Last year, around this time, I asked readers to invest my money. I’ve decided to turn this into an annual post – at least as long as I qualify for a Roth IRA.
Requisite Financial Background:
- I have $4000 from my 2007 Roth IRA to invest. I know I should have my 2008 contribution to invest as well, but I’m still scraping up that money.
- I do believe in a good asset allocation. I currently have 1/4th of my Roth IRA money in Vanguard Small-Cap (Ticker: VB), 1/4th in Vanguard Total Stock Market (Ticker: VTI), 1/4th in iShares MSCI EAFE Index Fund (Ticker: EFA), 1/8th in Vanguard Health Care ETF (Ticker: VHT), and 1/8th in Technology SPDR (Ticker: XLK)
- For this exercise don’t consider other retirement accounts (assume they are diversified). Also assume that as this is a Roth IRA that I plan to leave this money for 30+ years (I’m 32).
- I have my money in a TD Ameritrade account, where I pay a $10 commission for each trade. I obviously want to keep my trades down. At some point, I hope to move this money to a Zecco account so that I can trade without paying commissions – just a $30 annual cost.
What I’m looking for:
- An ETF – I don’t mind mutual funds, but I like ETFs better for this brokerage account. I really feel more comfortable with stocks. I’m not looking for a stock, I don’t feel that it fits my diversified policy
- Low expenses – For the most part, I’ve kept expenses down. I’d like to keep it that way.
- Something of a good value – I’m not much of a growth investor. I currently favor a sector that is down and out, but not a buggy whip that might never rebound. This isn’t a hard and fast rule, but it’s a preference.
- A Standard Investment – I’m not looking to buy options or sell calls. I don’t have enough experience in these kinds of investments to be comfortable with them.
Just to be sure, I won’t invest in just anything that people comment back with. However, last year I did end up going with the suggestions that people had given (even though I was already thinking in that direction).