Exposed!! Investing… What Companies Should I Buy? All of Them!
Investing is personal. And psychologically speaking, there can be Lots of Issues when it comes to investing.
Investing can be difficult to start, continue, or stop. But where to put your hard earned money? You don’t want to lose it! You want to make it big! And the money you put in could be used for so many other things. But you, as a reader of this blog, think unconventionally, are deliberate with your time and your money, and realize that every dollar you put in doubles in (approximately) 7 years. That’s definitely better than stuffing it in your mattress, or buying a big ol’ 4×4 truck.
But what exactly are we talking about here?
We’re talking about being business owners! But hold on, you say, I don’t quite get it. Why would I put my hard earned money in something I don’t quite understand? Or maybe you are Wall-Street-Secret-Day-Trader-That-Can-Beat-the-Market (News Flash – you can’t). Or maybe you do understand the system, and thus you don’t need to read any further. Either way, I want to send out to the universe that investing in the stock market (businesses of the world) is something everyone can and should do for their future selves.
So what’s a person to do? What should you buy? Where do you start?
Plan A: Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Admiral Shares (VTSAX)
This is the easiest, simplest, no-nonsense, don’t-need-to-think-about-it, make-your-future-self-a-badass, option there is. You need $3000 to start.
- Open an account at Vanguard.com.
- Buy the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Admiral Shares (VTSAX) . Costs 0.04% (that’s really low!) with a 14.04% return over 10 years.
- Set up automatic investment straight from your checking account.
Congratulations, you are now a business owner of nearly 3,600 companies!
This option gives yourself the gift of time, less stress, and the knowledge that you are making your future self into a financial beast.
Plan B: Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI)
If you don’t have $3000 right now, you can still participate, albeit with a little more work on your end.
- Open an account at Vanguard.com
- Transfer your first amount of money.
- When you have enough money to buy one share (at the time of this writing, it’s $192.12 per share), manually go in and buy Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF.
- Keep transferring in money till you have enough for another share. Buy that. Repeat.
VTI costs 0.03% (even lower!), had a 14.04% return over 10 years, and enables you to own nearly 3,600 pipe hitting US companies!
Congrats, you’re now a business owner of some great American Companies!
Plan C: Fidelity Total Market Index Fund (FSKAX)
Now, if you’re broke, or if you only have $5 extra every month, and you want to start NOW, you can still set your future self up to be a bad mo’fracky.
- Go to Fidelity and open an account.
- Start buying Fidelity Total Market Index Fund (FSKAX). You can add any amount you want. $5 or $500 dollars. FSKAX costs 0.015% has a return of 14% over 10 years.
Fair Warning: Fidelity is like COSTCO. There are some great deals (FSKAX being one of them) but sometimes you walk out with a giant tub of spicy popcorn that no one will eat, 200 rolls of toilet paper, a jumbo pack of fuzzy socks… and that nagging feeling when you’re loading up your giant SUV that you’ve spent way too much money on stuff you don’t really need (SUV included).
Plan D: Betterment, or some other Brokerage Firm
Now Betterment is a great concept if you want to get a complete spread of the ENTIRE market…. US & International. I used it, but really just as an experiment. A post for another time. If you go the Betterment route, you’ve got some superstar computer financial wonders helping you out. For the fee of 0.25% (fair cost for their service, maybe?…), plus the fee of the Funds they buy for you, you get a robo-advisor that automatically balances your account, tax harvests, and generally does a kick ass job. Guess what funds they buy? Vanguard. Go figure! There is no minimum amount to get started. Recommend you go all in on stocks… don’t buy bonds*… and you’ll get a spread of:
Here’s the Thing:
Whatever you do, just start.
Become a business owner of some of the best companies in the US and the world! Let those companies work for you while you sit back and enjoy the ride!
*When and Why You Should Hold Bonds is a post for another time!