best vanguard fund to invest in if you only have $1000 dollars

[MikeJones2001]

My girlfriend just opened up a vanguard roth - ira and she is trying to get some advice on what to buy .
any advice would be helpful. She was looking at VOO since there is no minimum investment

[MikeJones2001]

VTSAX has a $10,000 min and VTI has a $3000 minimum so those are out of the question right now

[WhiteTrashCash]

They closed VTSMX, so the lower minimum investor shares of the total stock market index fund are no longer available. I would try what I did back in the day starting out and invest in Vanguard's STAR Fund: VGSTX. It's a little more conservative with 60% stock and 40% bond, but once the account has at least $3000, the funds could be transferred to VTSAX.

[secondcor521]

VTSAX has a $10,000 min and VTI has a $3000 minimum so those are out of the question right now

I'd double check that.  VTI is an ETF, so the minimum for that should be one share.  One share is about $200 now.

She could probably buy five shares of VTI.  At Thursday's price, she'd have some cash left over.  I don't know if Vanguard allows her to buy partial shares in that situation.

[4tify]

STAR is great if you want a managed balanced fund. Not esp MMM but I recommend it to the non nerds in my circle.

[OtherJen]

VTSAX has a $10,000 min and VTI has a $3000 minimum so those are out of the question right now

I'd double check that.  VTI is an ETF, so the minimum for that should be one share.  One share is about $200 now.

She could probably buy five shares of VTI.  At Thursday's price, she'd have some cash left over.  I don't know if Vanguard allows her to buy partial shares in that situation.

Yeah, VTI is a good ETF option. I haven’t bought shares of it recently, but I think I only have whole shares. She could start with 5 shares of that and then keep buying another share every time she saves up the cash.

The target year retirement funds have a minimum contribution of $1000 and you aren’t required to buy full shares. I use VFORX in my IRA, but there are other options at 5-year increments depending on when you plan to use the funds.

[Pomegranate12]

VXUS

[mountain mustache]

I chose a target date fund that was very far out to be more aggressive when I first opened my IRA, and then when I had $3000 I moved it to VTSAX since they lowered the minimum from $10K to $3K.

[MikeJones2001]

thanks for the advice y'all. I really appreciate it.

[frugalnacho]

She could start another roth account at fidelity.  They have index funds with 0% ER and no minimum investment. 

[ChickenStash]

I was in the same boat when I first started my Roth IRA. I went with the STAR fund and then converted it to VTSAX when I had enough invested to meet the minimum.

[Turnbull]

VTSAX has a $10,000 min and VTI has a $3000 minimum so those are out of the question right now

I don't think that's right. Pretty sure VTSAX has a $3k minimum. Back in the old days of Investor and Admiral shares at Vanguard the $10k VTSAX minimum was a thing, but not any more.

[SuperNintendo Chalmers]

STAR is great if you want a managed balanced fund. Not esp MMM but I recommend it to the non nerds in my circle.

I was in the same boat when I first started my Roth IRA. I went with the STAR fund and then converted it to VTSAX when I had enough invested to meet the minimum.

Same here.  Started with STAR back when I had next to nothing, and eventually converted to Total Market and Total Bond when I had enough.  Oh STAR fund, although we went our separate ways now many years ago, you will always have a place in my heart....

[The Frugal Expat]

VTSAX has a $10,000 min and VTI has a $3000 minimum so those are out of the question right now

This information is wrong. VTSAX is $3,000 min and VTI is the cost of the share. VTI is an ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) so it trades like a stock, but has the exact same holdings as VTSAX.

If you only have $1000, go with VTI. The expense ratio is 0.03%, it tracks the entire total stock market which is like 3500 companies plus some more, and it is a great fund to be diversified as well.

I personally love it. VOO is the S&P 500, which has the top 500 companies in the U.S. Now VOO didn't hold TSLA for a long time until December 21st when TSLA joined the S&P 500 so VTI is more likely to get up and coming companies first before VOO will get them. That is another reason to go with VTI.

[Arbitrage]

I would choose a target date fund.  ETFs are not as beginner friendly, and the amount of uninvested money (money market, really) you'll likely end up with by choosing an ETF will actually probably exceed the amount in bonds in a 90/10 Target Retirement fund - for those who are obsessed with 100% stocks or VTSAX only.

You can transfer the money later if you so choose.  If you don't, there's nothing wrong with keeping the TR fund.