I am going to invest $50,000 in...

[jmxthievez]

Tupacia and all,

Are there any funds you would recommend to fulfill this purpose? I agree that it needs to be 100% equity, but it seems that there a lot of different roads to this destination.

1. Are there any recommended funds from the forum?
2. Is there a difference between brand/managers between let's say Fidelity and Vanguard.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that is it pure luck that you will run into the next Peter Lynch or is there a way to actually see which managers are more competent?

Lastly, is it feasible to have a Scottrade, Fidelity, Vanguard accounts? Or is it better to just do your business all from one site?

[captZEEbo]

it doesn't matter whether or not you use more than one site, except for convenience. Most people recommend Vanguard b/c they almost always have the lowest expense ratios.

People like the mix of:
Vanguard Total Stock Market Index
Vanguard Total International Stock Market Index

b/c people assume that if you aren't an experienced investor, you can't BEAT the market, you can only hope to match the market. Investing in these two funds will match the market at the lowest expense so you will get closest to market returns you can without doing a decent amount of research.

[ QUOTE ]
2. Is there a difference between brand/managers between let's say Fidelity and Vanguard.

[/ QUOTE ] Fidelity does a little more active management (in general) but has a higher expense ratio.

[ilikeaces86_]

[ QUOTE ]
it doesn't matter whether or not you use more than one site, except for convenience. Most people recommend Vanguard b/c they almost always have the lowest expense ratios.

People like the mix of:
Vanguard Total Stock Market Index
Vanguard Total International Stock Market Index

b/c people assume that if you aren't an experienced investor, you can't BEAT the market, you can only hope to match the market. Investing in these two funds will match the market at the lowest expense so you will get closest to market returns you can without doing a decent amount of research.

[ QUOTE ]
2. Is there a difference between brand/managers between let's say Fidelity and Vanguard.

[/ QUOTE ] Fidelity does a little more active management (in general) but has a higher expense ratio.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yea me and Zeebo are on the same page here. I once again maintain my assertion that you should do something similar to what I suggested.

[jmxthievez]

I'm surprised a lot people have just recommended two funds, while the majority of advice I have read elsewhere consisted of perhaps 3-5 funds in varying %s.

Is this because the two funds stated here are already so well diversified that there is no further need to diversify with more funds?

[ilikeaces86_]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm surprised a lot people have just recommended two funds, while the majority of advice I have read elsewhere consisted of perhaps 3-5 funds in varying %s.

Is this because the two funds stated here are already so well diversified that there is no further need to diversify with more funds?

[/ QUOTE ]

Basically. The Total Stock market fund owns a ton of stocks in the US market. The total international fund owns a ton of stocks in the international market as you might guess by the name. With just those two funds you basically cover the whole world.

[prohornblower]

Isn't there a tax-benefit to the International Index fund if you have $10K to put into it?

VG's Inter. Index funs has a $3K minimum, but my friend was telling me there is a 'better' (tax-wise) inter. fund if you have $10k.

With 50k to invest, surely you'd be able to get 10k into that fund, so I'm bringing it up incase anyone knows more about this. My non-retirement portfolio isn't large enough to put 10k into that fund, so I can't speak about it.

[TheMetetron]

I like the Tax-Managed Funds in taxable. In retirement what is being suggested here isn't bad, though I run a 50/50 domestic/international split with a value and small-cap tilt. Those 2 funds will offer some decent diversity though, but I believe they are market-cap weighted (which may or may not be what you want).

[ski]

index that are trying to mirror the same index are all almost exactly the same( you can find long term comparisions online if u want proof) Just go with the lowest cost.

The plan of basically buying 2 or 3 indexed (a foreign and a domestic and then maybe putting 10-15% in emerging markets is what Graham suggests if you just want to buy and then wait 30 years.)

Oh yeah, if ur just opening a fidelity account you can get 50K free airline miles through aa.com. Make sure u open the account through the link on aa.com

(I have nothing to do with American Airlines...)

[mtgordon]

Does anyone know if the tax managed funds are more or less tax efficient than ETFs?