One fund portfolio

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BirdMan 1
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One fund portfolio

Post by BirdMan 1 »

Hello Bogelheads,after reading all of Mr Bogel books and watching a lot of his videos he suggests no international funds or no more than 20 %. He seems to like VBIAX (balance index fund). My question is, should I put all of my traditional IRA into the Vanguard balanced index fund like Mr. Bogel has suggested? I plan on using this fund into retirement and making monthly withdrawals from it. I am 59 years old and wanting to invest in a one fund portfolio from now and into retirement.
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David Jay
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Re: One fund portfolio

Post by David Jay »

Welcome to the forum!

There is a very long thread on the concept of the "one fund portfolio" that you may enjoy reading, link: viewtopic.php?t=287967

I am 64 and I have a one-fund portfolio. I have chosen a LifeStrategy fund because I want international diversification, but your selection of the balanced index fund is great for those who do not wish to hold international.
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tomd37
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Re: One fund portfolio

Post by tomd37 »

As an older retiree in my mid-80s I have posted about going to a one fund portfolio in order to simply things for me now and for my wife later if I pass first. The main reason I have not done so is that a one fund portfolio cannot be adjusted if I want to adjust the allocation for any reason. I am currently at an allocation of 40/60 but for some reason in the future I might want to adjust that either way. Can't do that with a one fund portfolio. My current allocation uses Total Stock Market Index (VTSAX) and Intermediate-Term Bond Index (VBILX). I too find no need or desire for international stocks or international bonds and am happy with my allocation without them.
Tom D.
Mike Scott
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Re: One fund portfolio

Post by Mike Scott »

Is the same fund available in all the different accounts you have? If not, you may or may not be able to do it with one single fund.
dru808
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Re: One fund portfolio

Post by dru808 »

Mike Scott wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 7:52 pm Is the same fund available in all the different accounts you have? If not, you may or may not be able to do it with one single fund.
He asks about his tira.
1 fund
cegibbs
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Re: One fund portfolio

Post by cegibbs »

Vanguard Wellington is another great option in my opinion
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ruralavalon
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Re: One fund portfolio

Post by ruralavalon »

BirdMan 1 wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 7:02 pm Hello Bogelheads,after reading all of Mr Bogel books and watching a lot of his videos he suggests no international funds or no more than 20 %. He seems to like VBIAX (balance index fund). My question is, should I put all of my traditional IRA into the Vanguard balanced index fund like Mr. Bogel has suggested? I plan on using this fund into retirement and making monthly withdrawals from it. I am 59 years old and wanting to invest in a one fund portfolio from now and into retirement.
Do you have other accounts in addition to your traditional IRA?

I am age 76, retired 10 years, no pension or annuity. My wife has no interest in managing investments if something should happen to me. We plan (probably next Spring) on switching to a one-fund portfolio using Vanguard Balanced Index Fund (VBIAX) in all tax-advantaged accounts.
"Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler." - Albert Einstein | Wiki article link: Bogleheads® investment philosophy
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Brianmcg321
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Re: One fund portfolio

Post by Brianmcg321 »

BirdMan 1 wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 7:02 pm Hello Bogelheads,after reading all of Mr Bogel books and watching a lot of his videos he suggests no international funds or no more than 20 %. He seems to like VBIAX (balance index fund). My question is, should I put all of my traditional IRA into the Vanguard balanced index fund like Mr. Bogel has suggested? I plan on using this fund into retirement and making monthly withdrawals from it. I am 59 years old and wanting to invest in a one fund portfolio from now and into retirement.
I have often thought about doing this. But not sure if there is enough downside protection for me when I retire. When I compare to other risk parity portfolios I'm leaning towards something like that. However, It sure would make things really simple for my wife if something were to happen to me, and she wouldn't have to deal with multiple funds.
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Wiggums
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Re: One fund portfolio

Post by Wiggums »

A single balanced index fund or single fund of funds approach is fine. The two negatives are: not tax optimal and to change AA, you will likely add another fund in taxable.

My DW likes that transfer in, transfer out is easy. Not too costly in ER to have the broker do the work. :-)
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dbr
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Re: One fund portfolio

Post by dbr »

Before moving too fast be sure you know what asset allocation you want and also where all your assets are located for tax efficiency. There are a number of stock and bond combined funds at Vanguard that are very good.

If all your assets are in the IRA and you don't have a strong preference for asset allocation (60/40) or holding international equities Mr. Bogle's suggestion is fine.
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BirdMan 1
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Re: One fund portfolio

Post by BirdMan 1 »

Thanks everyone.... I'm new here and trying to learn as much as possible, just rolled over my traditional IRA from Edward Jones into vanguard and trying to make the best decision. Total IRA is over 500k
Explorer
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Re: One fund portfolio

Post by Explorer »

I have considered one fund, but chose to go with two instead - just for the flexibility in rebalancing.
nanosour
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Re: One fund portfolio

Post by nanosour »

I have managed our 3-fund portfolio for the past 8+ years keeping the standard 40/40/20 allocation across VTSAX, VBTLX, and VTIAX in 5 VG accounts; four of which were IRAs. I've been very happy with the performance of this portfolio as we've returned a CAGR of just over 9% for the entire time.

I just recently moved everything to VBIAX in order to simplify for the wife as we both move to the decumulation phase of retirement. I use to rebalance to keep the 40/40/20 allocation each time I added to the accounts, but now I'm gonna pay the VBIAX managers to handle that and just set up a monthly transfer to checking out of a single fund. I figure they have a better pulse of the market and economy than I do and any stock weighting of 50-70% is fine with me. It's a great Boglehead solution to put our finances on autopilot.
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ruralavalon
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Re: One fund portfolio

Post by ruralavalon »

Congratulations on escaping from Edward Jones :) .

BirdMan 1 wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 8:52 pm Thanks everyone.... I'm new here and trying to learn as much as possible, just rolled over my traditional IRA from Edward Jones into vanguard and trying to make the best decision. Total IRA is over 500k
To learn the basics you could read Dr. Bernstein's free, short, pdf book "If You Can", and the wiki article "Bogleheads® investment philosophy", the link I give below.

I suggest that you also read one of two good books on investing, wiki article "Book recommendations and reviews"

Do you have any other accounts? It's often best to coordinate investments among all of your accounts.

You could get more comprehensive suggestions if you posted your financial information like this: "Asking Portfolio Questions".
"Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler." - Albert Einstein | Wiki article link: Bogleheads® investment philosophy
mtwhmemn
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Re: One fund portfolio

Post by mtwhmemn »

nanosour wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 10:38 pm I have managed our 3-fund portfolio for the past 8+ years keeping the standard 40/40/20 allocation across VTSAX, VBTLX, and VTIAX in 5 VG accounts; four of which were IRAs. I've been very happy with the performance of this portfolio as we've returned a CAGR of just over 9% for the entire time.

I just recently moved everything to VBIAX in order to simplify for the wife as we both move to the decumulation phase of retirement. I use to rebalance to keep the 40/40/20 allocation each time I added to the accounts, but now I'm gonna pay the VBIAX managers to handle that and just set up a monthly transfer to checking out of a single fund. I figure they have a better pulse of the market and economy than I do and any stock weighting of 50-70% is fine with me. It's a great Boglehead solution to put our finances on autopilot.
We have been doing almost the exact thing as you with the same 3-funds with the same results. I'm curious what was your thinking in getting rid of the VTIAX component when going all in on VBIAX?
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LadyGeek
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Re: One fund portfolio

Post by LadyGeek »

coffeeblack has a question which I've moved into a new thread. See: [Want to change asset allocation in taxable account]

(Thanks to the member who reported the post and explained what's wrong.)
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nanosour
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Re: One fund portfolio

Post by nanosour »

mtwhmemn wrote: Wed Dec 01, 2021 2:51 pm
We have been doing almost the exact thing as you with the same 3-funds with the same results. I'm curious what was your thinking in getting rid of the VTIAX component when going all in on VBIAX?
I figured most large-cap US stocks are in fact multinational companies with operations all over the globe, particularly the developed world. So the international part of asset allocation is sufficiently covered in my estimation. Top 10 holdings of VBIAX are:

MSFT
AAPL
AMZN
TSLA
GOOG
GOOG
FB
NVDA
JPM
BRK

Accounts for over 14% of portfolio and all are multinational.
mtwhmemn
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Re: One fund portfolio

Post by mtwhmemn »

nanosour wrote: Thu Dec 02, 2021 9:34 am
mtwhmemn wrote: Wed Dec 01, 2021 2:51 pm
We have been doing almost the exact thing as you with the same 3-funds with the same results. I'm curious what was your thinking in getting rid of the VTIAX component when going all in on VBIAX?
I figured most large-cap US stocks are in fact multinational companies with operations all over the globe, particularly the developed world. So the international part of asset allocation is sufficiently covered in my estimation. Top 10 holdings of VBIAX are:

MSFT
AAPL
AMZN
TSLA
GOOG
GOOG
FB
NVDA
JPM
BRK

Accounts for over 14% of portfolio and all are multinational.
so my question leads to another question for the group...if one uses the classic "3 fund" @ 60/40 with ~20% in VTIAX, how much is actually international (non US)? Hmmm
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