https://www.facebook.com/794954793691187/

Simon Saves, Alexandria, MN (2026)

08/11/2026

Do we need to FEAR volatility? Part 2

Part 1 brought the page 130+ followers and counting. 🤯🤯 part 2 is going to be even better.

It encompasses the 1999 to 2025 time frame.

5 funds. Actual returns.

VWELX contains 34% bonds.

There’s a middle of the road mutual fund.

An S&P500 fund.

And 2 tech heavy funds. (One is 100% tech)

Starting balance will be 20,000.

Will slow and steady win the race? Will the .com bubble and global crisis leave the tech funds too depleted to catch up?

Let’s see how all 5 funds handle “The Lost Decade”…

I honestly don’t know who will handle the volatility better.

You’ll find out when you wake up tomorrow! I’ll post it about 6:30 am

08/11/2026

Diversifying.

What constitutes as diversified to you?

Is no international with 300 US large cap stocks diversified?

What about 500 stocks of all cap sizes but still no international? Thousands of stocks?

Say you hold 100% VTI (3,600 holdings of all sizes… but all US stocks) is that diversified enough? Or is international a requisite?

Leave your thoughts in the comments…

08/11/2026

Sorry guys, no highlighter for the high and low performers this time!

I whipped this up on my lunch break and they’re at home. So you’re going to have to squint your eyes and search this time 😂

The funds shown are all 100% international in case you’re looking to diversify US heavy core holdings. But they do differ some…

International markets have been HOT lately! Look at the 2025 returns!

Quick ETF descriptions:

VXUS: Vanguard’s total international stock ETF. Holds THOUSANDS (I think near 10,000 🤔) stocks across developed and emerging markets outside the U.S… includes large, mid, and small cap.

IXUS- iShares total international ETF. Broad exposure to large, mid, and small cap stocks in developed and emerging markets outside the U.S.

VEU- Vanguard ETF covering large and mid sized companies across developed and emerging markets outside the U.S.

SCHF — Schwab’s international ETF, focused on developed markets outside the U.S. It does not include emerging markets.

As always, this content is for educational purposes only and is not intended as investment advice.

Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Hit the FOLLOW button if you found this helpful!

I’ll be combining every piece of international content I put together and posting it later this week. Don’t miss it!

08/11/2026

Paying an advisor to buy Target Date Funds is like paying a chef to microwave your dinner.

These funds were specifically designed to cater to people who are overwhelmed by the thought of selecting their own funds. Not for you to pay your advisor to hit the easy button.

TDF’s will automatically diversify, rebalance, and adjust allocations as you get closer to retirement… so you can buy them yourself and not touch a thing!

That’s the whole point.

So if you’re paying your advisor 1% of your portfolio every year… which can amount to 20–30% of your portfolio over decades due to the effects of fees and lost compounding…

What exactly are you paying him for?

Sincerely,

The electrician who gives free financial advice and has nothing to sell you 😉

08/11/2026

You saw the chicken scratch version, here’s the professional version!

International funds have been strong lately and total world funds are an excellent choice if you like diversification and one stop shopping.

These ETFs are perfectly acceptable as your core holding!

ETF LEGEND:

VT : Vanguard Total World Stock ETF. It follows the FTSE Global All Cap Index, giving you stocks from both the U.S. and countries around the world.

SPGM : SPDR Portfolio MSCI Global Stock Market ETF. It tracks the MSCI ACWI IMI Index, which includes thousands of stocks from developed and emerging markets.

ACWI : iShares MSCI ACWI ETF. It follows the MSCI All Country World Index and covering large and mid-sized companies across developed and emerging markets.

AVGE : Avantis All Equity Markets ETF. It invests in stocks around the world using Avantis’ own strategy, with a focus on companies that have characteristics they believe can lead to better long term returns.

URTH : iShares MSCI World ETF. It tracks the MSCI World Index, which covers large and mid sized companies in developed countries, but does NOT include emerging markets.

DFAW — Dimensional World Equity ETF. It invests in stocks from developed and emerging markets around the world and uses Dimensional’s rules based approach to select companies.

As always, past performance does not guarantee future results! This content is not investment advice it is for educational purposes only.

If you found this helpful, you’ll love this page! Hit the FOLLOW button.

I crunch the numbers so you don’t have to, and I post daily.

08/10/2026

Investing hack for beginners!

(Actually it’s a great tool for anyone 🙂)

This is my momentum ETF watch list.

I have SPMO in my Roth. Do I want to replace it with FMTM? Early last week SPMO dominated, today and Friday they switched places. 🤷🏼‍♂️

I have watch lists for:
- Old target date funds that I want to watch for performance comparisons
- Momentum Funds
- Growth Funds
- Retirement Funds

If you are curious about certain funds, creating a watch list is an excellent way to learn about them. It makes it very clear how funds with different beta ratings react to market changes without actually owning the fund or having to look up returns constantly.

Just about everything is down today. S&P500 is down -0.22%

However FMTM is up and most of the retirement funds are too…

👀🤔

08/10/2026

Having a hard time letting go of the anxiety to invest on your own?

Hey, I get it! We don’t want to make a mistake that ends up costing us money. 😬 💴

I just don’t want you to be like me (and so many others) and lose hundreds of thousands of dollars to Target Date Funds and advisor fees.

Why do that when you can buy the broad market in one fund, automate your contribution, and… that’s it.

Buy and hold for decades. No timing the market. No buying and selling.

Just look at this chart and realize how simple DIY index fund investing is. These funds are INCREDIBLY consistent, and they’re all excellent choices for a core holding.

If you found this helpful and want to learn how to build wealth the stress free and efficient way, hit the FOLLOW button!

I’m a blue collar worker, not an advisor. This information is FREE and I have nothing to sell you.

I post daily.

08/09/2026

While searching for new allocations inside my current employer’s retirement plan, I decided to look into the newest Target Date Fund available.

The target date for retirement with this TDF is 2070. That’s 44 years away!!

Despite that, 11.39% of this fund is NOT helping you grow.

BONDS do not help you maximize returns.

CASH is designed for stability. It does not help you GROW LONG TERM.

I’m not even talking maximizing returns or being aggressive. That’s a different discussion.

I’m talking about matching AVERAGE market returns. Bonds and Cash PROTECT your portfolio.

When you’re young you’re supposed to grow your funds since there isn’t hardly any there to protect in the first place!!

What exactly are you protecting?

If you’re under 50 years old, bonds do not belong in your portfolio unless you have a large balance and you want to be extra cautious.

You want growth when you’re young.

And you want to protect when you’re near retirement or actively retired.

Look at the holdings. 27% tech? VOO is 38% and nobody will say “you have too much tech!”

When I did my Sector earnings content, Tech was in the #1 spot 5 of the last 10 years. Don’t you want the dominant sector to hold a nice portion of your portfolio? 🤔

Don’t you want 100% of your portfolio focused on growing your money?

This TDF is a moderate allocation in my opinion. It will cost you dearly long term.

If you’re under 50, tell your advisor the total market index is your benchmark. Tell him you will not accept returns below that.

Then contribute the minimum to take advantage of employer match and invest the rest yourself.

Target date funds with advisors have cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars.

08/09/2026

I’m loving this idea! You guys will too. I PROMISE!! 👀

So… I’m not the most technological guy out there, I’ve never shared a “Story” on Facebook. But I researched it and it is obviously an excellent option for what I’m about to do.

My followers already know about my ongoing complaints about Target Date Funds and subpar returns because of them.

There are TONS of people in the same boat whether they realize it or not.

I’ve talked about the re-allocation process including doing a direct rollover of an old 401(k) which is in progress as we speak.

What I’m going to do now is a REAL TIME explanation of how I select my new allocations for the retirement fund I’m currently contributing to.

(My funds are stuck there and my options are limited)

Instead of showing you the final product, I’m going to show you my thought process of how I build it.

That way you can do the same for yourself.

How do I narrow funds down? There’s SO MANY!!

I’ll start with the basics.

First, I’ll establish my goal. I want GROWTH.

Next, I’ll focus on returns and fund behavior that fit my goal. I’m not interested in anything that consistently underperforms total market index funds.

If it doesn’t perform, the other details don’t matter. Case closed for that fund.

If the returns look good, I’ll look at what the fund IS. Is it an ETF? Mutual fund?

How does it function? Does it follow an index passively (by following a set of rules) or is it actively managed by professional fund managers that use their knowledge to try and beat the market? Big difference.

Some actively managed funds outperform their benchmark. Some underperform. I’ll show you how to figure that out.

Looking at holdings is very important. Does it hold only US funds? A mixture of US and international? How heavily are the top ten funds weighted?

This matters for diversification. High concentration mean less diversity and more risk.

I’m really big on past performance. 5 year, 10 year, and return since inception. The older the fund is, the more information we have. 💪🏻

How did it do during 2008 and the lost decade? 2018? 2022? I put a lot of focus on how it performs when things get UGLY.

If performance was poor, understanding why is important. I’ll teach you how to assess all of this.

What’s the cool part? I have no idea what the end result will look like. I might choose one fund and allocate 100% into it. I might choose 4 funds 🤷🏼‍♂️

I don’t know.

When I’m done you’ll know what exactly why I chose them. And hopefully using Stories will help give the viewer a seamless transition between every decision.

More details soon! If you’re the type of investor who trusts your advisor without comparing your returns to a benchmark, you are NOT going to want to miss this content.

Hit the FOLLOW BUTTON.

08/09/2026

What is going on?!? 🤯 🤷🏼‍♂️

Do we want volatility or don’t we?

I put 3 VERY different Vanguard funds to the test and backdated them for SIXTEEN years.

ETF Legend:

VYM - Vanguard High Dividend Yield. Broad US stocks with a focus on higher dividend paying stocks and lower volatility (but not quite operation protect the best egg).
Beta Rating: 0.68 which means it fluctuates 32% less than the market.

VTI - Vanguard Total market ETF. It owns the entire US stock market. Often considered the “Gold Standard” or default fund for broad market investing. Beta Rating: 1.03 roughly standard market movement.

VUG - Vanguard Growth ETF. It focuses on large US companies with strong growth characteristics.
Beta Rating: 1.26 which means it fluctuates 26% more than the market average. It is considered volatile.

Starting amount is $100,000 (forgot to specify that on paper)

I chose funds that had roughly a 3% difference in 10 year return.

This was intentional.

In my mind, the end result in balance was going to be EXCESSIVE. Shock factor. Social media loves big numbers.

However, when I documented VYM’s 16 year return and moved on to VTI… when I got to 2018 I thought I was going to have to re-do my test.

2018 balance:
VYM: $270,125
VTI: 269,765

VTI was supposed to crush VYM and it wasn’t!

This happened for 2 reasons. VYM had a great year in 2011 when the other two struggled. It also had an unbelievable year in 2013 (for a dividend fund).

On paper it is supposed to lag on bull runs… and sometimes it lags excessively. Sometimes it doesn’t.

VTI eventually put the pedal to the metal 2023-2025 and pulled away.

This is exactly why short time frames aren’t the best for fund comparisons.

Now let’s look at VUG. Time for the roller coaster!

Some say:
“You can’t put something this volatile as your core holding.”

I’m going to be pushing the boundaries on this. I’m going to be backdating and testing volatile funds regularly from here forward.

Im going to show you the difference between a smooth ride and “riding the rollercoaster.”

This is the first example of many on my deep dive into volatility. Check the comments for the VUG performance discussion!

If you found this helpful, hit the FOLLOW button! I crunch the numbers so you don’t have to.

Simon Saves

08/11/2026

08/11/2026

08/11/2026

08/11/2026

08/11/2026

08/10/2026

08/10/2026

08/09/2026

08/09/2026

08/09/2026

Address

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Listing takedown request