Hello--first post, and I'm looking for some second opinions. It looks like I may have a $10K windfall in the relatively near future, due to an inheritance. Something I wish wouldn't happen for a few more years, but it is what it is. Right now I don't have much of a 'stache--still in the five figures, as I've never been a particularly high earner (working on that part) and only started getting serious about retirement and investing about ten years ago. I'd like to sock this windfall away in a solid investment that ideally--barring getting hit by a beer truck or something--will work towards either traditional retirement or early retirement. I'm already maxing out my IRA contributions, and I don't have access to a 401K right now due to a recent job switch, so it'll have to be in a taxable account. Right now I'm considering investing it in one of these two funds--VSMGX or VTSAX.
Pros and cons:
Vanguard Lifestrategy Moderate Growth: diversified, better able to handle stock market downturns due to bond and international exposure, slightly higher expense ratio (.16)
Vanguard Total Stock Market Admiral Shares: more aggressive, diversified index fund (for US only), but no bond component, much lower expense ratio (.05). Also has a $10K buy-in, so I can only buy this one fund.
My current IRA retirement funds are pretty well diversified, I think--about 85 percent Target Retirement 2035, 10 percent Wellington Fund and 5 percent Vanguard LifeStrategy Conservative Growth Fund/Vanguard Target Retirement Income Fund (in a teeny Roth that I started with 1/3 of my emergency fund, so can't be as aggressive with that money.) I have a 6 mo+ emergency fund (1/3 cash, 1/3 CD, 1/3 Roth), and while my spending isn't perfectly Mustachian, it's still pretty low--without a mortgage, I'd be happily living on less than $20K a year.
Right now the big draw is the lower expense ratio of the Admiral shares--over the long haul, it would likely save/earn me a lot of money. But am I taking on too much risk, tying my windfall up solely in US stocks? Are there other tax-advantaged options for this windfall I haven't considered? What do you guys think?