Author Topic: Trad IRA New Account Investing  (Read 1800 times)

DK

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Trad IRA New Account Investing
« on: February 22, 2014, 10:28:35 AM »
So while doing my taxes this year I realized I planned a bit off to stay in the 15% bracket, and needed to switch some money into a Traditional IRA. I opened it up through vanguard, but was curious on the forums thoughts on what to invest in, and when?

Per things I've read, I was thinking the total stock market index (I believe that's VTI?) but am not sure if I should invest it all at once, or perhaps wait to see if their is a correction that will soon occur due to the stock markets current PE?

GlassStash

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Re: Trad IRA New Account Investing
« Reply #1 on: February 22, 2014, 10:37:07 AM »
VTSAX is the Vanguard Index Fund.

When? Now. "Waiting for a correction" is akin to market timing, which is the wrong way to think about it. Think about whether the money will be worth more in 20-30 years, not a couple of years.

There was a recent thread concerning investing a lump sum vs. dollar cost averaging which has some discussion on market timing. Invest now and forget about minor corrections and surges.

wtjbatman

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Re: Trad IRA New Account Investing
« Reply #2 on: February 23, 2014, 02:03:05 PM »
Invest as much as you're comfortable with. You don't need to do it all lump sum, and you don't need to do a year long dollar-cost averaging (DCA) plan. Try putting half of it in VTI now, then wait a couple months. If it drops a few points, invest and feel great about waiting. If it rises a few points, still invest, and chalk up the "loss" to a learning experience.