I shouldn’t have been so general. I guess the point is do your homework (which you obviously have) before investing in any fund. I can definitely see the convenience for a hands off investor. I guess that’s just not me.

Current constituents of Vanguard Total Retirement 2035:

71.9% Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund
10.3% Vanguard European Stock Index Fund
10.3% Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund
4.8% Vanguard Pacific Stock Index Fund
2.7% Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund

This is in no way “super conservative”; a 90/10 stock/bond allocation with some worldwide diversification on the stocks.

Your returns are excellent, but is it possible that some might see your fund mixture as “super aggressive”?

FWIW2: I do roll my own mix in my 401k, which has only a S&P 500 index fund. Doing OK, but picking an allocation and rebalancing is work I’d rather avoid, and I also find it hard to avoid performance-chasing. If and when I leave my job I’ll probably roll it over to Vanguard and do a lazy index-fund portfolio.

Just my 2 cents, but those “age appropriate” accounts are SUPER conservative. If you’ve got 18 years to retirement I’d do it myself. My brother has a Fidelity Freedom Fund 2040 and he returned 8% last year. By comparison I returned 22.5% with a mix of international, real estate, dividend and growth funds. Just remember as you get closer to retirement to move more money into something less volatile like bonds and/or blue chips.

I was feeling really low the past few days and interestingly today’s videos have perked me up a bit.

I do keep wanting to wash his hair though! lol

db

And while I like Vanguard Total Stock Market, I’d suggest that if you’re going to pick *one* fund in your retirement account you’d be better served by picking an age-appropriate Vanguard Total Retirement fund. Better diversified, and automatically adjusts the risk profile as you near retirement; both good things if you’re a hands-off investor.

(FWIW, I hold Target Retirement 2035 in my Roth.)

1. Work your butt off.
2. Save as much as you can.
3. Stay the hell outta debt.
4. Fund a money-market emergency fund to at least 10K. ING is a good place to open such an account.
5. Invest for retirement,i.e., open a Roth IRA and stick it in a broad stock-market index fund, like The Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund.
6. Buy your own home and pay it off early.
7. Get proper insurance.
8. Be frugal.
9. Stay the hell away from any kind of “get-rich-quick” schemes, and know you have to work your butt off in this world just to lead a normal middle-class life, and you ESPECIALLY have to work your butt off double-time to become anything like a young millionaire.
10. Make a will.

Adding my two cents. It makes sense to borrow money (capital) if what you can do with that capital right now enables you to do a lot more than if you tried to save up the money and then built your new investment. For example, let’s say I’m taking the bus to work at a job that pays $8/hour. However, if I buy a car for $3000, I can commute to a different job that pays $16/hour. In this case, it would make sense for me to borrow money and invest it in the car, because in one year I would have more money than if I stayed at my $8/hour job.

Student loans and education can be another good example of good capital investment. If you only understand as much as an average twelfth-grader, you might be only good enough to sell electronics at Best Buy. However, if you borrow some money and go to college, you could become a plumber. The value of you being a plumber over being a Best Buy salesman over your lifetime is likely much greater than the interest you’ll pay on a student loan, especially to the people around you.

Finally, this applies to governments as well. Roads are expensive to build. However, it can be argued that it will be vastly more beneficial to the state to have a paved road, rather than dirt tracks. (You only need to try to travel by car on dirt roads in South America to see this firsthand.) It may take the government 50 years to save up enough money to pave a road. However, if they borrow the money and build the road now, the increased ability of its citizens to do more allows them to pay for the road in 20 years. So it makes sense to borrow the money in this case.

squished