high beta tech stocks, chinese penny stocks, mlps, and gold

Anonymous wrote:As previously mentioned, a back-door Roth. This is a (legal and commonly used) loophole that lets even high-income households put money in a Roth, by first putting it in a nondeductible IRA and then shifting it to a Roth. See e.g. http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Backdoor_Roth_IRA, https://personal.vanguard.com/us/insights/article/ira-insights-roth-112014, http://thefinancebuff.com/the-backdoor-roth-ira-a-complete-how-to.html

Never heard of this; thank you! We've just been shoving everything into mutual funds and 529s.

We have been doing backdoor Roth, 529s and Vanguard Index funds also. We invest in the 529s and Vanguard index on a bimonthly basis.

Anonymous wrote:Real estate.

We don't do well with stocks and have plenty in our 401K. We've been much more fortunate with real estate investments.

what does "don't do well with stocks" mean? I assume you mean you don't do well when you try to pick stocks. don't do that, and don't invest in actively traded index funds that try to beat the market. if you invest in broad-based, low-cost (vanguard) index funds that track the stock market, you are going to beat out nearly all stock pickers, and you will likely do better in that vehicle than in any other investment. I would be nervous relying mostly on real estate (I assume you are purchasing real estate, or you are investing in REITs?). you need to diversify.

Backdoor Roth, then Vanguard index funds. When we have kids, we'll do Backdoor Roth, then 529s, then Vanguard index funds.