New To Investing Thread

[tdaver]

Fidelity supposedly has some zero expense ratio index funds now, so I’d go with them.

[michigancat]

Ms WW is finally out making good money now. Want to go the S&P index fund route. Does anyone have a preference between Vanguard and Fidelity, or feel strongly about a different one? Those two seem to be the most recommended from my research. And Ms WW has like 5 tiny ass retirement accounts that will all need consolidated, but i'm assuming either one can make that process fairly easy.

I use Vanguard, which is fine if that's what you want, but consolidating retirement accounts is an insane pain in the ass. I can't think of a time it didn't involve an actual paper check from the account you're trying to close. It's insane and should probably be illegal.

[steve dave]

VOO

[steve dave]

If you are looking for a brokerage account you should not use vanguard. Fidelity or Schwab are better options there. Not sure if you were asking for where to open an account or what ETF you should buy though.

[WillieWatanabe]

Ms WW is finally out making good money now. Want to go the S&P index fund route. Does anyone have a preference between Vanguard and Fidelity, or feel strongly about a different one? Those two seem to be the most recommended from my research. And Ms WW has like 5 tiny ass retirement accounts that will all need consolidated, but i'm assuming either one can make that process fairly easy.

I use Vanguard, which is fine if that's what you want, but consolidating retirement accounts is an insane pain in the ass. I can't think of a time it didn't involve an actual paper check from the account you're trying to close. It's insane and should probably be illegal.

wonder if a couple are small enough to just cash out & take the hit if that would be easier.

[Kat Kid]

If you want to consolidate in to retirement convert to Roth then call the destination place and they will handle the transfer on the phone for you. I did it driving home from work one day with a rep from vanguard and it was amazing. You have two pros on the phone reading from a script and occasionally they ask for you to say “yes” and then it is over.

[WillieWatanabe]

If you are looking for a brokerage account you should not use vanguard. Fidelity or Schwab are better options there. Not sure if you were asking for where to open an account or what ETF you should buy though.

Well the first was going to lead to the next question so thanks.

So i take it you prefer ETFs vs Mutual Fund?

[Kat Kid]

Yes

[steve dave]

If you are looking for a brokerage account you should not use vanguard. Fidelity or Schwab are better options there. Not sure if you were asking for where to open an account or what ETF you should buy though.

Well the first was going to lead to the next question so thanks.

So i take it you prefer ETFs vs Mutual Fund?

absolutely, yes. ETFs are superior in every way.

[steve dave]

also if you aren't looking for a brokerage but just somewhere to park money and long term invest with no actual trading vanguard is fine. you can't do fractional shares or get weird trading but it doesn't sound like that is your intent.

[WillieWatanabe]

Correct. Just want to put in low cost, long term investments. Most I would want to do is move allocation between stocks/bonds down the road.
If my interests change later, i could see doing random things on the side.

[Kat Kid]

Is this a retirement/tax sheltered account or taxable account?


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[Justwin]

Correct. Just want to put in low cost, long term investments. Most I would want to do is move allocation between stocks/bonds down the road.
If my interests change later, i could see doing random things on the side.

I use Fidelity and buy the iShares ETFs that have no transaction fees and very low expenses. I buy ITOT which is a total US stock market index fund. It includes large caps (S&P 500), mid caps and small caps. In the long run, I believe small caps tend to outperform large caps, so I think having a total US market ETF is better than an S&P 500 fund. I also buy some IXUS which is a total world stock market index fund except that it does not include the US.

[WillieWatanabe]

Is this a retirement/tax sheltered account or taxable account?


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One of each. The rollovers will be retirement. Once its established and the contribution limit is reached, then a taxable account for the extra money.

I'm obviously a noob at this stuff so if I am way off, feel free to correct me.

[Kat Kid]

I think my biggest piece of advice to people that are investing longer term is to not have any bonds. I don’t really do much international exposure, but I think doing that is way more reasonable than bonds.

Buffet and Bogle basically would advise you to just put it all in an s&p 500 index, I think if you aren’t comfortable doing that, then do what justwin describes and I bet he would be willing to give you his proportions.

But again, I cannot emphasize this enough, eff bonds.

[Justwin]

I think my biggest piece of advice to people that are investing longer term is to not have any bonds. I don’t really do much international exposure, but I think doing that is way more reasonable than bonds.

Buffet and Bogle basically would advise you to just put it all in an s&p 500 index, I think if you aren’t comfortable doing that, then do what justwin describes and I bet he would be willing to give you his proportions.

But again, I cannot emphasize this enough, eff bonds.

I do 0% bonds. I consider myself to be pretty heavily invested in bonds through Social Security.

I do roughly 65-35 or 70-30 US vs International on new investments. The US position has become a higher percentage due to the US outperforming the international markets and I am fine with that (I don't rebalance that).

[catastrophe]

My total international funds are doing terribly, but I guess that’s the nature of a “hedge” when US stocks have killed it for so long.

I don’t expect I’ll invest in anything other than S&P 500 and Total US index going forward (although I did have some luck investing in a US growth fund for a 529).

And at least with Vanguard, I will say the one way mutual funds are superior to ETFs is you can auto invest a set amount of money every week easily, whereas for ETFs you have to first transfer money into a settlement account and go from there.

[steve dave]

Yes, that’s a good point about mutual funds for those who want that simplicity. Love that for sure.

[Kat Kid]

I don’t own any international funds or etfs, but I own a lot of baba stock and it has definitely sucked ass also.

[michigancat]

I think it has been discussed, but an s&p 500 fund is basically an international fund

[ben ji]

I've had my IRA's with fidelity for a while and my work 401k recently switched to them. One day I logged in to check my IRA's and boom, the 401k was there linked to all my other accounts without me doing anything (I'm guessing because of SSN's?).

Anyways that was kind of cool.

[WillieWatanabe]

My total international funds are doing terribly, but I guess that’s the nature of a “hedge” when US stocks have killed it for so long.

I don’t expect I’ll invest in anything other than S&P 500 and Total US index going forward (although I did have some luck investing in a US growth fund for a 529).

And at least with Vanguard, I will say the one way mutual funds are superior to ETFs is you can auto invest a set amount of money every week easily, whereas for ETFs you have to first transfer money into a settlement account and go from there.

I guess I need to do more research on ETF vs mutual fund. Simplicity is really what I'm going for here.

[WillieWatanabe]

Probably a dumb question but oh well. Ms ww does not want anything to do with any of the financial stuff that goes along with being an adult. Can i set up everything for her under my account, or do I need to create her accounts and then grant myself access to view after that?

[ben ji]

Probably a dumb question but oh well. Ms ww does not want anything to do with any of the financial stuff that goes along with being an adult. Can i set up everything for her under my account, or do I need to create her accounts and then grant myself access to view after that?

For a brokerage account it doesnt really matter if its under her name or your name. If its an IRA you need to set up the account under her name/SSN etc.

I'm not sure if you can someone link it to your accounts and be able to see them all on one page but I doubt it. 

[catastrophe]

Probably a dumb question but oh well. Ms ww does not want anything to do with any of the financial stuff that goes along with being an adult. Can i set up everything for her under my account, or do I need to create her accounts and then grant myself access to view after that?

For a brokerage account it doesnt really matter if its under her name or your name. If its an IRA you need to set up the account under her name/SSN etc.

I'm not sure if you can someone link it to your accounts and be able to see them all on one page but I doubt it.

I had to create a separate account for my wife’s IRA and can attest to the above. The “I” in IRA is for Individual and they’re kinda sticklers about that. I don’t think you can link them in Vanguard and you don’t really need to. Just contribute whatever toward the $6k max for the year and forget about it until next year.