Taxable investment account established

Today I opened up a joint taxable investment account through Vanguard with an initial deposit of $10,000 to be invested in Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares (VTSMX). Since we are already taking full advantage of our tax-advantaged savings (Roth IRAs, 401ks and HSA) and all of our “bad debt" is now fully paid down, this was the next logical step in our journey toward achieving financial independence.

In the next few weeks we’ll be restructuring our investment portfolio to a more "slice-n-dice" setup using an asset allocation that is more aligned with our goals and risk tolerances. Right now we’re essentially 100% invested in Target Retirement 2045 Fund (VTIVX) which has served us well up to this point. The plan is to adjust our allocation to the following:

• 40% TSM - Taxable, Husband's 401k ($44,000)
• 30% Foreign - Roths ($33,000)
• 20% Bonds - Husband's 401k ($22,000)
• 10% REIT - Roths ($11,000)

You’ll notice that the wife’s 401k isn’t included above. That’s because the options she has outside of the Target Retirement funds are quite expensive, so we’ll stick with the Target Retirement 2045 for this account for the time being.