Convinced of Index Funds, which ones exactly?

[rowdawg]

So, I have spent hours on this site reading the information.  I have read the articles that MMM has written about Vanguard funds. 

I just want someone to tell me what to get.  I don't necessarily want to read a 40-part series on this whole idea.  I am wanting the capital letter representation of the fund or funds to invest in that people have had success with.

I have around $10000 to work with. 

Do I diversify (3000 in one account and 3000 in another, etc)?

And how do I continue contributing?  How long do I continue contributing? 

Please be as simple as possible. 

thank you for your time!

[matchewed]

ಠ_ಠ

With index funds being one of the simpler forms of investing, not wanting to put in the time to figure out your own risk tolerance in order to choose a fund or combination of funds is silly.

All of your questions link to themselves. You need to answer them for yourself. What are you investing for, or what is the goal? When you answer that you know how long and how much. What is your risk tolerance? That tells you whether to diversify and what to diversify into.

So no I won't tell you what fund to choose. You don't get the lazy route from me.

[cyclevillian]

how about i just send you my paypal account info and i'll take care of it for you :)

i agree with matchewed. keep reading and learning, eventually you will be able to answer this question. or pay someone to handle it for you. and i bet someone has asked this question a time or two on this forum...might want to read those posts too.

[neoptolemus412]

This is why a sucker is born every minute.  This is a very cordial blog and people try to help one another.   However, this drives me insane.  People don't take your money to invest out of charity.  They do it for a fee and if you don't know what that fee is, you're going to get burnt.  Go to boglehead's blog & research/read.  If you want to invest your money, no one is going to tell you how to do it b/c it's all about why you're investing vs. the how to invest.  If you're too busy to spend a week or 2 reading about asset allocation, risk tolerance, index funds, and investing in general, then you're too busy to invest.

[rowdawg]

I drive my car.  I do the maintenance on my car.  I don't, however, know all the parts of my vehicle (yet!) or what everything does for the overall goal of getting from one place to another.  Yet, I have been driving it and other vehicles for years, which may be crazy to you! 

I took driver's training and learned the basics of driving a vehicle and have become more informed to driving and vehicle maintenance as the years have passed.

I am looking for some simple basics, not smug remarks of condescension.

The MMM blog offers some basics in his book review of the intelligent asset allocator.  He suggests the following Vanguard funds: VFINX, VB (which when I went to Vanguard's website did not exist...there were several funds beginning with "VB," but not a specific fund for "VB"), VDMIX and VBISX.  He says he uses those funds.  Has anyone else used those funds with any success?

I am spending about an hour each day going through the forum trying to find posts that speak to my specific situation.  So far, I have not found one.  For this reason, I posted an inquiry.  MMM says he invested 65% or so, of his income while working toward retirement.  This is pretty general.  So, I am looking for some basics from helpful contributers as I continue to educate myself. 

I have a pretax retirement account through the military that I contribute to.  I have a fully funded emergency fund with a year's worth of expenses saved.  And I have around 10K sitting there and I was thinking about putting some in an stock index as suggested on this website. 

Can anyone speak of their own experience starting out?  Can anyone nudge me in a direction?  (Provided they remain mildly humble)

[spider1204]

Your first post screams "I'm too lazy to learn, just tell me exactly what to do" not "I'm not sure where to get started learning, can someone point me in the right direction?"

The first will only get condescending responses, but the second question will get you answers.  Read JCollinsNH stock series, and that should answer most of your questions, even the first one although you should look to learn more than that.

[matchewed]

In my humble opinion, figure out your risk tolerance, figure out what you are saving your money for. That will help in figuring out what funds will work for you.

This is not about me having a superior attitude. It is about trying to help you ask yourself the right questions. Ignoring those questions and labeling it as condescension does not help you either. Maybe I misunderstood you when you said -

I just want someone to tell me what to get.  I don't necessarily want to read a 40-part series on this whole idea.  I am wanting the capital letter representation of the fund or funds to invest in that people have had success with.

You generally won't be getting people to say invest in X because investments have risk. Some of that risk involves loss and if you lose money you may just blame it on the source you got it from (random person on the internet). So while my initial response may have been glib it truly is in your best interests to understand how to drive the car to use your analogy. To further expand on your analogy you didn't ask how to drive a car, you asked "what's the best way to move?" and that answer may be a car, your feet, a bike, or a submarine.

http://jlcollinsnh.com/category/stock-investing-series/

Start with part 1 and move your way through that. Be aware that this is from an aggressive investing perspective, you may or may not be comfortable with that. Spider1204 beat me to it.

[aj_yooper]

rowdawg,

Congratulations on your desire to invest, especially your interest in using index funds, the most efficient way to go.

When you invest, you need to literally, intellectually, and emotionally own your investment choices.  That is why you have to decide.  Personally, I like the Bogleheads' site (http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Bogleheads®_investing_start-up_kit) as it gives clear guidelines as to how they invest, right down to sample fund choices, naturally using Vanguard.  Before you invest, though, you should have an emergency fund and a budget worked out.  Again, Bogleheads has that at:  http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Bogleheads®_personal_finance_planning_start-up_kit

The Bogleheads site is straightforward and all organized so you could work through that quickly.  You did not say what type of investment vehicle you want to use.  Is it through work, like a 401k, or are you doing a Roth IRA or a taxable account?  Each vehicle type is better for different kinds of funds so you need to figure that out too.

Read up some more now.  It will serve you well in the future.  When you get your ideas down, if you want to, post them here and people will give you input about your choices.  Don't get discouraged and walk into a main street brokerage office.  That move, IMO, will not be a good choice for your financial health.

Welcome to the forum!

[Lans Holman]

I drive my car.  I do the maintenance on my car.  I don't, however, know all the parts of my vehicle (yet!) or what everything does for the overall goal of getting from one place to another.  Yet, I have been driving it and other vehicles for years, which may be crazy to you! 

I took driver's training and learned the basics of driving a vehicle and have become more informed to driving and vehicle maintenance as the years have passed.

....

I am spending about an hour each day going through the forum trying to find posts that speak to my specific situation.  So far, I have not found one. 

Would you go to a car forum and do a post that just says "what's the best car"?  Of course not, because the car that's right for one person isn't for another.  If there was one form of investment that was obviously the best for everyone, everyone would just invest in that, but of course it's not that easy.  How old you are, your goals, your tolerance for risk are all going to play a part.  If you can't find a post that speaks to your situation, create one and I'm sure you'll get some great (and friendly) advice, but you have to give people a little more to work with in terms of the specifics of your situation. 

[Belial]

If you just want a stock index fund, the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index  (VTSMX) tries to track the entire US stock market:

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/FundsSnapshot?FundId=0085&FundIntExt=INT

Another choice is the Vanguard Global Equity Fund (VHGEX), which tracks the entire world, including the US.