jdbst56[at]gmail.com wrote:

- quote -

My thought is this - the 25% bracket begins at $65,100 this year. STD
deduction = $10,900, two exemptions total $7,000. This totals $83,000
(gross). I just suggest that if you are only funding the 401(k) to the
matching level, you might benefit by doing the deductible IRAs until you
are right at the $65,100 net taxable income level. A couple kids, a
bigger house, you may drop down to the 15% bracket, in which case I'd
say to fund Roths in that year. And even convert some regular IRA money
to bring your income up to the top of the 15% bracket again. Just my
opinion, as no one can know the tax structure between now and (your)
retirement.

Joe

------ Misc.invest.financial-plan is a moderated newsgroup where Moderators strive
to keep the conversations on-topic for financial planning. Other posting
guidelines include a request for brevity and another for trimming posts to
which we respond. For all of the other tips and suggestions, see "FROM THE
MODERATORS: Posting to misc.invest.financial-plan", a weekly post now on the
Newsgroup.

Sorry, I've posted here before, but I don't post on a regular basis so
I'll provide a refresher. The Roth is just to supplement me and my
wife's company 401ks, which we both contribute up to the company
match. The funds in our 401ks are relatively well diversified. I'm
27 years old so don't need immediate access to the investments. My
wife and I earn about 100k combined, no kids but probably some day,
and in addition to the 401ks and Roth, we have combined savings of 40k
in a money market savings account.

Our expenses:
Mortgage 84k - 5.5%
School Loan 17k - 2.75%
School Loan 31k - 3.75%
Auto 7k - 5.9%

No credit card or other outstanding debt. I've already contributed
$1800 for 2008 so I wanted to get some insight before I invest the
remainder. Originally I was going to invest the entire 5k into VGSTX
but then thought that perhaps I should start into something else now.

Thanks for your input. While I don't post too often, I lurk a good
bit and have always found the discussion insightful.

------ Misc.invest.financial-plan is a moderated newsgroup where Moderators strive
to keep the conversations on-topic for financial planning. Other posting
guidelines include a request for brevity and another for trimming posts to
which we respond. For all of the other tips and suggestions, see "FROM THE
MODERATORS: Posting to misc.invest.financial-plan", a weekly post now on the
Newsgroup.

<joshbilsky[at]gmail.com> wrote
- quote -

VGSTX is about 60% stocks and 40% bonds and cash. If you are
young, then this is considered a mighty conservative (= low
risk, low return by historical standards) allocation. If you
are young, I agree with Andrew K that you should consider a
fund or combination of funds such that your stock exposure
is higher. I agree with John that ETFs are something to
consider, especially Vanguard ETFs for their low expenses.

Consider trying the free, interactive online asset
allocation tools linked at
http://ellessite.blogspot.com/2008/0...llocation.html
. They will give you some suggestions about allocation based
on your risk tolerance.

Lastly, as Sandra suggested, the market is currently
considered a "good buy," so putting in your 2008 IRA
contribution now may be a good idea. It could go down
further, but if you're in it for the long run, and if
history is any guide, it will recover and then some.
Remember for 2008 your IRA contribution limit becomes $5000.

------ Misc.invest.financial-plan is a moderated newsgroup where Moderators strive
to keep the conversations on-topic for financial planning. Other posting
guidelines include a request for brevity and another for trimming posts to
which we respond. For all of the other tips and suggestions, see "FROM THE
MODERATORS: Posting to misc.invest.financial-plan", a weekly post now on the
Newsgroup.

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

I'd echo John's remark about a foreign fund being the next one to add.
In the long run, it will lower volatility and help average return.

I'd ask - do you have a 401(k)? If so, that's part of your asset
allocation, and can't be ignored when asking your question about mix and
new funds.

Regarding the choice of Roth vs pretax IRA, what is your current tax
bracket? You can (currently) retire with $850K and still be in the 10%
marginal bracket, so the choice between pre and post tax IRA is not so
clear cut. (see http://www.joetaxpayer.com/toomuch.html ) for a longer
explanation of my thoughts on that, if you wish.

Joe

------ Misc.invest.financial-plan is a moderated newsgroup where Moderators strive
to keep the conversations on-topic for financial planning. Other posting
guidelines include a request for brevity and another for trimming posts to
which we respond. For all of the other tips and suggestions, see "FROM THE
MODERATORS: Posting to misc.invest.financial-plan", a weekly post now on the
Newsgroup.

"Sandra Loosemore" <noreply[at]frogsonice.com> wrote in message
news:m363v17nhf.fsf[at]frogsonice.com...
- quote -

I agree. However, one suggestion: If the reason you're just starting a
Roth is that you're relatively new in the job market, that suggests that
your time horizon is 30-40 years. In which case, if you have the stomach
for it, you might want to consider VHGEX as an alternative (or supplement)
to VGSTX.

It is unquestionably more volatile. However, because it is 100% equities,
it is quite likely to return substantially more over the long term. But you
have to be willing to accept a rough ride from time to time.

------ Misc.invest.financial-plan is a moderated newsgroup where Moderators strive
to keep the conversations on-topic for financial planning. Other posting
guidelines include a request for brevity and another for trimming posts to
which we respond. For all of the other tips and suggestions, see "FROM THE
MODERATORS: Posting to misc.invest.financial-plan", a weekly post now on the
Newsgroup.

joshbilsky[at]gmail.com writes:

- quote -

Good for you! You might also consider making your 2008 contribution now,
while the market is down, so you get the most bang for your buck.

- quote -

That's a very sane choice for a core fund.

- quote -

That depends. Do you have other investment accounts, like a 401K?
What's in them? How far away from retirement are you? What's your
risk tolerance? You should look at your overall asset allocation
first, and then choose specific funds within that allocation.

Personally, I'm a fan of keeping things simple while you're a newbie
investor. Sticking with the VGSTX or a generic balanced or
target-retirement fund is usually the best choice if you haven't had
time to think about asset allocation, don't have enough money that it
makes sense to keep track of 5 or 6 different funds, or just don't
want to put in the effort to come up with an asset allocation plan or
research lots of funds. That'll protect you from newbie mistakes like
putting way too much in risky asset classes like emerging markets or
gold, or investing in lots of funds that are too similar to provide
any diversification value and just add to your recordkeeping headaches.

-Sandra

------ Misc.invest.financial-plan is a moderated newsgroup where Moderators strive
to keep the conversations on-topic for financial planning. Other posting
guidelines include a request for brevity and another for trimming posts to
which we respond. For all of the other tips and suggestions, see "FROM THE
MODERATORS: Posting to misc.invest.financial-plan", a weekly post now on the
Newsgroup.

In article
<a783a2ad-7a17-45cb-a670-71ca173a721f[at]y24g2000hsd.googlegroups.com> ,
joshbilsky[at]gmail.com wrote:

- quote -

If you are happy with this fund, then stick with it. That makes
things easy to track. If you want to pick up another fund, I'd
suggest looking into some ETFs that track indexes, or stick with
the Vanguard index funds. Any of the indexes are OK to follow,
but I prefer larger indexes such as the S&P 500 and the Russell.
A global index might be OK for a small part of your holdings.

-john-

--
================================================== ====================
John A. Weeks III * * * * * 612-720-2854 * * * * * *john[at]johnweeks.com
Newave Communications * * * * * * * * * * * * http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ====================

------ Misc.invest.financial-plan is a moderated newsgroup where Moderators strive
to keep the conversations on-topic for financial planning. Other posting
guidelines include a request for brevity and another for trimming posts to
which we respond. For all of the other tips and suggestions, see "FROM THE
MODERATORS: Posting to misc.invest.financial-plan", a weekly post now on the
Newsgroup.

Last year I opened a Roth IRA and contributed the maximum 4k amount
for both 2006 and 2007. Since I just started the account, I just
stuck to the Vanguard STAR fund (VGSTX). This fund seemed like a good
start since it is a "fund of funds". I was wondering though, if I
should consider adding another fund to my portfolio or just continue
to buy more shares of VGSTX. Any recommendations on other Vanguard
funds that might be a good addition to what I have now?

Thanks in advance!

------ Misc.invest.financial-plan is a moderated newsgroup where Moderators strive
to keep the conversations on-topic for financial planning. Other posting
guidelines include a request for brevity and another for trimming posts to
which we respond. For all of the other tips and suggestions, see "FROM THE
MODERATORS: Posting to misc.invest.financial-plan", a weekly post now on the
Newsgroup.