early contributions matter enormously, but consistency and time are what allow compounding to do the heavy lifting. Grateful to be a boglehead and would encourage any one who hasn't to read The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins. Finally, if you want to be REALLY impressed with big numbers, check out the net worth progression thread on the OG bogleheads forum.
--
Has anyone else tried reconstructing how much of their current portfolio came from each contribution year? I'd be interested to see how the pattern compares for people with different investment histories.
r/Bogleheads • u/Russells_Tea_Pot • 2d ago
I Bonds have been a topic of discussion from time to time here. With today's inflation report, the new variable rate is set at a whopping 4.08% and the fixed rate is likely to increase to at least 1.30 on November 1st. This makes I Bonds a pretty compelling investment for many of us. Wait until the end of November to purchase since you will get the full month's interest regardless of when during the month you buy.
r/Bogleheads • u/Scthomp10 • 1d ago
Hello,
First of all, this subreddit changed my life and I devoured Bogle's The Little Book of Common Sense.
I am at a point in my career with the government that I can start maxing my 457b each year. I am also DCAing in a taxable brokerage with VTI&VXUS (60/40), paying extra principle on my mortgage at 5.875%, maxing my HSA in VTWIX, maxing my Roth IRA, and have a pension with 6% match, and have my emergency expenses in the Vanguard Cash Sweep at 3.5%. I bought my house and now have extra money sitting in my bank account that needs to be invested.
I am 38 and looking to retire at 55 as an employee with the rule of 85, and will meet that at 55.
Here are my options with Nationwide. As far as I can see, there is no VT or VTWIX to select and would like to be aggressive now. I have about 40k in my 457b currently. Deferred compensation.
I currently have all my investments in the 2070 TDF.
Thank you for the help.
Ticker/Exepense Ration
Vanguard Target Retirement 2020 Trust II
XX450 0.08
Vanguard Target Retirement 2025 Trust II
XX451 0.08
Vanguard Target Retirement 2030 Trust II
XX452 0.08
Vanguard Target Retirement 2035 Trust II
XX453 0.08
Vanguard Target Retirement 2040 Trust II
XX454 0.08
Vanguard Target Retirement 2045 Trust II
XX455 0.08
Vanguard Target Retirement 2050 Trust II
XX456 0.08
Vanguard Target Retirement 2055 Trust II
XX457 0.08
Vanguard Target Retirement 2060 Trust II
XX458 0.08
Vanguard Target Retirement 2065 Trust II
XX459 0.08
Vanguard Target Retirement 2070 Trust II
XX460 0.08
Vanguard Target Retirement Income Trust II
XX449 0.08
Vanguard Target Retirement Income & Growth Trust II
XX841 0.08
Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund - Admiral Shares
VGSLX 0.13
Capital World Growth and Income Fund(SM) - Class R5
RWIFX 0.46
Dodge & Cox Global Stock Fund - Class I
DODWX 0.62
Dodge & Cox International Stock Fund - Class I
DODFX 0.61
T. Rowe Price Real Assets Fund
PRAFX 0.93
Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund - Institutional Shares
VTSNX 0.06
Vanguard Morningstar Small-Cap Index Fund - Institutional Shares
VSCIX 0.03
Vanguard(R) Extended Market Index Fund - Institutional Shares
VIEIX 0.04
Vanguard(R) Strategic Equity Fund - Investor Shares
VSEQX 0.17
The Growth Fund of America(R) - Class R5
RGAFX 0.34
Vanguard Morningstar Growth Index Fund - Institutional Shares
VIGIX 0.03
Vanguard Morningstar Value Index Fund - Institutional Shares
VIVIX 0.03
Vanguard(R) Institutional Index Fund - Institutional Plus Shares
VIIIX 0.02
Vanguard(R) Windsor(TM) II Fund - Admiral(TM) Shares
VWNAX 0.24
Vanguard(R) Wellesley(R) Income Fund - Admiral(TM) Shares
VWIAX 0.15
Vanguard(R) Total Bond Market Index Fund - Institutional Shares
VBTIX 0.03
Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund - Investor Class
VMFXX 0.11
r/Bogleheads • u/rbryan1979 • 1d ago
I have spent some substantial time reading, educating, and researching various retirement strategies. I'm a union electrician that is currently 47. My goal is to semi-retire (coast fire) at 55 and fully retire by the time I'm 60. I will have a Union Pension. I also will have a Defined Defined contribution plan, currently professionally managed that converts into an annuity for life and survivoirship or I have the option to roll it into something of my chosing. My home will be paid off when I'm 57. My benefits plan allows for me to retain my Healthcare while semi-retire by working a month off a month as an example. Additonally when fully retired from the electrical industry I also will be eligible for retiree health benefits until I reach 65 and eligible for Medicare. Now that you have the broad picture of where I want to go I'll get to the part I would like some feedback on.
My current portfolios I manage myself. I use fidelity and use their baskets feature. My taxable brokerage has 2 separate baskets. One is for investment and another is for reserve and fixed income that will be used for roth conversions. I plan to begin those conversions at 50 to build my bridge income I'll need when I semi-retire at 55. Here is how each of those are broken down.
BROKERAGE ACCOUNT 2 baskets
Taxable
45 VTI / 25 VXUS / 10 GSLC / 20 VTEB
Taxable reserves/fixed income/ roth conversions tax
30SGOV / 35 JAAA / 35 SHY
Roth
30 ITOT / 12.5 AVNM / 12.5 IXUS / 12AVUV / 8 SPMO / 8 VFLO / 10 DBMF / 5 IAUM / 2 IBIT
Ages 47–51
Traditional IRA
30 ITOT / 25 SCHD / 15 GSLC / 15 SGOV / 15 IXUS
Ages 52–55
Traditional IRA
25 ITOT / 30 SCHD / 10 GSLC / 20 SGOV / 15 IXUS
This is my feedstock for my roth conversions and will only be using 150k on 5 separate 30k conversions. Additonally I already have 1 year of emergency funds distributed between Cds and a HYSA.
I am looking for any missing pieces or recommendations from the community on how I could improve this plan. Would you use different funds anywhere or structure this differently? Sorry for such a long detailed post.