I just opened my first mutual fund investment account with Vanguard. *kazoo* I've started with the S&P 500 fund because it's the S&P 500 fund and since this is my first time, you can guess all the reasons why that's the one I choose. But, thinking on the future, I'm not sure what will be the best route to take from here.
At the moment, I only have 6k a year that I can put into investments (not retirement; that has its own 5500). I saved up for the initial 3000 for the S&P fund, and now that it's in there, I plan to build it until I secure a higher paying job. When I do have more income to spare, would it be better to diversify my portfolio by investing in other mutual funds or would it be better to focus on a select few avenues (S&P fund, retirement, mortgage, etc)? If it is better to branch out and add additional funds, what sort of metric do other users here use to keep their portfolio in balance? Is it best to try and keep the funds dead even in terms of investment (going on my current income, 3000/3000, or 2000/2000/2000 or whatever) or does it depend on the fund types themselves?
I know this is a pretty childish question, but I'm in baby's-first-funds stage, so I could use a good crash course.