Moving everything into VOO / VTI

[Safire]

OP - I think its easy to overthink tactics and day to day decisions towards a long term goal. Especially in rocky markets. VOO, VTI, RSP, SCHD examples above are all good choices and over a long time don't seem to have big difference in yield. A couple of the debates:
->chasing dividends: Companies paying dividends tend to do so because they are not growing (ATT). Thus, balance of growth and dividend payers is worth considering.
-> U.S. vs Int'l stocks: S&P 500 sales are 65% US and 35% Int'l. For me, that is diversified enough. Has there been an era where Int't was actually better?

Time in the market, investing frequently and living below your means can often yield more results than asset picking for most people.

Learn to use a tool like FireCalc. Doing your own modeling will be much more useful than trying to get feedback in a forum.

Maybe it's my poor vision, and general inability to visualize data - I have had a hard time with FireCalc. I get the point of not chasing dividends. My goal is to grow also esp as my son will likely outlive us by 30 years at least. I don't want to get into paranoia mood because then I get "neutralized" with fear for his security after we're gone. I initially moved towards VOO / VTI because they comprise both dividend paying companies and growth stock. I don't exactly want to invest in individual stock like F or T (which some people I know are doing because they want the dividends). I want both but just don't know how to get it. Maybe it's SAD (Seasonal Depression). If you kind folks can help learn how to use FireCalc or direct me to tutorials I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you!

 

[WhenIsItTime]

Maybe it's my poor vision, and general inability to visualize data - I have had a hard time with FireCalc. I get the point of not chasing dividends. My goal is to grow also esp as my son will likely outlive us by 30 years at least. I don't want to get into paranoia mood because then I get "neutralized" with fear for his security after we're gone. I initially moved towards VOO / VTI because they comprise both dividend paying companies and growth stock. I don't exactly want to invest in individual stock like F or T (which some people I know are doing because they want the dividends). I want both but just don't know how to get it. Maybe it's SAD (Seasonal Depression). If you kind folks can help learn how to use FireCalc or direct me to tutorials I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you!

I have an accounting background that helped learning FireCalc. My questions were eventually resolved reading the small text provided on each page. I ignore some of the more detailed capabilities for simplicity sake and use the higher level variables (required spend, investment starting point, future contributions, asset allocation) for modeling.

You could also consider hiring a Certified Financial Planner on a one-time fee basis to do some modeling for you.

I'll send you a PM.

 

[Exchme]

VOO and VTI are excellent, low cost funds. I prefer VTI as holding the whole market. The typical diversifiers are Total International and Total Bond, so you can do everything you need with just three funds.

Folks just getting started think they need all kinds of other bells and whistles, but deviation from the market cap weighting means you are betting that you know more than the sum of other investors' knowledge. Fat chance that any of us have that, no matter how many confident-sounding posts you see on the internet. So future-you will be glad for you to keep it simple. You are not likely to get outperformance by adding a bunch of complexity, you are likely to underperform and give your future self a headache in managing it.