Financial advice

#51
#51
If you have money sitting around that you don’t know wha to do with, very general advice is to check off the list below. Sounds like your most of the way through it, but prioritizing tax savings using 401k’s and IRA’s (HSA also if available) should be priority if you don’t anticipate needing the funds. If for whatever reason you do need the funds, it’s also good to know that you can pull out any contributions to a Roth IRA’s penalty free. You can also save medical receipts and reimburse yourself from an HSA for expenses you previously paid out of pocket.

1. Emergency fund (typically 3-6 months expenses, but varies person to person).
2. Invest in 401k up to employer match %/amount
3. Pay down high interest debt. Start with highest % first.
4. Contribute to IRA. Can contribute to current year and previous year up until tax filing. Roth vs traditional depends primarily on income levels and time horizon.
5. Max 401k
6. Invest anything leftover in personal brokerage account.
 
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#52
#52
Thunder Good-Oil said:
Everybody has a different situation. Medicare Supplementa covers 100 days of hospital stays IIRC. But nursing home and rehab is where you can get hit. But in home care is covered pretty well for those with somebody to provide enough basic care. Then hospice benefits get more generous.

A good CFP should know all of the scenarios and best approach.

Hospitals aren’t there for extended care. They treat ailments and keep you alive. But ship patients off to rehab or nursing care facilities once they’re stable. So 100 days is enough hospital coverage in most situations.

It’s the years long nursing home stays that can wipe you out financially.
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Top end nursing home prices in my area are around $10-12K monthly with more affordable options if you want and that’s all inclusive. Is your total retirement budget really much less than that? If your scrapping by on $5K a month then yea I can see LTC wiping out your savings but is that really the type budgets for the folks discussing investing and RMD’s in this forum?
 
#53
#53
ndubvols said:
(snip). If for whatever reason you do need the funds, it’s also good to know that you can pull out any contributions to a Roth IRA’s penalty free. (Snip)
Click to expand...
Before you tap into a Roth, make sure you read up on it:

investor.vanguard.com

IRA withdrawal rules explained | Vanguard

Vanguard explains the rules for withdrawing from a traditional or Roth IRA, including age requirements, penalties, and exceptions.
investor.vanguard.com
 
#55
#55
High earners can use the back door Roth rules to get the IRS’s hands off of your funds (other than the upfront hit).

www.investopedia.com

Backdoor Roth IRA: Advantages and Tax Implications Explained

Learn the updated 2025 backdoor Roth IRA strategy step‑by‑step—from contribution limits and MAGI thresholds to tax filing and avoiding pro‑rata rule traps.
www.investopedia.com www.investopedia.com
 
#56
#56
ndubvols said:
If you have money sitting around that you don’t know wha to do with, very general advice is to check off the list below. Sounds like your most of the way through it, but prioritizing tax savings using 401k’s and IRA’s (HSA also if available) should be priority if you don’t anticipate needing the funds. If for whatever reason you do need the funds, it’s also good to know that you can pull out any contributions to a Roth IRA’s penalty free. You can also save medical receipts and reimburse yourself from an HSA for expenses you previously paid out of pocket.

1. Emergency fund (typically 3-6 months expenses, but varies person to person).
2. Invest in 401k up to employer match %/amount
3. Pay down high interest debt. Start with highest % first.
4. Contribute to IRA. Can contribute to current year and previous year up until tax filing. Roth vs traditional depends primarily on income levels and time horizon.
5. Max 401k
6. Invest anything leftover in personal brokerage account.
Click to expand...
This is the correct course of action.

To OP - yes, you are a bit behind.. good news is you have plenty of time to catch up. When it comes time to invest, there is no need to be fancy - go all in on index fund type ETFs (SPY, etc). Later on you can take a small percentage of your portfolio for more risky investments but now is not that time, build your foundation.
 
#59
#59
JFreak said:
This is the correct course of action.

To OP - yes, you are a bit behind.. good news is you have plenty of time to catch up. When it comes time to invest, there is no need to be fancy - go all in on index fund type ETFs (SPY, etc). Later on you can take a small percentage of your portfolio for more risky investments but now is not that time, build your foundation.
Click to expand...
We are fixing to find out. Moved cd to checking account yesterday evening. Trying to figure out what I want to leave in checking for E fund
 
#60
#60
This pullback is creating a buying opportunity. But be patient.

VTI vs. VOO: Which ETF Should You Buy? - 24/7 Wall St.

VOO (Vanguard S&P 500 ETF) and VTI (Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF) are both excellent, low-cost (0.03% expense ratio) Vanguard funds for U.S. equity exposure. VOO tracks 500 large-cap, established companies, while VTI offers broader diversification by including over 3,700 companies of all sizes, including mid- and small-caps. VOO often slightly outperforms in tech-heavy markets, while VTI provides more comprehensive U.S. market coverage.

Key Comparisons:
Holdings: VOO focuses on ~500 large-cap stocks. VTI includes these same stocks (comprising ~82% of its weight) plus thousands of smaller, mid-cap, and small-cap companies.

Performance: Recently, VOO has slightly outperformed due to the dominance of large-cap tech. Historically, over very long periods, smaller companies in VTI have sometimes outperformed.

Volatility: VTI can be slightly more volatile due to its exposure to smaller companies, though both are highly correlated.

Best For: VOO is ideal for those favoring large-cap, stable,, and high-cash-flow companies. VTI is better for investors seeking the broadest possible exposure to the entire U.S. economy.

Which one to choose?
Because VTI is about 87% VOO, the performance difference is often minor. Both are excellent for building long-term wealth, and in many cases, investors choose based on whether they want just the "industry leaders" (VOO) or the "entire market" (VTI).
 
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#61
#61
Thunder Good-Oil said:
This pullback is creating a buying opportunity. But be patient.

VTI vs. VOO: Which ETF Should You Buy? - 24/7 Wall St.

VOO (Vanguard S&P 500 ETF) and VTI (Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF) are both excellent, low-cost (0.03% expense ratio) Vanguard funds for U.S. equity exposure. VOO tracks 500 large-cap, established companies, while VTI offers broader diversification by including over 3,700 companies of all sizes, including mid- and small-caps. VOO often slightly outperforms in tech-heavy markets, while VTI provides more comprehensive U.S. market coverage.

Key Comparisons:
Holdings: VOO focuses on ~500 large-cap stocks. VTI includes these same stocks (comprising ~82% of its weight) plus thousands of smaller, mid-cap, and small-cap companies.

Performance: Recently, VOO has slightly outperformed due to the dominance of large-cap tech. Historically, over very long periods, smaller companies in VTI have sometimes outperformed.

Volatility: VTI can be slightly more volatile due to its exposure to smaller companies, though both are highly correlated.

Best For: VOO is ideal for those favoring large-cap, stable,, and high-cash-flow companies. VTI is better for investors seeking the broadest possible exposure to the entire U.S. economy.

Which one to choose?
Because VTI is about 87% VOO, the performance difference is often minor. Both are excellent for building long-term wealth, and in many cases, investors choose based on whether they want just the "industry leaders" (VOO) or the "entire market" (VTI).
Click to expand...
The performance is not materially different. So, the thing to consider is do you want the diversification and simplicity of one fund in VTI or do you want to buy VOO and then also buy another small cap fund with the weighting of your choice?
 
#62
#62
Ernest T. Vol said:
The performance is not materially different. So, the thing to consider is do you want the diversification and simplicity of one fund in VTI or do you want to buy VOO and then also buy another small cap fund with the weighting of your choice?
Click to expand...
That’s the big questio. Which one do you step into since VTI does have a lot of what VOO has but at a discount price vs VOO
 
#63
#63
allvol90 said:
That’s the big questio. Which one do you step into since VTI does have a lot of what VOO has but at a discount price vs VOO
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To me, it has to be VTI over VOO because there have been times (and could be times) when other parts of the market have outperformed the S&P. The S&P has been around, as some sort of index, since 1957. What was in it? What was left out then and is the data thus tainted in its measurement? I don't know, but it doesn't include any small or mid caps. There is legit disagreement within the investment advisor community about whether one should "tilt" their portfolio even more toward mid and small cap from VTI. But, the primary consideration is the overall allocation of stocks and fixed income (bonds). That first allocation decision is the driver for a lifetime of returns and critical for young folks. After you determine your overall allocation cake of stocks and bonds, consider the icing of how much mid and small cap.
 
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#65
#65
Scott Bessent (oddly the Treasury Secretary in a Republican administration AND a disciple of George Soros) owns QQQ, SPY, and RSP (Invesco Equal Weight S&AP 500 ETF).
 
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