What should I do with my extra $$?

[oracles]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I would agree with many of the posts above, namely:

-Invest what you can in accounts where you receive a tax advantage such as a Roth IRA and 529 plan

-Take the funds in your IRA and individual brokerage and put the majority in an S&P 500 index fund. I have always been a fan, listen to the recent Planet Money episode (NPR show) where they discuss the bet ($1MM bet) Warren Buffet made that he could outperform any hedge fund in 2008 over a ten year period. They are now 8 years in and Warren is up forty something percent while the hedge fund is up twenty something. 

-Put some funds aside in a liquid online savings account. They don't earn much but it sure is better than a brick and mortar bank. You are far too young to put it all in type of account, follow the rule of 6-8 months of expenses. 

-Check out alternative investments like lending club/prosper for a small portion of the funds. I have been an investor with lending club for about 2 years now and have averaged an 11% return in that time. I have had charged off loans but you know that will happen going in. 

-If you do use an advisor (you can do a lot yourself online, never hurts to educate yourself on the options) definitely seek out a fee based advisor. The advisor I usually recommend actually uses TD Ameritrade for his clients so they hardly pay any fees for trades. 

---

Would you happen to have any suggestions for a S&P 500 index fund or funds?

thanks for some suggestions

[wa3more]

I think Vangard has the reputation for the index fund with the lowest fees.

[jbell255]

Thanks for all the replies! I'll have to read up more on these to get better informed.  My 401k is set up as a target date fund so it's more aggressive right now... should I contribute more than I currently am? (10% plus 3% match) It has averaged around 11% over the last couple of years....

One of my banks is USAA and I really like them for their customer service.  They offer investments as well so I'll give them a call and see what type of offerings they have.... sounds like an index fund has been suggested a couple times here.

[Anonymous]

How close are you on the 401k max out?

[wa3more]

stay away from banks and any investments they may have. Index funds at a discount broker like TD Ameritrade or Fidelity is what you want ?

[oracles]

Are there any particular index fund or funds I should look at and if so do you have the symbol?

thanks for the suggestions

[wa3more]

VFINX is sumbol for vanguard index

[Anonymous]

https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund_portfolio 

This helped me out, it may help you too. Currently I do a two-fund porfolio, and am not investing in bonds. This is due to my relativily young age. The two funds I buy are VTSMX & VGTSX. I imagine at some point I will branch out into a few other funds, but these two will always be my core holdings. 

[Anonymous]

Profit for paying down the mortgage is 4.05% and it is guaranteed. Profit on investments is not guaranteed. Actually it can be a loss like for past 1.5 year indexes/most mutual funds.

[Anonymous]

Looking at average returns for 20 and 30 year time periods for the S&P 500 you'll find it was 11.22% and 11.24% respectively. Will there be times that it will be down/significantly down, of course. But if the OP is in this for the long haul they have the power of time and dollar cost averaging on their side.