How to invest $25,000

[frugalkristen]

Hi!  I'm new to the forums here but have been reading MMM for about a year.  I'm pretty frugal but I'm planning a no-spend year for 2017 to ramp up my savings even more.  I have a NW of about $440,000 which at 47 isn't great.  Of that money, $45,000 is in cash.  The only debt I have is my mortgage which isn't too much and it's a pretty low rate.  I want to invest $25,000 in a taxable account and have read a lot about Vanguard here.  Should I go straight to the Vanguard site and buy in or is there a better way?  Thanks!!

[MDM]

Should I go straight to the Vanguard site and buy in...?

Yes, that should work well. 

Ask more if needed.  Good luck!

[TomTX]

Yep, if it's investment money put it all in Vanguard.

[illiterate]

How much does the Vanguard charges if I want to buy individual stocks? For example, 100 shares of Apple? What is the cheapest brokerage to buy individual stocks?

[Mother Fussbudget]

+1 to MDM's sentiment.  Go.  With.  Vanguard.

Great question, illiterate.  Here's a summary:

• OptionsHouse. Open Account. Stocks: $4.95. Options: $4.95 + $0.50 per contract.
• TradeKing. Open Account. Stocks: $4.95. Options: $4.95 + $0.65 per contract.
• Capital One Investing. Open Account. Stocks: $6.95. Options: $6.95 + $0.75 per contract.
• Firstrade. Open Account. Stocks: $6.95.

http://www.stockbrokers.com/reviews/cheaptrades

Vanguard's commissions are based on the amount of your holdings at Vanguard.
Online trades for investors w/$25K, first 25 trades $7, subsequent trades $20. 
Online trades for investors w/$50K-$500K, all trades $7.
Online trades for investors with >$500k-$1M, all trades $2
etc.
https://investor.vanguard.com/investing/trading-fees-commissions

Capital One Investing, also has the 'ShareBuilder' plan (formerly 'Automatic Investments') for $3.95/trade.  Those trades happen automatically at close-of-market on Tuesdays - whatever Tuesday's you want - whereby you purchase a fixed dollar amount of shares in whatever you want to purchase.  In essence, you create your own ETF.  Yes, this includes buying partial-shares of stocks. [NOTE:  Mother Fussbudget formerly worked here, and held accounts here when growing the 'stache', but no longer has accounts here]

Another interesting comparison article from Barron's:
http://www.barrons.com/articles/barrons-2015-ranking-of-online-brokers-1425705011