Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
so what , fidelity has so many funds plus index funds to compare to . i don't want to go cherry picking and trying to find a couple of funds that bucked the trend . i want to see overall how internationals did as a group and they s-u-c-k-ed. there was no added value at all for at least the 15 years i can look at .
my goal for this particular retirement account is very simple... grow. If the market grows at 6% a year overall I will be happy. Those have been the numbers I have been applying. So trying to beat or outsmart the market is not exactly what I am after... if happened great but not my main focus.
my goal for this particular retirement account is very simple... grow. If the market grows at 6% a year overall I will be happy. Those have been the numbers I have been applying. So trying to beat or outsmart the market is not exactly what I am after... if happened great but not my main focus.
i was going to say before, based on the OP's experience and my read on his preference, i think a single diverse etf (whether it be IVV or ITOT or something similar) would work. i dont think he is looking to season anything or deal with international etf's. just one thing that will basically move with the market.
my goal for this particular retirement account is very simple... grow. If the market grows at 6% a year overall I will be happy. Those have been the numbers I have been applying. So trying to beat or outsmart the market is not exactly what I am after... if happened great but not my main focus.
Okay, so you are not interested in bonds, and you do not wish to "outsmart" the market. Why would you buy anything other than a total market equity index fund??
For this account, this Roth IRA, will be my first venture into anything remotely hands on in the market. Im looking to take it slow, max out the yearly but have a strong base as I learn how to get more and more into it. It is mid year and looking to get in the $5500 by years end but don't want to just toss anything in there and regret it later. Mentioned earlier in the thread, I will be opening a second different account probably next year where I get even more into the market. Could I do a total market fund, sure, and would probably be easier, but I want to have abit of fun also.
Keep in mind that total market funds rarely do much better than an s&p fund .
The reason is because a total market fund is only 10% mid caps and 10 % small caps .
But historically value has done better than growth with only a few exceptions . Out of the 10% in these market segments 7% is growth and only 3% value .
Growth typically has under performed the s&p so for most of history the small and mid cap growth portion did worse than the s&p offsetting any alpha value added
Backtesting will tell us what worked well in the past, and that is all. Sometimes it will steer you in the wrong direction, so be careful.
If you want to be aggressive, I'll suggest tilting your allocation more heavily in whatever has done poorly (in a relative sense) over the past several years. It could be large growth, small value, etc. This is a contrarian strategy, which I consider more aggressive than just a plain market-weighted portfolio. With that said, I personally don't think it's necessary to own international equities. We are living in a world economy today, with most large companies being international in character.
This is very good advice. With that said, I'm a huge believer in constructing a diversified portfolio and leaving it that way, unless you have reason to change, such a top portfolio manager retiring or leaving.
Keep in mind that total market funds rarely do much better than an s&p fund .
The reason is because a total market fund is only 10% mid caps and 10 % small caps .
But historically value has done better than growth with only a few exceptions . Out of the 10% in these market segments 7% is growth and only 3% value .
Growth typically has under performed the s&p so for most of history the small and mid cap growth portion did worse than the s&p offsetting any alpha value added
Keep in mind this may be true for indexes, but there are individual small cap and mid cap growth funds that have outperformed the the s&p. I will not invest in a small and mid cap growth fund that does not have a track record of outperforming the s&p. I'm up almost double the s&p ytd. These same funds (many of which are closed) have outperformed the s&p significantly over the last 1,3,5,& 10 year periods. Of course, the past does not guarantee the future.
Okay, so you are not interested in bonds, and you do not wish to "outsmart" the market. Why would you buy anything other than a total market equity index fund??
This is more good advice, but make sure you have some international small cap and emerging markets exposure.
For this account, this Roth IRA, will be my first venture into anything remotely hands on in the market. Im looking to take it slow, max out the yearly but have a strong base as I learn how to get more and more into it. It is mid year and looking to get in the $5500 by years end but don't want to just toss anything in there and regret it later. Mentioned earlier in the thread, I will be opening a second different account probably next year where I get even more into the market. Could I do a total market fund, sure, and would probably be easier, but I want to have abit of fun also.
No offense, but I'm a little confused with this thread. The title includes the word "aggressive", but then you mention 6% long-term returns. You also say you don't care to try and outsmart the market, but you do want to have some fun by owning a few different ETFs.
I'm not a fan of strict indexing, but a lot of people are and there are certainly worse ways to invest your money. Indexing seems to be your preference, so here is how I see things from that perspective. Obviously one approach is to just buy the total index fund and be done with it all. Alternatively, you could tilt your portfolio in a particular direction for the long term because history or your own intuition says that tilt will give some advantage. For example, some believe that small value is a particularly good asset class, so they might put half of their assets in the S&P500 and the other half in SV, then rebalance to keep it 50/50. I particularly don't see any point to funds being added in small amounts as if they are condiments. A dash of emerging markets here, and a pinch of small growth over there. IMO if you are going to tilt your portfolio, do it with some conviction. Otherwise be content with the market index.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
