I'm new here, and pretty new to investing. I am seeking advice about whether I should pull the trigger and invest most of my life savings into a Vanguard account.
I've (34F) been saving money for my whole adult life. I didn't learn much about financial literacy, or anything about investing while growing up, but I've always been the type to save money and have always made decisions to avoid debt whenever possible. I was able to save while working a government job (about ~50-65k salary/year) for 8 years. I've been self-employed making about 60k a year for the last three years, and I have a little over 200k saved.
Since being self-employed, I max out my Fidelity Roth IRA yearly, and I keep my savings in a HYSA. A few months ago, I decided to open a Vanguard account and have invested 20k into some basic ETFs (VTI, BND, VXUS). After some cursory reading and podcast-listening, I know that my time is more valuable than my money and I need to invest whatever isn't part of an emergency fund ASAP in order to make the most of my money + age. But, I am scared! Because of my lack of exposure to investing, my feelings about stocks/the stock market is a general sense of fear and confusion. No one I know is interested in investing or educated about it, and I guess I just need to be told "YES, you should invest 100k+ into Vanguard and let it sit for the next 30+ years."
Any words of wisdom, advice or encouragement are very appreciated. Also, if there are recommendations or resources on the best choices within Vanguard I would direction on that, too.
Thanks!
I've (34F) been saving money for my whole adult life. I didn't learn much about financial literacy, or anything about investing while growing up, but I've always been the type to save money and have always made decisions to avoid debt whenever possible. I was able to save while working a government job (about ~50-65k salary/year) for 8 years. I've been self-employed making about 60k a year for the last three years, and I have a little over 200k saved.
Since being self-employed, I max out my Fidelity Roth IRA yearly, and I keep my savings in a HYSA. A few months ago, I decided to open a Vanguard account and have invested 20k into some basic ETFs (VTI, BND, VXUS). After some cursory reading and podcast-listening, I know that my time is more valuable than my money and I need to invest whatever isn't part of an emergency fund ASAP in order to make the most of my money + age. But, I am scared! Because of my lack of exposure to investing, my feelings about stocks/the stock market is a general sense of fear and confusion. No one I know is interested in investing or educated about it, and I guess I just need to be told "YES, you should invest 100k+ into Vanguard and let it sit for the next 30+ years."
Any words of wisdom, advice or encouragement are very appreciated. Also, if there are recommendations or resources on the best choices within Vanguard I would direction on that, too.
Thanks!
Statistics: Posted by isabelkg — Sat Jan 13, 2024 4:11 pm — Replies 2 — Views 126
