Another option would be to use a service like sharebuilder, zecco, or other similar ones to build a balanced portfolio from day-one using ETFs. The fees are low (similar to vanguard) and you could buy little bits of each ETF every month to keep your portfolio balanced.

Balanced Index Fund (bonds and large-cap stocks): 33 1/3%
Extended Market Index Fund (mid and small-cap stocks): 33 1/3%
Total International Index Fund: 33 1/3%

Compared to your target breakdown, this is a little heavy on bonds and international stocks, and a little light on small-cap stocks. You can get closer by playing with the weightings a bit, but if you keep the weightings all the same, you can still do your trick of rebalancing automatically by adding your weekly $300 to whichever fund has the smallest balance.

You cannot build a custom home on rural property where I am for $450K right now. Given the fluctuations in the prices of building materials, it’s really hard to say what things might cost in the future, but saving as much as possible for it is always the best policy!

Good luck Trent.

I thought it was a cheap state, think of what 450,000 left invest could grow to, better yet with a bit of carefull with that much you could retire, I’ve read many stories of people who’ve left the workforce in there late 30’s to early 40’s perhaps that would be a better choice than another Mc Mansion

Unforuntately, with investments you are going to be in a pretty high tax bracket.

I love being an accountant :)

I’m glad you have such a solid goal and a plan to achieve it. Nice work.

One thing I wish we’d done differently – built a smaller version of our dream home. Our goal now is to retire early (by age 55 or sooner, we’re 44 now) and it’s abundantly clear that taking care of a 3500 sf house will be tiring and expensive as we age. I love our land so, that I hate to leave it, but we want simplicity more than luxury. As our kids gradually leave home, the house seems bigger. It’s totally possible to build a smaller home comfortable for a family, but small enough to stay in. However, when we move, we’ll have some nice equity to put into our travel fund! Good luck to you!

Simpler Option 1:

Index 500 – 20%
MidCap Index – 20%
SmallCap Index – 20%
European – 10%
Pacific – 10%
Emerging Market – 10%
Total Bond – 10%

Simpler Option 2:

Total Stock Market – 30%
SmallCap Index – 30%
Total International Stock Market – 20%
Emerging Market – 10%
Total Bond – 10%

The second option will not match exactly your 20/20/20 domestic allocation but it’ll be close enough.

Additionally, holding fewer funds with more assets in each fund will can result in lower costs as well. When you have over $100K in a single fund with Vanguard you can convert to Admiral shares, which have significantly lower fees. You can’t do this with $50K in 2 overlapping funds, even though you’re holding essentially the same assets.

I’m also slightly puzzled by the choice of international funds, since two of the international funds (emerging markets and European) are a subset of the third (total international). Why not substitute the Pacific index fund for the total international? I suspect because it looks less attractive based on its performance over the last ten years – which of course has little to do with how it will perform over the next ten years.

And Trent, you might consider the tax implications of a bond find. They are awfully tax inefficient. Also, I wouldn’t liquidate it all at once, but over several weeks/months. You wouldn’t want the market to take a 10% hit right before you’re about to sell.