Not sure how much reading you're looking for, but I'd recommend sticking with Vanguard. Vanguard is like the Credit Union of investment firms. They are owned by us, the people who invest with them:
As a result, they have become the biggest investment firm in history. Seriously. They have over 3 trillion dollars in assets under management. Why haven't you heard of them? Look at the graphic above again. They operate with just enough profits to cover their costs. In other words, they aren't spending millions of dollars every quarter on fancy advertisements, they aren't buying big billboards in downtown manhattan, and they aren't paying for thousands of sales people in hundreds of offices across the country to create brand awareness. They are legally obligated to operate with our best interests in mind, which is why they are the only company I'd trust with my money.
If you want to keep things simple I'd recommend one of two options:
1. "I want Vanguard's experts to do everything for me. I'll just tell them my age and they'll put it in the appropriate
Target Retirement Fund"
2. "I want Vanguard's experts to do everything for me. I'll just tell them how much risk I want, and they'll put it in the appropriate
LifeStrategy Fund"
Both of these options invest solely in "index funds". This means they aren't trying to bet on what the next "hot stock" will be, they're just buying everything. Here's what the experts have to say about that:
- A low-cost index fund is the most sensible equity investment for the great majority of investors. My mentor, Ben Graham, took this position many years ago, and everything I have seen since convinces me of its truth. ~Warren Buffet
- Most investors would be better off in an index fund. ~Peter Lynch
- Only about one out of every four equity funds outperforms the stock market. That's why I'm a firm believer in the power of indexing. ~Charles Schwab
- Most investors should simply invest in index funds. ~Robert Rubin, Former Secretary of the Treasury
- For most of us, trying to beat the market leads to disastrous results. ~Prof. Jeremy Siegel, author
- Over the long-term the superiority of indexing is a mathematical certainty. ~Jason Zweig, senior writer for "Money"
- Indexing virtually guarantees you superior performance. ~Bill Bernstein, author, financial adviser
- With the market beating 91% of surviving professional stock pickers since the beginning of 1982, it looks pretty efficient to me. ~Bill Miller, portfolio manager
- The smartest thing people can do if they want money in the equities market is buy an index fund and forget about it. ~Elliot Spitzer, NY Attorney General
- "Of the 355 equity funds in 1970, fully 233 of those funds have gone out of business. Only 24 oupaced the market by more than 1% a year. These are terrible odds." Jack Bogle (2007)
Vanguard's Target Retirement Fund is a perfect long-term investment, because it combines the blue line and the orange line, into one package. When you're younger, it adds more of the blue line when you want more risk, and as you get older it adds more of the orange line to keep you safe from crashes:
You can throw money at it for the rest of your life, and you'll be just fine. Why would you want to choose your risk with Vanguard's LifeStrategy fund? Maybe you're saving money for a house downpayment in a 5 years, or your job situation is unstable, and don't want to take on much risk.
If you want to get more advanced, and play with
tax-efficient fund placement:
The standard
3 fund portfolio is all you need. If you're looking for more informaiton, these videos bring you from beginning to end, from creating an IPS, to knowing how and where to invest. Yes, the guy is over-the-top silly, he's clearly a nerdy guy, but he hits all the right points, and explains it very well -
http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Video:Bogleheads%C2%AE_investment_philosophyA detailed view on how to invest -
http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Bogleheads®_investment_philosophyhttp://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Bogleheads®_investing_start-up_kitThe best stock market overview -
http://jlcollinsnh.com/stock-series/If you're looking for even more detail, here are some good books (last two are on Audible):
http://www.amazon.com/Bogleheads-Guide-Investing-Taylor-Larimore/dp/1118921283/ref=dp_ob_title_bkhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071700781?ie=UTF8&tag=bogleheads.org-20http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470138130?tag=bogleheads.org-20http://www.amazon.com/Random-Walk-Down-Wall-Street/dp/0393352242/ref=dp_ob_title_bk