Thanks much for the info. My IRA is a Roth; I made more than the
maximum income allowed to be eligible for the tax deductions of the
traditional IRA, so I figured there was no benefit to a traditional
IRA. (Is that accurate thinking?)

By taxable account, do you mean a non-IRA/non-retirement account --
i.e., what I would think of (in layman's terms) as "normal investing"?

Thanks!
Mike

screenaccount[at]gmail.com wrote:
- quote -

diversified portfolio (which also has consumer products, software,
technology, financials, leisure, health care, pharmecuticals and
transportation, among many other industries). If you think the two
sectors you chose will outpace the overall market, you should see a
boost in overall returns, with some additional risk. It sounds like
you are comfortable with the risk, and only time will tell if you will
see returns to justify the risk.

- quote -

more too it. if it is not a Roth (meaning it is a traditional, non
deductable IRA), then I would put the money into a taxable account. I
call this account diversification. The 401k will be taxed on withdraw.
A traditional IRA will also be taxed. A Roth has conditions in which
withdraws are not taxed. A taxable account will be taxed at capital
gains rates. I don't know what tax laws will be when you need the
money, so having different account types may help you take advantage of
future tax laws.

- quote -

stocks. You will have control over whether the stocks are sold, and
you can choose to avoid stocks with dividends, if you prefer. This
could ease taxes paid along the way.

If in an IRA, this may be less of factor (distributions of mutual
funds would not be taxed until withdraw).


- quote -

with Vanguard and fund selection with Vanguard. My 401k is with
Vanguard, my IRA is with T Rowe Price. I also own stocks through a
third broker.

Hi, all. Thanks in advance for any help on the following.

My situation: I'm 35 and have been putting money into a 401k and an IRA
(Vanguard Target Retirement Fund 2045) for the past few years. I've
gotten a new job recently that pays a lot more but is in a pricey city.
So right now, I'm contributing about $450/month to my new company's
401k, and $100/month to the Vanguard IRA. (I'm putting more toward the
401k because of company matching and because the tax breaks leave me
with more take-home money, which I need right now.)

WIth all that in mind, I'd kind of like to fool around a bit more with
investing. In particular, I'd like to invest in the energy market and
in developing markets, such as China and India. So, I was thinking of
contributing maybe $50/month each to the Vanguard Energy Fund and the
Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund.

Questions:
1) Are the items in my portfolio overlapping too much if I invest in an
Energy and an Emerging Markets fund, when I already have a Target
Retirement Fund that invests in a wide range of things (including
energy and foreign market stocks)?

2) Given that I'm not maxing out my IRA potential, should I put that
extra $100/month into the IRA (or another IRA) instead of into some
non-retirement investment?

3) Should I go with stocks rather than funds? I don't know much about
the stock market right now, so I figure index funds would be easier for
now.

4) Is it a bad idea to do all my investing via one company (i.e.,
Vanguard). My 401k is with a different company, but I'm wondering if I
should also spread out my other investments amongst multiple firms,
just in case one of them fails for some reason or turns out to be
crooked or whatever.

Thanks for any thoughts on all that!
Mike