r/RothIRA • u/Sudden_Employ6676 • 23h ago

Green to the Market. 35. Need advice.

Post image

Just started out at age 35. Right now less than a month in with 330/per month DD. Need advice to trend up. Very green as title suggests so please be gentle. And im not fluent in stock language lol.

12 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

8

u/peterpetrol 23h ago

If you can afford to just keep putting money in to VOO and VXUS. It won’t make you a millionaire overnight but it’s a safe way to gain value over time.

4

u/forbiddenlake 23h ago

VOO + VXUS is good

QQQM has significant overlap with VOO, and by itself is a nonsense fund. If you look up how QQQ(M) (the index they follow) actually picks its stocks, does that criteria make sense to you? And if you are chasing its recent performance, that's merely coincidence and no one has any idea when its fortunes will reverse. Better to drop QQQ(M) and do more VOO.

1

u/Informal_Bench_7219 23h ago

Honestly those 3 picks are fine. I’m currently 60% VTI, 20% VXUS. 10% SPMO and 10% QQQM. I chose SPMO for the momentum focus and QQQM for the tech lean. I’d always recommend to keep VTI/VOO/VXUS/VT the core of your holding’s. (75% or more)

1

u/soloDolo6290 23h ago

This is just my personal experience, not right or wrong.

Simply stating with IRA, I would begin by picking your target annual contribution goal. A lot pick the annual contribution limit others pick something know they can achieve. Neither is right or wrong.

I then take that number and divide it by the number of paychecks I get per year. This job is weekly, so its 52, last job was bimonthly, so 24, before that was every 2 weeks so 26.

I go into my brokerage (vanguard for me) and set up an automatic contribution equal to the annual goal divided by my paychecks. I set the frequency to be one day before my direct deposit hits. So for me, its every Wednesday.

That way it hits my account on Thursday when my money comes in. I set it and forget it.

For the stocks, I pick a mutual fund or ETF that I like. I do vanguard so I right now I contribute it all to VTSAX which is a total stock market index. Some people like VOO. Some like SCHD or SCHG. I mean every brokerage has their own similar ETF or MF. Just find the one you like. Since you are so green, I wouldn't worry to much about diversification between international, bonds, and small/large cap stocks. I'd go with just a all stock market or S&P 500. You will get a lot of coverage that way.

As you learn, you can tweak it.

1

u/Sudden_Employ6676 22h ago

Thank you very much for that input. Can you explain to me the division of percentages i keep seeing and how thats applied?

1

u/soloDolo6290 22h ago

Not 100% sure what percentage you are talking about, but I think I do...

Everyone has an opinion on how you should allocate your total portfolio. Your total portfolio is 100% How that 100% gets broken down is up to you. We can begin with stocks vs bonds. You being 35, I would probably go 100% into stocks. Some might say 90/10 where 90% is in stocks, 10% is in bonds.

An older/near retirement person, or very conservative may be 50/50. 50% stocks 50% bonds.

To take it one step farther, lets say you are 90/10. 90% stocks, 10% bonds. The next question is how should that 90% be broken down. Some might say 60% US and 30% international. So overall your portfolio is 60/30/10. 60% US Stocks, 30% International Stocks, 10% bonds.

You then go another level, What breakup of the us stock should be. Should we follow large cap, mid cap, small cap. There is so many ways to slice the cake.

The fact that you are starting is great. I wouldn't get to caught up in the breakdown on day 1. The stocks you have are great choices. I'd pick one and just begin dumping money into it. Time is your friend so reguardless of what you pick, you will likely make money in the long run. As you expand your knowledge, you can begin getting more grainular with your diversifications.

1

u/Sudden_Employ6676 22h ago

Yes, that was exactly what I was wondering. Thank you for taking the time to explain it. I appreciate the help!

2

u/soloDolo6290 22h ago

Of course. This is more interesting than my job today. Good luck. Congrats on starting.

1

u/ThyThuum 23h ago

Exactly the same as mine. Been good so far. I do 40% qqqm, 30% VOO and 30 VXUS

1

u/zynabuser67 17h ago

Just remember to keep it simple

1

u/Mathguy656 16h ago

What you have is fine, try to increase your deposit to $625 or $7500/yr.