Hi all,
I wanted to get some feedback on my plan for putting myself on the road to financial independence. Here's where I stand:
I'm 26, and soon to be engaged to my girlfriend, who is 27. I'm a 3rd year medical student and she's a 1st year resident. Her salary is $52k for the next 4-5 years, after which it will go up into the mid-$200k or so. I'll start earning an income in 2 years, and will likely be earning between $250k-$350k in the next 5-6 years.
My current assets are:
1) I have gold & silver coins inherited from my grandfather, valued anywhere between 10k and 15k, depending on the price of the metals and the numismatic value of the coins.
2) I was just gifted $23,000 in stocks to do with as I please that my grandmother, invested in my name when I was a child.
My plan at the moment is the following:
1) Keep the gold coins, at the very least until I can have them assessed for their numismatic value. Likely I will hold on to them for the long haul, since I believe that some gold is good for a diversified portfolio. Obviously, at this point, these coins are a disproportionately huge percentage of my assets, but as my assets grow that % will decrease.
2) The $23,000 is all Exxon stock. My plan is to invest that money in the following funds:
$10,000 in the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Admiral Shares (VTSAX)
$3,000 in Vanguard Equity Income Fund Investor Shares (VEIPX)
$3,000 in Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund Investor Shares (VEIEX)
$3,000 in Vanguard Extended Market Index Fund Investor Shares (VEXMX)
$3,000 in Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund Investor Shares (VBMFX)
$1,000 in Vanguard Target Retirement 2050 Fund (VFIFX)
My thinking is that the Total Market Index and the Bonds represent the relatively conservative side of this investment, while the other three funds range from moderately risky to quite risky. I'm allocating such a high portion of my portfolio to stocks, and some aggressive ones at that, given my age and the fact that I'm planning on having these investments for many years. I also have the coins as a backup/hedge. As I save money over the next few years, I'll steadily invest in these and other funds to round out and more fully diversify my portfolio. I'm a bit iffy on the Target 2050 fund, since it seems a bit redundant, but on the other hand it does cover some investments that the other funds don't.
Since none of this plan is set in stone, feel free to rip it to shreds if you think it stinks. My goal is to get the ball rolling and get to a place where, even if I don't want to retire early, I can have the option of working as much or as little as I choose to. Thanks in advance for the advice.