VXUS
Vanguard Total International Stock ETF
stock NASDAQ ETF

Just buy VXUS.. US funds have lower fees anyway.
Convert your money into USD via Norbits Gambit and its basically free

I'm 40, married with 1 child, in NY but aiming to move out in 1-2 yrs. I received $180k inheritance earlier this year, I have it in SGOV for the time being, as a temporary spot. I've been getting roughly $550-$600 ish per month from that. It's safe but I know it can be doing more.
So I'm partially scared to lose this windfall because this is the most money I've ever seen but I also want to grow it for myself and my family. Its bigger than my regular savings overall. Retirement savings are sorta behind but have potential to catch up with my new salary as a nurse.
Some ideas that were suggested to me for the 180k are
1. 80% VOO/20% VXUS
2. SCHD/VOO/VGT
3. Keep 80k in SGOV and 100k in equities.
4. Other notable mentions I keep hearing are JEPI, JEPQ, and O.
What do you guys think? Anything that's qualified dividends would be best I guess right? Because then all you pay are 15% capital gains tax?

I have it in my DNA not to own VXUS. Vanguarders will have you believe it’s a great diversification tool on a long hold. Check out VXUS’s total returns in the past 3, 5 and 10 years to start with. Terrible. You diversify so that your diversification piece actually does well when your main stuff doesn’t as a true alternative. The math doesn’t work here at all. I won’t muddy the page further but there is all kinds of evidence supporting what I indicate just look it up. Far better ways to diversify away from VOO or VTI than that. If you even need to.

Curious as to what y'all are holding and why - especially if it's something out of the ordinary.
We all know about SCHD, DGRO, VYM, and the other mainstream dividend ETFs, as well as the covered call funds like JEPQ/JEPI, and QQQI/SPYI. Let's see if we can't point each other in the direction of something on the path less traveled.
To start - I own TDVI and IGLD.
IGLD is one of the gold funds that also provides income. It doesn't provide as many gains as something like GLD during a run-up but it does provide income. GOLY is a comparable fund but hasn't gained quite as much on a total return basis.
TDVI is a tech focused income fund. In terms of total return it has beaten QQQ/QQQM since its inception. The yield is a bit over 7% so it doesn't quite match QQQI in that regard however, again, in total returns it has done quite nicely.
Both of these have higher than average expense ratios. Are they worth it? In my mind, yes. TDVI in particular has beaten the S&P500 since inception. Its older brother TDIV(creative naming, right?) has as well. In my mind, if something has a higher ER but is a superior product it's worth it. That's part of why I don't own VXUS.
Anyway, looking forward to seeing what y'all have that might be off the beaten track - maybe we can all learn a thing or two.

VTI ETF/ VXUS ETF 85:15 ratio after maxing out 401 k and Roth IRA. 6 months emergency fund in HYSA or T Bills.
Start tracking your annual fixed expenses so you can see how they change over the decades. You will use this information as the basis for your “safe” money allocation in retirement to get you through recessions. Leave the remainder in the well diversified ETFS.
Most importantly, educate yourself so you can handle your own money.
There will be many people who will tell you they can “help you earn more on your investments” but if that were true, they would not need your money, they would make their own.
Financial advisors tell you not to take money out of the market when it is down but the FA certainly takes it out in fees when the market is down.

I’m use VTI/VXUS (and some VEA) and somewhere around 80/20 so I’m light vs my stated IPS allocation but the easiest thing would be 30% VTI and 70% VT…
VT is 62% US so the final would be 73.4% US 26.6% International.

Looks good to me.
I wouldn't sell anything to re allocate, but you can diversify more with new contributions by adding to your positions in AVUV, AVDV, and VXUS

VOO only is a solid strategy that is widely regarded as safe. However it only invests in the top 500 U.S. companies. I personally would not feel comfortable having no international exposure. It also completely neglects smaller U.S. companies and many dividend payers.
You could consider 100% VT which covers essentially every stock in the world if you wanted to “chill” with one holding. Personally I would do something like 50% VTI, 25% VXUS, and 25% SCHD if I wanted a simple but effective portfolio.

Classic 70/20/10 of VTI/VXUS/BND is broad coverage, relatively low risk and will give you good returns. It really depends on what other savings you have, when you want to retire and how risk averse you are.

Up to you. If you are young, BND isnt necessary, but it rly depends on your risk tolerance. Excluding BND, I personally do 80% VTI and 20% VXUS. Some ppl suggest more exposure to the rest of the world, like 30% though.

VOO and VXUS

No. Just do VTI/VXUS/BND.

Lower expenses only matters when comparing two identical funds (like two difference S&P500 funds for example). And even then, Vanguard doesn't have the lowest expenses for a S&P500 fund, Fidelity does.
And with dissimilar funds, going with the lowest fees doesn't mean the highest returns. The mix I suggested has returned 15% more than VTI and VXUS.

Sorry about your Dad.
[https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Managing\_a\_windfall](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Managing_a_windfall)
That should get you started. No need for any particular advisor. $500k is a chuck of money but it doesn't need any different management than $50,000 or even $5mil. Low cost index funds. Invested in the allocation of your choice.
Something like 65/35 VTI/VXUS would be just fine.
Don't do a target date fund in a taxable brokerage.

Your 30% home country bias means that, if the US is your home market and the cap weight is 60% US/40% ex-US, you hold:
90% VTI and 10% VXUS, or
78% VTI and 22% VXUS?
Thanks!

Definitely stick with self-managed low cost ETFs. If you want advice, you can buy a one-time consultation or other flat fee arrangement with a CFP who can teach you about a wise approach. Fidelity’s service is a sales factory to charge you fees for nothing.
Step #1 should be fully funding your emergency fund in a money market or high yield savings account where 4% is currently a good deal for the interest rate. Also pay off any high interest debt you have.
Step #2 is deciding on any cash needs like buying a car or home downpayment. Invest this money conservatively (savings account or bond fund).
Step #3 is investing the remainder in low cost set it and forget it ETFs. VTI and VXUS are Bogleheads favorites to cover US and international markets.
Also, since this money is in a taxable brokerage account, one “hack” available to you once you get a job is to increase contributions to your 401(k) and Roth IRA every year and use this money to help backfill for monthly expenses if your paycheck no longer covers that.

I made the switch to VT, VXUS around the time trumpet took office and I'm currently hitting 10% gains YTD. Not sure if that will continue, but it's working for me after transitioning from 75% VTI and the rest in BND and other funds.

Diversifying Against Risk of Expropriation; Alternatives to VXUS?

You could do VXUS as your majority with some SPY for whatever % of US exposure you desire

Would it make sense at all to buy SCHG in addition to VTI and VXUS? I like Vanguard stuff just for the reliable steady growth aspect. It appears SCHG is a little more volatile but still pretty safe. What do you think?