Seems jlcollinsnh is a big fan of Vanguard due to their 'specialization' in index funds and making another end-goal of lowering fees/expenses/costs. I may go ahead and open up an account with them after I decide whether or not to proceed with Fidelity.
I think it's fine to just stick with Fidelity. They have funds equivalent to all the ones you'd want at Vanguard. FSTMX is the equivalent of VTSAX. If you were just starting out, Vanguard's history/structure might be a reason to choose them over Fidelity, but at this point, that's not enough benefit to outweigh the cost of having yet
another account to manage.
I'm just not sure what to do with all the existing stuff I've already purchased and gotten myself into. I'm still reading through a bunch of the articles on the jlcollinsnh site in the meantime.
Keep learning. There's not a huge rush to do anything with any of your existing stuff; it might not be optimally allocated, and might not make any cohesive sense, but it's not going to make all your money disappear either. Once you develop a clear plan,
then you can decide how to move things to fit your plan, and build from there.
When it comes time to move things around, be aware that the stuff in tax-sheltered accounts (IRAs and 401(k)s) can be moved around however you'd like (at least as those plans allow), while stuff in taxable accounts may induce capital-gains taxes, so you'll want to be a bit more careful with those. That will all be part of the plan you develop.
Also, he seems to keep talking about buying VTSAX, but the article is over 2 years old - is the information 'obsolete' as far as what one might want to buy TODAY? Or for an index fund, is VTSAX something everybody should consider buying still? I think it's at around $50 right now.
Concepts like "buying the entire stock market" (which is what VTSAX/FSTMX are) do not go "out-of-date". It was a great idea 2 years ago, it's a great idea today, and it will be a great idea 100 years from now (and would have been a great idea 100 years ago, if such funds existed then!) The funds keep
themselves up-to-date by continually adjusting to track the changing universe of the total stock market.
The current share price of an index fund is perhaps one of the most irrelevant things in the universe, and there's no reason for you to ever know or care what it is. Keep reading. :-)