The Simple Three Fund Portfolio at Vanguard

Investing is easier than it looks. In this post, I’m going to give very simple steps you can take to start investing including where, how much and what to invest in. Investing in this way has returned around 7% a year over the last century using only a three fund portfolio.

This post is somewhat opinionated in the investing method mentioned here. It’s similar advice to what you’d read in books like The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing, or other diversification strategies, but the specific actions are listed here to give a framework for those new to investing.

Step 1: Save Up & Payoff Debt

The first step is to save up 3-6 months of your living expenses in a savings or checking account. In Which Investment Accounts Should I Use?, I mentioned this as the very first place to save money.

The next step is going to be to pay off your high-interest debt — namely credit cards. If you’re looking to invest and earn 7% a year, it doesn’t make sense to do it if you’re paying 15% in credit card interest. Take care of any debts above 7% first.

Step 2: Save Up to Start an Account

Build on that emergency fund with another $3,000 in savings. This is an important number for Vanguard since this is the point where you can open an account with most funds there.

Step 3: Open a Vanguard Account

Once you have this amount, head over to Vanguard and open account, linking your bank account. This process will take a few days, since Vanguard will make some deposits of a few cents into your account, and you’ll need to verify them. Once that’s done you’ll be able to invest within your new account!

Step 4: Make a “Buy” from your Vanguard Account

When your Vanguard account is created, and connected with your bank account, head over to the page to “Buy” Vanguard funds.

Then choose “Vanguard Funds” from the list of options.

Step 5: Choose Your Three Fund Portfolio

This is probably the hardest part. I’m going to make it easy and list out the 3 major funds that I focus on within Vanguard.

Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Admiral or Investor Shares – $VTSAX

According to Marketwatch, this is the 2nd largest fund in the world. Investing in this fund means you’re actually investing in 3,606 different companies (at the time I’m writing this). This fund is focused on companies here in the US. The US has the longest history of growth in its stock market, and it makes sense for this to be your largest investment.

Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund Admiral Shares – $VTIAX

There’s a lot of worlds out there beyond the US, and you don’t want all of your eggs in that basket. If the US goes into a recession, it’s important to hedge your bets by diversifying with other countries. This fund invests 44% in Europe, 30% in Asian/Pacific, 20% in Emerging Markets (Africa, India, others).

A Bond Fund

Which bond fund I recommend you go with will depend on what type of Vanguard account you have. If it’s a retirement account, in an IRA, a Roth IRA or a 401k, I’d recommend Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund Admiral Shares, $VBTLX. If this is in a brokerage account, it could help to read about my article on how to choose between accounts to better understand why I’d recommend Vanguard Intermediate-Term Tax-Exempt Fund Investor Shares, $VWITX, instead. The idea is that this fund would result in fewer taxes for you every year — an important thing to keep in mind.

Step 6: Choose How Much

When it comes to how much of each, some people will recommend 0% in bonds, while others will recommend “your age %” in bonds. I tend to go somewhere in the middle and stick to around 20% bonds. That additional diversification means less variance in my portfolio and adds a bit more stability. Others wanting to maximize growth, and able to withstand large down periods (like 2008) could go 0% bonds, but that’s not me.

The amount between US Stock Market and International is up to you. I tend to prefer US Markets slightly, due to their record of growth. Here’s what I’d recommend the mix to be between these 3 stocks:

Choose a percentage that works for you and click buy! In a few days, the transaction will be finalized and you’ll be able to view your investments from your Vanguard account.

Why Vanguard?

There are many places you can put your money – Fidelity, RobinHood, ScottTrade, E-Trade and dozens and dozens more. The reason I recommend Vanguard is because Vanguard is investor-owned. People who have investments in Vanguard fund the Vanguard business. This allows them to be autonomous and answer to their customers first rather than shareholders first.

Fidelity and all the others are public or privately held companies with an obligation to their shareholders. This difference means that they will never be able to beat Vanguard in fees since they will need to make a profit at the end of the day.

Mutual Funds vs ETFs

As a side note, Mutual Funds the way I go on Vanguard. From a fee standpoint, they’re both similar when you’re buying the fund from Vanguard. ETFs are actually slightly cheaper when you’re buying under $10,000 in any given fund (what Vanguard calls “Investor Shares”). Above $10,000 Vanguard has “Admiral Shares” for Mutual funds, which have the same fees as ETFs. ETFs are like stocks and can be traded at any time throughout the day. Mutual funds are priced once at the end of the day, and trades for them occur during off hours at the end of day price. Vanguard has a good write up the differences between mutual funds and ETFs.

Why Not A Target Retirement Fund?

Vanguard also offers these really great “Target Retirement Fund” Mutual Funds — for example Vanguard Target Retirement 2025 Fund, $VTTVX. If you look at what this is invested in, it’s almost exactly the same as the 3-fund portfolio! It’s actually a 4 fund one — with the 4th being international bonds. This fund will change its underlying assets over time with the idea that by 2025 it’ll be in “entering retirement” mode — highly shifted to bonds.

If you want to go this route, it’s actually not a bad idea. There are some downsides though. The Vanguard Fees will be slightly higher. The turnover within the fund will be higher (meaning that the underlying assets are being sold more often – resulting in more taxes for you). You can’t change your percentage of bonds vs international vs US stocks – you can only rely on them for that. The “target dates” get more and more conservative, while I’d likely maintain a 20% bond rate into retirement.

Take Action!

This post isn’t an ad for Vanguard, although it does look like it. As I mentioned, Vanguard is owned by its investors (those who own Vanguard Funds), so I’m not getting anything out of it, other than knowing that your money is in good hands.

If this post has been interesting, and you’d like to learn why I recommend Vanguard and these three specific funds, I’ve created a free 10-week Minimal Investor Course which helps teach the basics of investing — diversification, fees, asset allocation, taxes, and more. If you’re looking to become an informed investor, I’d encourage you to check it out.