Hello!
I am looking for some guidance on my investments and how I can better allocate them, as I work to invest about $20,000 that I have in savings. I want to make sure I am thinking this through and making the best steps.
I will have to provide a lot of details because I think it will help to provide a comprehensive view of my situation.
As I am contributing across different accounts I am having a hard time figuring out how to maintain my asset allocation across accounts while also keeping things simple.
As of now I am more focused on following the principles of FI than having a specific age I want to FIRE. If I had to pick I would say late 30's to early 40's.
So, my main question is if anyone has suggestions for how I should go about investing as I move forward, while taking into account that I have a lump sum (20K) that I want to invest over this year. Can I make things simpler and are there certain funds I should buy in certain accounts (Roth vs Taxable vs 457)
Basically, how can I optimize my investments?
Life Situation: Graduate student-with full tuition coverage so I do not pay for school , 25, Single, Midwest,
Gross Salary/Wages: Approximately $29,000-From work as graduate research assistant and random side gigs
Here is some info on my accounts and the allocations, I calculated the percentage each fund is relative to my total portfolio
Current value of all investments: $82,146.64
I have About $20,000 in cash that I want to invest
I aim for a 90/10 allocation of stocks vs bonds with about 25% in international stocks
Here is a summary of where my allocations are at right now
Stocks:
Large-cap (VTI, SWTSX, VIIIX) About 75%
International (VXUS, SWISX) About 9%
Large Growth (VUG, Fidelity Comingled Growth fund) About 9%
Mid-Cap (VEMPX) .58%
Bonds
Total Bond fund (VBMPX) 6%
Roth IRA: $24,4880.74
-Max out every year (Contribution limit is $6,000)
SWTSX: Schwab Total Stock $21,247.26, 2.01%
SWISX: Schwab International Stock $1,98.50, 2.41%
VUG: Vanguard Growth ETF: $1654.98 (Just recently started investing in this after a friend suggested, still unsure if I should just invest in this instead of SWTSX)
457: $12,964.74 (Tax-deferred)
-Contribute $1,550 each month, planning to max out each year ($19,500)
-Not sure if I should keep contributing to all of the funds I have been, recently stopped buying bonds, and started buying the others
-Will be able to contribute until I graduate in about 2 years...
VIIIX: Vanguard Institutional Index: $7324.77, About 9%
VEMPX: Vanguard Extended Market Index: $477.34, .58%
Fidelity Growth Company Commingled Pool Class: $159.99, .19%
VBMPX: Vanguard Total Bond: $ 5,002.64, About 6%
As of now this is how I have my contributions set (they are done automatically each month that I contribute the $1,550)
VIIIX 60%, VEMPX 30%, Fidelity Growth Fund 10%, Bonds (0%)
**Should I change this?
Taxable Account: $50,883.20
VTI Total stock ETF: $25,859.34, About 32%
VUG: Large Growth ETF: $5240.77, About 6%
VXUS: Total International ETF: $2,685.89 About 3%
SWISX: Total International Stock $2,990.29, About 4% (No longer investing in this one)
SWTSX: Total Stock Index: $6,907.12, About 8% (No longer investing in this one)