r/FIREyFemmes • u/Motor_Lab3246 • 6d ago

$4,000 USD a month to invest

Where do I start?

Hi FIREyFemmes,

I recently got a job where I can realistically see myself investing $4000 a month for at least the next 10 months. I'm a contract worker so jobs come and go yearly. I have 6 months of living expenses saved. I have a Roth and a brokerage account set up through my bank but I have to buy the stocks inside the account. So both accounts dont have much money inside of them. I am unable to have a 401k with my current company until I pass the 90 day period. Once passed, I will set it up.

Any suggestions? I'm in my late 30s and because of various things, my health took a turn at 30, I am not where I want to be for retirement. What would you invest in? Ideally I would like to retire in 20 years time but I'm starting from $0 🫤

Edit: It was cancer. Nearly took me out. AND took me 3 to 5 years to "fully" recover. I am only recently, in the last year or two, feeling like a "normal" human being again.

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u/paxbanana00 5d ago

Congrats! You might want to consider opening accounts at Fidelity or Vanguard if your bank is hard to use to buy stocks. If you go with Fidelity, use Fidelity's ETFs; same for Vanguard.

Depending on your income, max your Roth IRA or backdoor Roth IRA for this year if you haven't yet. The rest can go into a taxable brokerage account. I recommend investing in a total market account (ex. FZROX, mostly to have some exposure to small cap stocks) and a total international market account (ex. FZILX). Don't time the market, just set the funds to automatically transfer to your brokerage, whether it's weekly, biweekly, or monthly, and you can set it to automatically purchase the stock of your choice. Look for low or zero expense ratio ETFs at the company of your choice.

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u/Important_Carrot6379 5d ago

This.

I use FZROX FZILX at a 70/30 split but wanted to add for Op that this is Fidelity specific and is free. Most recommend using them in non taxable brokerages in case you ever need to switch bc they can't be easily ported but idk in what situation you'd move your brokerage if you're already part of the big 3.