Suggest me a Vanguard index fund? Should I even put money in..?
 

Hey guys, I would love to search, but I have to say the UBB forum search function is FAR inferior than the vbulletin forum's. Anyways..

So I'm 20 years old in college studying to be a dentist. I'll be working in the fall, and making around 500 dollars a month, and getting 500 a month for rent from parents ( i know i'm lucky), well I'm moving in with my gf so i don't have to pay rent, so I was wondering if this would be a good plan ...

I put as much as I can with what I make into a Roth IRA, and the 500 I get from rent I put into an index fund. I want to just put it in and forget about it until like years later, with minimal fees and risk. Which fund is for me? And is it worth it? Thanks..

Re: Suggest me a Vanguard index fund? Should I even put money in..?
 

probably...Target Retirement Fund

It's definitely worth it to start an ira. Pretty responsible of you to do.

Re: Suggest me a Vanguard index fund? Should I even put money in..?
 

Vanguard STAR Fund (VGSTX)

It is a good fund and it has a $1,000 minimum. Everything else has a $3,000 minimum. Once you have $3,000 you might want to put your money into a pure equities fund like Vanguard Total Stock Market.

Re: Suggest me a Vanguard index fund? Should I even put money in..?
 

These suggestions are good. If you have <$1000, then you could either save up, or use T.Rowe Price's funds. If you have >$1000 and <$3000, then Vanguard's STAR fund would be a great way to start. If you have >$3000, then a Vanguard Target Retirement fund (or a Vanguard Total Stock Market and/or Vanguard Total International Stock Market) would be great too.

Re: Suggest me a Vanguard index fund? Should I even put money in..?
 

what's this i've been reading about Vanguard handling ur money for you? how's that work?

Re: Suggest me a Vanguard index fund? Should I even put money in..?
 

Um, I think Vanguard does have a financial advisory service, but I would advise against using it. You can get better advice for free.

Re: Suggest me a Vanguard index fund? Should I even put money in..?
 

Jeff, interestingly, I've been doing an experiment in my own IRA for the past few years, buying equal amounts of VGSTX and the Target Retirement 2035 (VTTHX). Star has underperformend at every turn.

Re: Suggest me a Vanguard index fund? Should I even put money in..?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Jeff, interestingly, I've been doing an experiment in my own IRA for the past few years, buying equal amounts of VGSTX and the Target Retirement 2035 (VTTHX). Star has underperformend at every turn.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's comparing apples to oranges... Star Fund has 1/3 bonds compared to 10% for Target Retirement 2035.

Re: Suggest me a Vanguard index fund? Should I even put money in..?
 

Oh this is interesting, Jeff, when I bought the fund I think it was very comparable like 75/25. They must have changed the allocation when I wasn't looking. I've been longer equities than I had wanted to be!

Re: Suggest me a Vanguard index fund? Should I even put money in..?
 

FWIW, I don't like the TR funds because they use the Total Bond Market Fund. I don't think indexing the entire bond market makes sense and I prefer not to take duration and credit risk because they're correlated with equities. I like Short Term Treasuries and/or Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) for bond allocations.