Vanguard options

After being a single guy and blowing my 401-k savings (that's a whole
other story) I'm now married with a child on the way and have started
back in my 401-k. I have at least 20 years till retirement and have
very little savings so I'm willing to go all stock to try to catch up.
My main options are Vanguard funds. right now i'm 25% in each of the
following:

Lord Abbett Small Cap Value
Vanguard life strategy Growth
Dodge and Cox Stock
Templeton Emerging Markets

I was thinking of replacing one of these with or adding the Vanguard
S&P 500 fund to hopefully catch an upwave on the overall market, as i
did 10 years ago.
Here is my overall choice of funds. Any thoughts on allocation
suggestions would be appreciated.

Bond Funds
Dodge & Cox Income %

Balanced Funds (Stocks and Bonds)
Vanguard Asset Allocation Fund Inv %
Vanguard LifeStrategy Consrv Grwth %
Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund %
Vanguard LifeStrategy Income Fund %
Vanguard LifeStrategy Mod Growth %

Domestic Stock Funds
Dodge & Cox Stock %
Lord Abbett Small-Cap Value Y %
Putnam New Opportunities A %
Russell Equity Fund %
Vanguard 500 Index Fund Inv %
Vanguard Capital Opportunity Inv %

International Stock Funds
Templeton Instl Emerging Markets %
Vanguard International Growth Inv

Re: Vanguard options

I would stay away from the loaded funds. They can take a bite out of your
potential savings 20 years from now. I would also go for stocks rather than
bonds since you have a lot of catching-up to do. Small cap, international,
growth.
"nunnsuch" <> wrote in message
news:
> After being a single guy and blowing my 401-k savings (that's a whole
> other story) I'm now married with a child on the way and have started
> back in my 401-k. I have at least 20 years till retirement and have
> very little savings so I'm willing to go all stock to try to catch up.
> My main options are Vanguard funds. right now i'm 25% in each of the
> following:
>
> Lord Abbett Small Cap Value
> Vanguard life strategy Growth
> Dodge and Cox Stock
> Templeton Emerging Markets
>
> I was thinking of replacing one of these with or adding the Vanguard
> S&P 500 fund to hopefully catch an upwave on the overall market, as i
> did 10 years ago.
> Here is my overall choice of funds. Any thoughts on allocation
> suggestions would be appreciated.
>
> Bond Funds
> Dodge & Cox Income %
>
> Balanced Funds (Stocks and Bonds)
> Vanguard Asset Allocation Fund Inv %
> Vanguard LifeStrategy Consrv Grwth %
> Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund %
> Vanguard LifeStrategy Income Fund %
> Vanguard LifeStrategy Mod Growth %
>
> Domestic Stock Funds
> Dodge & Cox Stock %
> Lord Abbett Small-Cap Value Y %
> Putnam New Opportunities A %
> Russell Equity Fund %
> Vanguard 500 Index Fund Inv %
> Vanguard Capital Opportunity Inv %
>
> International Stock Funds
> Templeton Instl Emerging Markets %
> Vanguard International Growth Inv
>

Re: Vanguard options

I don't exclusively do Vanguard, but did look at your international
offerings. I took a couple international funds for comparison and came
up with less immediate volatility - smoother expectancy, with gain or
losses less pronounced. A mote point when switching over to the long
haul, where TEEMX stands out -- I like and noted that. I do not like
VWIGX any more than ANGLX, especially, either, though the two are
closest to an institutional objective; the lower risk on TAVIX, apart
from its objective, I like for sustained growth by comparison within
larger caps. A 25% diversity setpoint for international exposure seems
somewhat arbitrary.



nunnsuch wrote:
> My main options are Vanguard funds. right now i'm 25% in each of the
> following:
>
> International Stock Funds
> Templeton Instl Emerging Markets %
> Vanguard International Growth Inv

Re: Vanguard options

the best 5 funds here to ME appear to be:

Templeton Emerging Markets Stock international- small cap)
Vanguard International Growth (international-large cap)
Vanguard 500 (US-large cap)
Vanguard Capital Opportunity (US-mid cap)
Dodge and Cox Stock (US- value)

A diversified approach could use

45% Vanguard 500
25% Vanguard Capital Oppotunity
20% Vanguard international
10% Templeton Emerging Markets

many issues with this set of selections- not enough small cap and 45%
Vanguard 500 might be too much (too much for my taste, but alternatives
not appealing to me).

I own Vanguard 500 in my 401k. I choose not to use Vanguard
International Growth (I use International Value), and the lifestrategy
funds are not suited for myself.

Re: Vanguard options

If you have the time to be a little more systematic in your
allocations, then first settle upon what percent you want in
small cap, large cap, international (non-emerging),
international emerging, bonds, etc. If you need ideas for
this, experiment with some of the many free online
allocation tools available. This issue comes up so much that
I listed several at a web site:


Once you have identified a target allocation, then pick your
funds accordingly. I am assuming you know how to use, say,
Morningstar.com and vanguard.com, to tell you the breakdown
of specific funds.

I am assuming you know how to prioritize your retirement
savings as well and are aware of general guidelines such as:

First, max out the allowed matching contribution to your
401(k)
Second, max out your Roth IRA contributions.
Third, resume contributing to reach the max for your 401(k).

You may also want to repeat your question at the newsgroup
misc.invest.financial-plan. It is moderated so some of the
lowbrow jokers who post here don't get through, and
discussion is more serious.

"nunnsuch" <> wrote
> After being a single guy and blowing my 401-k savings
(that's a whole
> other story) I'm now married with a child on the way and
have started
> back in my 401-k. I have at least 20 years till retirement
and have
> very little savings so I'm willing to go all stock to try
to catch up.
> My main options are Vanguard funds.

Re: Vanguard options

"Elle" <> wrote in message
news:4jmif.4299$

>
> I am assuming

ASSUME - make an ass out of U and ME

Re: Vanguard options

Hi nunnsuch,

Congratulations on making a wise move. Vanguard funds are some of the
best and cheapest, particularly their index funds.

First off, think about starting a Roth IRA in addition to your 401(k).
The rule of thumb is to make SURE you capture any company match, then
fund your Roth for the year and then increase your 401.

With the Roth, deal directly with any of the major noload families, but
with your 401 mainly Vanguard, I'd suggest TRowePrice for the Roth.

As for Vanguard and your 401. STOP buying loaded funds. Just STOP.
Vanguard has plenty of options that are much cheaper.

Lifetime Strategies Growth VASGX is a great core holding. I'd round it
out with your Dodge and Cox DODGX, add Vanguard Extended Mkt Index
VEXMX, and add both their Pacifc Index VPACX and Emerging Mkt Indx
VEIEX.

For percentages, I'd go with 30/20/20/15/15. I'd ride this allocation
for a couple of years and see how it goes.

best,

rono

Re: Vanguard options

"Elle" <> wrote in news:4jmif.4299$aA2.2894
@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net:

> You may also want to repeat your question at the newsgroup
> misc.invest.financial-plan. It is moderated so some of the
> lowbrow jokers who post here don't get through, and
> discussion is more serious.

thanks for the pointer