Thanks again guys - totally awesome advice, although why would I expect anything else? :)
@ADK_junkie, jfer_rose, Ivyhedge - I think this is where that "creative" adviser was going with potential tax exposure - that rebalancing could trigger a taxable event outside of dividends. Based on the Vanguard article jfer_rose linked to, it sounds like it would make sense to start with the mutual fund VTSAX, as I can roll that over to an ETF if needed, but not the other way. I would be going with Admiral shares at the onset as well.
@Ivyhedge - Thanks for the tip on I-bonds. Did some Googling last night, as I hadn't come across them before. Will need to spend some more time reading, but more options are always good!
@milesdividendmd, gimp - Great callout. My wife has an FSA that we contributed to previously as we knew there was some upcoming expensive oral surgery in the next year, but outside of situations like that, we tend not to have a lot of medical expenses per year (knock on wood) - it's just the two of us with no kids, and we're both reasonably healthy. My current job covers our health benefits, and her job pays out if she doesn't take the health care plan. All of that would obviously change when we get FIRE'd and have to pick up the tab ourselves.
@Scandium - Yeah, exactly. I wouldn't have a problem paying more if they were crushing Vanguard's performance, but they are basically at parity....I just get to pay 30x more fees. I've started digging into fees in some of our other investments with our usual adviser, and I've been facepunching myself all night. I'm going to be having a chat with that guy ASAP about reallocation.
I appreciate the unbiased advice, and am looking forward to making our hard-earned greenbacks work harder for us for a change. For a portfolio mix, my initial thoughts were 70% VTSAX Total Stock Market, 20% VGSLX REIT Index, and 10% VBTLX Total Bond Index...any feedback?
Thanks again....