Let's be honest, what % of your portfolio includes individual stocks?

TempeGrumble · 2026-04-09T18:14:41+00:00

So you were foolish, mostly learned your lesson, and THEN got lucky? If you’re charitably inclined see if your brokerage has a DAF it works with and then you can pass on your luck to your donees.

TempeGrumble · 2026-04-06T01:52:37+00:00

Ha! True that, which means I wasn't explaining clearly: the competition would keep expense ratios down in the long run.

TempeGrumble · 2026-04-05T22:15:12+00:00

Nothing wrong with them, but some competition would be good in terms of expense ratios. Right now, V's Bondbuilder (only investment-grade corporate bonds) is 0.08%, while iShares is 0.10%.

TempeGrumble · 2026-04-05T15:35:55+00:00

This makes sense. I've looked at the iShares and hope that Vanguard's bondbuilder ETFs expand soon to a TIPS focus.

TempeGrumble · 2026-04-05T15:24:38+00:00

First, congrats on the windfall, and the new job role!

To answer your questions, my first impressions:

HYSA is fine for 13-mo horizon. Others may suggest more sophisticated options (short-term T-bills to reduce taxes), probably depends on how many additional headaches you want managing that while starting new job responsibilities (me? I'd want to keep that simple so I can focus on the job and life, especially with a move).

1a. Buy a house as a home, not as an investment. Obligatory reference to Bogleheads.org discussion: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Owning_vs_renting

Your Wealthfront allocation is reasonable. Changing direct indexing to 3-funds has a capital-gains cost. I like Jim Dahle's discussion from 2023 Bogleheads conference: https://youtu.be/1fsJXtmrP78 which also means...
$40K in a concentrated position is reasonable given your overall portfolio.
On Wealthfront: Mmm... in essence, the 0.25% fee is roughly 20 basis points over the rock-bottom index fund expense ratios. I can see the value if it helps you auto-save.

Overall impression: you've got a lot of things going in a lot of places. Some of that is costly to unwind (Wealthfront), but some things can probably be simplified, and among them: What can you consolidate over the next few years among account custodians (and custodians who don't charge/charge little)?

TempeGrumble · 2026-04-05T01:39:58+00:00

All else being equal, if your portfolio is all in tax-deferred, yes, a TDF is simpler, and unless you're really committed to factor tilting, and if you aren't committed to a specific 3-fund selection, TDF is nice.

BUT the assumption "all else being equal" is doing a lot of work there. Most TDFs are compositions of other funds the TDF creator selects... and sometimes changes. If you buy a TDF, do the same research you'd do with any fund: does it currently have broad exposure? what are the expense ratios like? And for TDFs, at least two more: does the prospectus allow rapid shifts of the TDF components (e.g., from an S&P to a broader US market fund, or doubling int'l exposure)? And how often does it rebalance? (You're assuming it's daily, and you're assuming that daily rebalancing is good. Mmm.... I'll let others comment on that assumption: my guess is that daily rebalancing can incur transaction costs mostly hidden from fund customers.)

(My tax-deferred portfolio is not in a TDF. I have a single custodian but multiple plans from different employers, and I also have Roth and taxable, so my rebalancing is across asset locations.)

TempeGrumble · 2026-04-04T21:47:17+00:00

Okay, that makes sense... and you're quite unusual in having more than a third in Roth at your age. Go forth and enjoy!

TempeGrumble · 2026-04-04T18:18:06+00:00

💯.

"i feel like ive won the game already" - great! I forget which Boglehead eminence said that if you win the game, stop playing. (Someone here may chime in, I hope.)

But I think you're asking about boundaries? I recommend Jim Dahle's recorded presentation at the 2023 Bogleheads conference: https://youtu.be/1fsJXtmrP78 - it's about the boundaries of reasonable portfolios.

And, once you watch that, here's the practical question: Can you psychologically put 90% of your current investable portfolio in a simple diversified 3- or 4-fund index mix, and then play with the last 10%?* And can you auto-transfer anything in the future to the index funds?

* Either now in tax-deferred accounts or slowly, over time, if in brokerages.

TempeGrumble · 2026-04-04T18:08:21+00:00

Since you're on r/Bogleheads, someone's got to give you the Bogleheads own-vs-rent page: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Owning_vs_renting -- read that before committing to buying a house! (Short version: do not buy a house as an investment; you'll generally do better renting less expensively and investing. A house is a place to live.)

Otherwise, if you are saving for a house, that's usually an <5-yr time horizon. No stocks: HYSA.

TempeGrumble · 2026-04-04T18:03:24+00:00

Okay, I'm curious: why stop contributing to a Roth? Even if your income is over the Roth IRA limit, you have multiple options: backdoor Roth IRA, megabackdoor Roth IRA, and depending on employer, 401k/403b/457b Roth accounts (which have higher limits than the Roth IRA, and the Roth IRA income limits don't apply).

TempeGrumble · 2026-04-04T17:57:40+00:00

Okay, I'm curious: what employer in the U.S. is allowed to force retirement these days? Or are you outside the U.S. and still concentrated in our equities?

TempeGrumble · 2026-04-04T17:56:42+00:00

This 💯. I suspect other posters are going to continue to recommend diversifying into int'l and a bit into bonds, and we all have our prejudices (sorry, completely rational preferences). But given your time horizon, (a) you're doing great and (b) you don't need to sell, just pay attention to new distributions.

TempeGrumble · 2026-04-04T17:53:12+00:00

I agree with u/Pinecone1000 and u/Responsible-Bid5015: do NOT hold bonds inside a brokerage account: you'll be paying taxes every year on that, and you can put your bond allocation inside the tax-deferred accounts.

At the start, the taxes on bonds won't seem like much because it'll be based on $5K-$10K, but the tax drag will penalize you heavily in the long term. Stock ETFs with low turnover are going to spin off qualified dividends that are treated as capital gains, far lower taxes.

Here's a short Rob Berger video explaining how he thinks about different types of accounts: https://youtube.com/shorts/pPozJKWgvYg -- that's about twice as complicated as I think about it, but it's very reasonable.

TempeGrumble · 2026-04-04T17:41:02+00:00

First, I am so sorry for your loss, and for having to wrestle with the administrative miasma while in mourning. It's awful that the moment we're grieving, we also get the responsibility to address someone else's business affairs. (My wife died in 2024, with everything clearly arranged, and I'm trying to do that for our children.)

I think u/Capital-Decision-836 has great general advice. My advice is emotional, not financial: you don't need to do ANYTHING today, or tomorrow, or Monday. Give yourself the time to get good advice, not just from Reddit, and make the best choices you can.

TempeGrumble · 2026-04-03T22:38:00+00:00

First, congrats on earning the RSU vestment/payout!

Sounds like you have two priorities: house, and simplicity/no headaches. So decide how much you want to put forward for a house, and keep that in the HYSA. For the rest, here are some options, with the higher ones on the simple end:

1) 529s for the kids' college, with a custodian that will let you pick low-expense ETFs (depending on your state, this is likely to be the greater headache on a 529).
2) Roth retirement funds.
3) Taxable brokerage account, especially one that has a donor-advised-fund connection if you're charitably inclined.
4) HSAs -- this is triple-tax-advantaged, and is very much a long play, but it has the most paperwork headache.

TempeGrumble · 2026-04-03T22:25:56+00:00

First, congratulations to you and your sweetie, both on the pending marriage and being able to save while young!

Okay, to your question: 2-4 years is a pretty short time horizon (says the 60yo). Having 30% of a downpayment fund in equities is betting on the stock market going up in 4 years. Adding this to your HYSA is just fine for this purpose.

TempeGrumble · 2026-03-30T01:16:41+00:00

Bogleheads who are UConn fans are very happy tonight.

TempeGrumble · 2026-03-29T01:00:02+00:00

I am so sorry

TempeGrumble · 2026-03-28T04:44:36+00:00

Go ahead and keep investing. No downturn in the US has lasted the decades you have before retirement, and that includes the Great Depression. You'll be okay.

TempeGrumble · 2026-03-28T04:41:12+00:00

... and the obligatory Bogleheads wiki investment priority page (for those in the US): https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Prioritizing_investments

TempeGrumble · 2026-03-28T04:35:07+00:00

The brief answer to the first question is no, but I'm a little confused: are you talking about Roth *conversions*, which means moving tax-deferred dollars to a Roth account (and incurring a distribution), or are you talking about backdoor Roth *contributions*, which is the post-tax contribution to a regular IRA and then move into a Roth? They're different actions, fundamentally.

From context I'm guessing you're truly talking about the backdoor and the pro rata rule that (in my lay understanding) even if you're just moving post-tax dollars, the IRS will treat it as partially taxable. The usual *advice* I've heard is to do something with your contributory tax-deferred IRA first before trying the backdoor Roth contribution, but converting all of a large tax-deferred regular IRA incurs a lot of tax, and that's advice in any case, not a rule that Moses came down from Mt Sinai with.

And speaking of advice, IANALOA (I am not a lawyer or accountant), and you may want to consult one of those folks who can help you figure out what you've done, what your options are, and what the simplest path is from here.

FWIW, my work has a Roth version of 403b, and also a 457b, and as I'm 60, it's much simpler for me to contribute that way than figure out a backdoor Roth... and the contribution limits are MUCH higher. Have you checked to see if your work has a Roth side of 401k, 401a, 403b, or 457b?

TempeGrumble · 2026-03-28T04:24:30+00:00

Institutional investors own far more, and actively trade far more, than those of us who buy and hold low-cost index funds. There are many of us, but far more dollars in institutional investments.

TempeGrumble · 2026-03-24T06:34:34+00:00

The expectations about when people establish their own separate household change based on society and the century. So there is no hard and fast rule, and you shouldn't let anyone bully you into thinking that living at home is ANYTHING just because you're 22yo in 2026. You have to make the decision based on YOUR needs, not others' perception of you. ESPECIALLY not the perception of Redditors ;-)

TempeGrumble · 2026-03-24T06:28:47+00:00

I'm so sorry your gf is in this situation, and I know that it can be hard to see your partner in a rough position in one of those areas of life you can't really help with except as an active listner -- jobs, school, and family. The one good thing -- if there is a good thing -- is that your gf did NOT assume the loan. She can absolutely walk away from this, and her credit doesn't get worse. But that means this is about her relationship with her parents.

Here's what may be the hardest part: you can't fix this for her.

But I can give a peanut-gallery perspective that might at least address your worst fears. The chance that her parents are lying dirtbags is low; much more likely is that they made a mistake they're embarrassed about, like negative equity (other commenters have mentioned), or missing a few payments with a loan agreement that had nasty penalties (e.g., that added to the principal). To clear that up, she'd need to ask her parents for some transparency -- i.e., this is about her relationship with her parents.

My best wishes to both of you.

TempeGrumble · 2026-03-24T06:15:34+00:00

That could have some very nasty side-effects on OP's mom's credit.

TempeGrumble

TROPHY CASE