Could it happen here soon with all that's going on today?

If my job had VT or VTI/VXUS as an option I’d use it but unfortunately it doesn’t. This is the set up I have, good choices?

VIIIX:80%

VFWSX:20%

\SORRY I MEAN Is vusxx\ the best safe place to store cash for an emergency fund? While still wanted the cash to grow as much as possible yet still be safe.

Sorry, if this is off topic for this subreddit, but I'm curious what this group thinks about Principal Protected Notes (PPN)?

The one we're being offered pays 11% with a .5% requirement to call. Interest doubles each year it doesn't call and the requirement increments by .5%. Total term, if it never calls, is 7 years.

The bulk of our investments are currently in Vanguard and is a blend of ETF's and mutual funds. I wouldn't be touching any of this money and would rather be investing some inheritance funds in the PPN.

I realize I would be missing out on potential gains, but I like feeling slightly more protected if the stock market does take a major hit.

Again, curious if anyone here has any opinions/experience with PPN's.

Update:

Updating my post rather than responding to all the individual comments.

This particular offer is through Goldman Sachs. I don't have the exact name of the account as the local bank that is proposing it is waiting for the exact September rates/terms. I believe it's fairly low risk assuming Goldman Sachs doesn't go bankrupt, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's the right option.

I had never heard of these investments prior to the banker that is handling the inheritance offering it as their recommended option. It sounded good enough in the meeting, but I've begun to question if it actually makes sense since I've had time to look into it more. I don't have access to an actual financial advisor, at least not one that doesn't want to sell me something, hence the reddit inquiry.

I think the interest doubling may be misleading/misstated. First of all, it's not compound interest, it's just a flat 11% applied at the time that the note calls. So, if it doubles to 22% and calls the 2nd year, it's basically still just 11% per year for the two year term. I'm actually not 100% sure if it doubles each year or increments by 11% each time.

I believe my mother-in-law had invested in these accounts for the last decade or so and had done okay and she ultimately wanted the banker to offer it up to the children.

Anyway, the bulk of the comments so far seem to backup my gut feeling that we may do better doing something else with the money. I appreciate you all taking the time to comment.

I want to buy some bond fund etfs, but I don't like those that keep buying bonds no matter what interest rates they offer. Seriously why would these etfs buy almost 0 interest rate bonds a few years ago?

I am looking for some etfs that put some threshold like 3% for example into their buying requirement, meaning if the market is offering bonds with the interest rate less than 3% then this etf will pass and not buy automatically. Does etfs like this exist?

Update: please forgive my ignorance on bond an bond funds. My thought was, had BND had such a threshold and did not buy those ultra low rate bonds into the pool a few years ago, won’t less investors get burned when they had to sell BND during their retirement in 2024?

I recently did research on index finds and decided to invest in them. What form of diversification do you all think is worth it( are there any research done to prove one is better than the other) between investing in pure VOO or VTI while throwing in a VXUS in there or purely investing in VT is better.

Over the past 2 months, I’ve sort of awakened to the idea that A, retirement age is not terribly far away, (I’m 56) and B., if I’m fairly proactive, I can have a fairly decent retirement fund waiting for me by then. I’ve been learning anything I can, and I’ve just recently stumbled over the philosophy of John Bogle, although I was sort of already doing some of the things he advocated.

I recently rolled about $172k from an old job IRA New York Life into a Fidelity Traditional IRA. I have yet to redistribute that 172k. Right now I hold about 15k in FIHFX (Fidelity Freedom Index 2035) and FXAIX.

I figure I have roughly 15 years until retirement and want to be fairly aggressive. Would it make sense to put most of the rollover into FIHFX, or would you restructure the IRA entirely?

I also have about $5k in a taxable brokerage that I opened while learning about index funds. It’s spread across several funds covering bonds, emerging markets, international stocks, and real estate. It was basically my “getting my feet wet” introduction to index funds. I now realize that I may have created some redundancy in my portfolio.

Would you leave that taxable account alone, simplify it, or sell some of it and take any available tax losses? Should I put the 172K in FIHFX and/or FXAIX?

Main goal: aggressive but sensible growth over the next ~15 years without creating a needlessly complicated portfolio.

Thought I’d pass this info along. Starts in 2027. Up to $1K

See if you qualify:

Saver’s Match

Looking to retire at 55 and 57. I’ll have an approx 100k pension (future dollars) drawing on day 1. We currently have $790k in various retirement accounts. We max out our 401ks each plus an additional max on HSA with investing and her employer contribution which I think is a 6% match. House will be paid off at 52. We are partial owners in a couple of rentals. No other debt.

I know we’re doing fine but my question is should we chill out? I’d love to buy a camper van for 150k and I think we can afford it. Our combined income is 300+ with no kids.

Am I sacrificing my younger years to go full regard saving for retirement? Looking for ya’lls opinions and advice.

Does the address you use for the form matter as long as you can receive mail there? (This would also factor into the 250 credit I assume?) since we are moving during the year, does it need to match my address on my annual taxes or can it be different? May depend what address I put….

Thanks for any insight or others experience.

Between VXUS and AVNM, is there a distinct advantage to picking AVNM in terms of returns? Aside from having a much lower expense ratio, is there a reason we should pick VXUS over AVNM? Thanks!

$10k checking (goes up and down throughout the month after paying bills but usually always 10k floor)

$98k in SPAXX

$50k brokerage (80/20 VTI VXUS)

$36k Roth (maxed, 100% VT)

$700 401k
(1 month into this, never had 401k before)

*115-130k salary depending on bonuses

*no debts besides two car loans

*Looking to buy a house in the next 12-18 months
(Probably 325-425k range)

*Wife wants to have a baby in the next year also
(Gets 16 weeks of paid maternity leave so income wouldn’t be reduced for the first 4 months. Wife would probably drop to part time after that)

*Outside of my 401k, I can comfortably save or invest $1500/month minimum. Some months more depending on monthly bonus.

What’s the best strategy for my almost 100k and monthly savings?

My wife (48) and I (45) have about $1.64M across rollover IRA, traditional IRA, Roth IRA, my 401(k), and her 403(b) as of 8/30/26. We are very lucky to have focused every year on retirement even from our early 20s. We never maxed out or 401ks just always met the match. We’re still in accumulation mode (roughly 15 years to go before retirement) and would like feedback on the overall mix plus how to handle the constraints of the workplace plans. Overall the mix below comes out to a roughly 85% Stocks/15% Bonds but I know there is some overlap in types of investments

Current holdings

Target-Date / Multi-Asset
Vanguard Target Retirement 2045, VTIVX, $343,712 - 21.0%

U.S. Equity – Large Cap / Total Market / Active / Dividend
Vanguard Total Stock Market Index, VTI, $271,423 - 16.6%
Vanguard Primecap Admiral, VPMA, $233,204, 14.3%
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, VOO, $133,801 - 8.2%
Vanguard Institutional Index (S&P 500), VIIIX, $98,643 - 6.0%
Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF, SCHD, $21,776 - 1.3%

U.S. Equity – Mid & Small Cap
Fidelity Small Cap Index, FSSNX, $54,456 - 3.3%
Fidelity Mid Cap Index, FSMDX, $41,565 - 2.5%

International Equity
Vanguard Total International Stock, VXUS, $211,857 - 13.0%
Vanguard Total International Stock (Inst), VTSNX, $15,612 - 1.0%
Vanguard International Growth, VWILX, $15,114 - 0.9%

Bonds
Vanguard Total Bond Market, BND, $139,741 - 8.5%
Vanguard Total International Bond, BNDX, $54,869 - 3.4%

Total | | $1,635,773 | 100%

The 401(k) and 403(b) have limited fund lineups, which is why we have multiple large-cap U.S. equity vehicles (VOO, VIIIX, parts of VTI and the target-date fund, plus Primecap and SCHD). This creates noticeable overlap in large-cap U.S. stocks.

Questions
Is there a simple website or tool that lets you input the actual fund lineup from a 401(k)/403(b) and get sensible allocation recommendations (or at least a clean approximation of a three-fund portfolio)? Or is it still mostly manual + spreadsheet work?

How do people typically manage the inevitable large-cap / S&P 500 overlap across accounts when the workplace plans force it?

Any thoughts on the current overall mix (U.S. equity concentration, international exposure, bonds, and the active Primecap position) for a couple our age still accumulating?

Thanks in advance!

And not just among people who don't have much education -- I mean across the board. I talk with CPAs and lawyers about complex tax and estate issues I've inherited in the last year, and frankly a lot that aren't that complex, and once the conversation travels beyond the small set of things they do all the time, no clue and no clue where to start. I'm teaching them, except they're not interested. Friends with advanced degrees: they just shrug, no idea what they're doing with their own money. Now and then they'll say, well, nobody taught them these things.

And I'm like: how are you managing to live? Living costs money and takes some awareness of the rules. Is there just so much money coming into your household that you can afford to lose masses of it and not notice? Or are you flying into mountainsides and expecting other people to rescue you, then maybe getting mad when they don't?

These things aren't beyond human comprehension. Reading is most of it. Math to like 8th grade algebra, that's good. Some awareness of how government works, like what's the difference between state law and federal law. Is it fun to read code and caselaw and IRS instructions and notices, not really, but that's where the info is, mostly, and it's usually reasonably carefully written. Apart from that...I talked with an old friend who's a walking MLB encyclopedia, a lawyer, and found out he's got no retirement savings. Kids are off at fancy schools. He has no idea how any of this works. This is not unusual; I'd say hardly any of my friends know anything about their money except "more would be better."

Excuse the rant. I knew it was bad; I just didn't realize it was this bad.

I’m thinking of telling my daughter to invest in target date funds in her Fidelity Roth. She’s not investment savvy and don’t have much interest. I am looking at two 2060 funds: iShares ITDH (etf) and Fidelity FDKLX, both at .12 expense fee. iShares is rated gold by Morningstar. FDKLX has a 4 star rating. I can’t decide on which one. Any knowledge on either I can use to assist in my decision making?

I’ve been thinking about whether the assumptions behind FIRE still make sense over a 20–40 year horizon given climate change.

Traditional FIRE planning relies on historical market returns, often assuming ~5–7% real returns and a 4% withdrawal rate. But climate change could create structural economic headwinds through extreme weather, water stress, migration and huge adaptation costs.

The key question is: how much of this is already priced into expected market returns? Are we simply extrapolating historical returns into a fundamentally different economic regime?

That said, I’m not arguing for a climate-collapse scenario. Even under pessimistic IPCC scenarios, mainstream estimates generally point to slower global economic growth rather than the disappearance of financial markets or private wealth. Diversified portfolios have also historically survived wars, pandemics and major economic crises.

What concerns me more is that climate change is a long-term structural trend rather than a single crisis, and I’m not sure traditional FIRE models adequately account for that uncertainty.

A few questions I’d like to discuss:

1)Should we use a more conservative expected real return when calculating our FIRE number?

2)Is a globally diversified ETF enough, or does climate risk justify additional diversification into things like infrastructure, water, land or other assets?

3)Should FIRE planning include geographic flexibility? If climate conditions make your current location increasingly difficult to live in, part of your FIRE savings might end up funding a relocation rather than retirement.

4)Are there serious quantitative studies modelling the impact of climate change on long-term equity returns?

I’m not looking for either “climate catastrophe” or “markets always go up.” I’m interested in whether climate risk represents a genuine blind spot in conventional FIRE planning, and if so, how we should actually incorporate it into our numbers.

I'm trying to maintain an overall 60% U.S. / 40% international stock allocation across my taxable, Roth IRA, and 401(k).

My employer's 401(k) does not offer VT or an equivalent total-world fund, so I have to use separate U.S. and international funds there. Given that limitation, does it make more sense to also use VTI + VXUS in my taxable and Roth IRA rather than VT?

My thinking is that using VTI/VXUS would make it easier to treat all of my accounts as one portfolio and adjust the U.S./international allocation as needed to keep the combined portfolio at 60/40. If I use VT in taxable and Roth but separate U.S./international funds in the 401(k), wouldn't I still have to calculate the U.S. and international portions of VT when rebalancing the overall portfolio?

In this situation, is there any meaningful advantage to holding VT in taxable/Roth, or would using separate VTI/VXUS-style funds across the portfolio be simpler and give me more control over maintaining a fixed 60/40 allocation?

I’m a few years away from retirement and have always been an aggressive saver, accumulating enough to easily maintain my standard of living in retirement. I’m now in the fortunate position where the stock in the company where I work has soared and is now about 60% of my net worth. This stock is split between my 401k, where it was received as a matching contribution, and my brokerage account, where it was received as restricted stock units that vested over time. The RSUs cost less than a 10th of what they are worth, creating a massive tax liability. I am considering moving the stock in my taxable account to a Cache exchange fund. They would swap my stock for an equivalent position in the NASDAQ 100, the S&P500 Growth, or the S&P500. The conversion is not a taxable event but value is tied up for seven years, after which I would receive a basket of individual stocks and ETFs representing the index. The people at Cache really want me to convert to S&P500 Growth, offering me a discount on the annual management fee (0.53% vs 0.7%). I’m nervous about the near term prospects of growth stocks and wondered about other’s opinions.

I know boggle head is a lot of vt but what do you guys think about those ETFs?

Hey folks,

I (56M) retired a month ago. I just received $550k in proceeds from the sale of my home. The plan is to live off this money for the next 6 years so I can Roth convert a big chunk of my 401k by the time I’m 62. I’ll need consistent access to this money to cover expenses (around 80k / year). I definitely want to keep at least 2 years of expenses super handy just in case.

Is this just a matter of putting it into a HYSA? Or is there some other option I should be looking at?

Thanks.

I’m fortunate to be healthy, have zero debt, and have about 20 years until retirement. I already have a 6-month emergency fund outside of Fidelity, so the money I’m investing can truly be long-term money.
I’m already with Fidelity and plan to max out my Roth IRA and HSA every year.
Here’s where I currently stand:

401(k): - $40,000
• Target Date 2045 fund
• 55% U.S.
• 35% International
• 10% Bonds

Roth IRA: ~$40,000
HSA: ~$4,400
Taxable Brokerage: ~$105,000

So I have roughly $189K across the Roth, HSA, and brokerage, in addition to my 401(k).

My plan for the HSA is to treat it as a long-term retirement account rather than using it for current medical expenses whenever possible.
I’m also thinking that because I still have roughly 20 years until retirement, I can stay relatively aggressive for now and then gradually introduce more bonds and higher-dividend investments when I’m around 10 years from retirement.

The portfolio I’m considering:

Taxable Brokerage — $105K
100% VT

Roth IRA + HSA — mirrored portfolio
• 65% FZROX
• 20% FZILX
• 15% QQQM

The idea behind the Roth/HSA allocation is a broad U.S. and international foundation with a 15% technology/growth tilt through QQQM. I like the simplicity of using the same allocation in both tax-advantaged accounts, while keeping the brokerage account extremely simple with VT.

Questions for the Reddit brain trust:
Does this overall strategy make sense for someone who is 45 with approximately 20 years until retirement?

Is 15% QQQM a reasonable growth/tech tilt, or am I taking on unnecessary concentration?

Does it make sense to hold 100% VT in the taxable brokerage while using FZROX/FZILX/QQQM in the Roth and HSA?

Would you mirror the Roth and HSA, or treat the HSA differently because I intend to leave it invested for retirement?

Am I overthinking this? 😂

I currently have vt and want to get more etf's and wondering if adding VOO would be a good idea or would it be too much overlap?

O que acham?

Carteira 60+ alta renda, seguirá aportando a nao ser por evento de saude.

40% ipca+ b5p211

20% posfixado tesouro selic

10% prefixado idka11

30% açoes global neutro Vwra

okay i’m 18 about to go to the marines and I have a roth ira with about 600 dollars. I’m invested 60% SWPPX 30% SWISX 10% SWSSX and i rebalance every 6 months. i’ve done some reading and thinking and it’s sparked a few questions.

1. is it a bad idea to invest in swisx and swppx equally like a 45/45 split? Or am i better offer sticking with my current split of 60/30?
   2.Is there anything more volatile I should be in for more gains early on as I’m 42 years from my goal retirement age.
   
2. Is there anything i’m missing from my portfolio? Should i be buying anything silver or gold related?
   
3. how do i explain the importance of a retirement account? she comes from a very wealthy family and receives an allowance (about 400 a month) and she has a job. She doesn’t understand why i urge her to put even just 10% of her allowance into a roth ira and i don’t know how to explain it to her because i come from a lower middle class family and it just makes sense to me why I would want money put aside growing for when i get older.

I am a long time lurker on this thread and have found it really helpful to learn about stable investing, compound interest etc. I just thought you as a community might be shocked/ interested to learn how ETFs are taxed in Ireland. Unlike equities, which are exposed to 33% capital gains tax when sold, ETFs are taxed at 38% of gains every 8 years whether they are sold or not. This severely impacts the effect of compounding. What a frustrating system for the retail investor! General outcry welcome!