Please see my responses in blue





I could be wrong but I took the question to be soliciting suggestions for a "handsoff" portfolio. If the OP wants to actively trade then there is nothing wrong with your suggestion but for a buy-and-forget investments that advice is anathema.

Yes I do want a handsoff portfolio and I do not want to be actively trading


Can you provide more information?
- What will you use the money for?
- Do you intend to actively trade or do you want to buy something now and forget about it for 10 years?
I do not want to be actively trading so a handsoff approach.

- What do you mean by 15% risk tolerance? Do you mean you don't mind losing 15% in one day? One investment? Would losing 15% of your money over the 10 years be acceptable?
We could handle a 15% average lost of the whole investment after the end of the 10 years.

- What is your tax situation? If this investment produces income, what rate will it be taxed at?[/quote]
I stated this in my post but here it is again If you started this investment before the end of 2012 then in 2013 onward you would have about $1,600 of tax free space left empty in a Roth IRA. You have a 7 month emergency fund, 0 debt, Taxes-married filing jointly, 15% Federal Tax, no state tax.

I would also like to add that I am new at all of this and what our goal would be if it is even possible is to try to take the 35,000 plus 400/month*10years=$83,000 and with the possibility of losing 15% of that then trying to get the $83,000 into around $113,000 to $120,000 range.

Please see my additional post for more info and basically I am new at all of this and what our goal would be if it is even possible is to try to take the 35,000 plus 400/month*10years=$83,000 and with the possibility of losing 15% of that then trying to get the $83,000 into around $113,000 to $120,000 range.

Good luck. That is a pretty high return.

Just because you want something, doesn't mean you get it. There is a general relationship between risk and return, and you want to violate that relationship. You want to basically triple your money in a 10 year timeframe. Swing for the fences buddy.

What? No it's not. Maybe the risk isn't accurate (it's not usually expressed quite like that) but over 10 years that's only a 4% to 5% return. That isn't anywhere near "swing for the fences" high.

I think your math may be off a little Stannius.

Just using the law of 72, if you had 7.2% annual return your money would double in 10 years. Or, if you had 10% annual return, your money would double in 7.2 years. AREYAWITHME?

But, since we want to actually calculate these number, let's do so. Say you had....$35k to invest for...let's say 10 years. With a 4% return, the amount you had at the end of 10 years would be...35k*(1+.04)^10 or $51808.55. 5% => $57011.31. But, not what the OP "wants."

Since the OP wants $83k or $113k to $120k after the 10 years, we can calculate what that would look like. $113k after 10 years would need an AVERAGE 12.4% annual return. $120k after 10 years would need an AVERAGE 13.1%. If they want $83k, that is an average annual return of 9.02%. That is more reasonable, but isn't risk adjusted and absent in the last 10-15 years or so. Capping one's risk exposure will also limit their ability to invest to get the max.

Where are you getting your numbers?

The OP is investing $36,000 AND $400/month * 10years = an additional $48,000, or $84,000 total.

Got it, my mistake. I took the $400 a month to be the derived income. 4 or 5% is then a more reasonable number. I stand corrected if this is the case, and Stannius could very well have a better estimate than I.

Yes I think that was the confusion.

$35k giving spendable income of $400 per month AND growing to $120k would take a 21% growth rate. I Love the Nineties!

$120k giving spendable income of $400 per month is right about 4%, which is exactly the rule of thumb "safe withdrawal rate". Of course that's assuming OP gets to the target number.

I am not sure if $35k growing to $115k +/- 5k is "swing for the fences" crazy or not. Everybody talks about how we should expect lower stock market returns for the forseeable future... but long term average is 12%, which would be just enough. It's up for debate anyways, not a foregone conclusion either way.

Without knowing what the OP plans to do with the money, and how flexible those plans are, it's a bit hard to advise...

But $35k + $400 every month, turning into $120k in 10 years, seems really quite achievable.