Another Update on My Investing Project

Photo credit: Caroline, CC BY 2.0.

Here’s where I am with all of my current investment vehicles:

My personal investing account is successfully with Vanguard and it currently contains $200. I wasn’t able to invest in a Vanguard mutual fund right away because I don’t have enough money for the buy-in, but I was able to buy one share of a Vanguard ETF — and I didn’t have to pay any commission or fees.

I chose the ETF primarily because the share price was low enough that I could buy one. (A lot of ETFs were out of my price range.) It felt a little weird to buy a single share, but it also felt weird to have the money in the account and not try to invest it. I’m treating this as a learn-as-you-go project, and yesterday I learned how to buy an ETF. Next week I’ll look at the different ways to buy an ETF — market, limit, stop, etc. — so I can use that knowledge when I buy my next share.

My HSA is successfully with HealthEquity and I just transferred $200 into the account. I can’t invest the money yet because it’s still going through the transfer process — Planet Money just did a podcast episode about why that process takes so long, if you’re curious — and I’m guessing I won’t be able to invest it after the transfer is complete, because HealthEquity only lets members invest in Vanguard mutual funds and $200 won’t be enough to let me buy in.

I was able to electronically submit the paperwork for my Rollover IRA to TIAA, and received a 34-page form from TIAA that I’ll have to fill out before they’ll complete it. (I technically only have to fill out nine pages of the form; the other pages are instructions and disclosures.)

I also mailed the Roth IRA transfer request paperwork to Vanguard. I can’t do the transfer request for my traditional IRA yet because I need to send it with an account statement, and since I only opened the traditional IRA with Capital One Investing at the beginning of the month, I don’t have a statement yet.

But once I do, I’ll be able to send it off — and eventually all of my accounts (not counting my HSA) will be with Vanguard.

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