Lazy, lazy, Lazy…investing

2009 is over…as are those crazy deals in the stock market.  I’ve never been a fan of buying stocks, but did in 2009, you had to jump in (at least in March)!  I learned my lesson years ago buying crap stock like EMC and watching it dwindle down to nothing.  Lost a ton trying to beat the market and “get rich”.  It was around 2004 that I changed my overall strategy to Dollar Cost Averaging…but still with stocks (and some funds)!  I didn’t know any better, I was a 20-something year old playing in the market without a clue.  Fast-forward to today…today I’m lazy.  I don’t have time to watch the market.  I don’t have the desire to watch the market either.  Friend tells me that blah blah stock jumped up 30%, I say “cool”…I’m buying the entire market anyways, doesn’t matter to me.  I’m lazy in that regard.  I’d rather “set it and forget it” than sit there constantly watching the market, listening to Squack Box and wondering what analyst is going to make or break my dream.  The science shows that lazy investing works, here are the results (via MarketWatch)

Now my approach is going to be similar to The No-Brainer Portfolio from William Bernstein, with a few tweaks:

25% — Vanguard 500 Index (VFINX)
20% — Vanguard Small-Cap Index (NAESX)
20% — Vanguard Total International Stock Index (VGTSX)
20% — Vanguard Total Bond Market Index (VBMFX)
15% — Vanguard Mid-Cap Index (VIMSX)

Basic concept, all low-cost index funds with a 80/20 split between Stocks/Bonds.  Given that I just hit my 30’s I’ll roll with this mix for quite some time.  I’ll update everyone if the mix changes, however I do not see that happening for quite some time.

Anyone else follow a similar approach to investing?  Anyone hate this method?  I’d like to hear both sides!