Author Topic: VDAIX or VBLTX in HSA Investment?  (Read 2509 times)

The 585

  • Guest
VDAIX or VBLTX in HSA Investment?
« on: December 03, 2016, 11:07:48 AM »
Just got up and running with my HSA account, and will be maxing out contributions and using it as an investment account. Since it will be a small portion of my overall investments, should I put this all in VDAIX (Vanguard Dividend Appreciation) or VBLTX (Vanguard Total Bond Fund)? I like these choices because I think they'll both serve well in a tax-advantaged HSA account. I'm 26 and have ~$90k invested, with allocations as follows:

Large Cap: 40%
Mid/Small Cap: 14%
International Stocks: 42%
Bonds: 4%

Advice on where to put this new HSA investment would be great, thanks!

Interest Compound

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 655
Re: VDAIX or VBLTX in HSA Investment?
« Reply #1 on: December 03, 2016, 11:43:50 AM »
Just got up and running with my HSA account, and will be maxing out contributions and using it as an investment account. Since it will be a small portion of my overall investments, should I put this all in VDAIX (Vanguard Dividend Appreciation) or VBLTX (Vanguard Total Bond Fund)? I like these choices because I think they'll both serve well in a tax-advantaged HSA account. I'm 26 and have ~$90k invested, with allocations as follows:

Large Cap: 40%
Mid/Small Cap: 14%
International Stocks: 42%
Bonds: 4%

Advice on where to put this new HSA investment would be great, thanks!

Both investments are wildly different. They couldn't be more different.

One is 100% stocks. One is 100% bonds.

From your choices it seems you're trying to pick a safe choice for your HSA. If true, go with VBTLX:

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/funds/snapshot?FundId=0584&FundIntExt=INT

Note, you mentioned VBLTX a few times. That's the "Vanguard Long-Term Bond Index Fund", which is not recommended.

The 585

  • Guest
Re: VDAIX or VBLTX in HSA Investment?
« Reply #2 on: December 12, 2016, 11:40:37 AM »
Thanks for the response. You're right... it may be the Long Term bond fund. In either case, I think I'll avoid the bonds for now since I can take on quite a bit of risk.

For now, I have my HSA investments allocated to VDAIX (0.2 ER). But looking at my overall Small/Mid cap allocation of just 14%, I believe this may be a little low for my liking. My HSA administrator, PayFlex, offers VSMAX (0.09 ER), would it be wise to use this HSA investment space to tilt my allocation slightly more towards Small Caps?

VoteCthulu

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 409
Re: VDAIX or VBLTX in HSA Investment?
« Reply #3 on: December 12, 2016, 11:48:51 AM »
I put my HSA money in the S&P 500 (VIIIX) and balance that with the rest of my ITA/401k portfolio. You should stick with your AA, but I don't think it doesn't matter which fund is in your HSA unless you plan to use it in the next ~10 years.

Interest Compound

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 655
Re: VDAIX or VBLTX in HSA Investment?
« Reply #4 on: December 12, 2016, 11:54:18 AM »
Thanks for the response. You're right... it may be the Long Term bond fund. In either case, I think I'll avoid the bonds for now since I can take on quite a bit of risk.

For now, I have my HSA investments allocated to VDAIX (0.2 ER). But looking at my overall Small/Mid cap allocation of just 14%, I believe this may be a little low for my liking. My HSA administrator, PayFlex, offers VSMAX (0.09 ER), would it be wise to use this HSA investment space to tilt my allocation slightly more towards Small Caps?

General rule of thumb: If you have to ask if it's ok to tilt, you should not tilt.

The 585

  • Guest
Re: VDAIX or VBLTX in HSA Investment?
« Reply #5 on: December 12, 2016, 12:26:44 PM »
Thanks for the response. You're right... it may be the Long Term bond fund. In either case, I think I'll avoid the bonds for now since I can take on quite a bit of risk.

For now, I have my HSA investments allocated to VDAIX (0.2 ER). But looking at my overall Small/Mid cap allocation of just 14%, I believe this may be a little low for my liking. My HSA administrator, PayFlex, offers VSMAX (0.09 ER), would it be wise to use this HSA investment space to tilt my allocation slightly more towards Small Caps?

General rule of thumb: If you have to ask if it's ok to tilt, you should not tilt.

Thanks, great advice! I'm only in my first couple years of investing, so I'm still trying to get my allocations set into a plan which I can stick to and go auto-pilot.