I am a beginning investor and want to merely invest in index funds...?

...but I am really not sure where to begin. I thought it would be as easy as going to Vanguard, getting an account, and putting my money there, but I am confused. I am young enough to handle some risk and am only looking for growth, so i was thinking something like 80% stocks, 20% bonds.

Is there a real basic book that I can buy that will give me a very straight forward plan for a total newbie?

Thanks.

If you are trying to decide your asset allocation in stocks and bonds, you can take the Vanguard quiz to get an idea of what your allocation should be:
https://flagship.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/...
You can also talk to other Vanguard investors on the "Boglehead" forum:
http://diehards.org/forum/index.php
"Boglehead" asset allocation advice:
http://diehards.org/forum/viewtopic.php?...

Sure but an even cheaper way would be to go to www.fool.com and review some of their advice. They are fee adverse, into risk management and love the index funds. It's a great place for a new investor to get their feet wet. The "dummies" series of books are pretty good to for objective advice.

I prefer T Rowe Price over Vanguard, because of the fees.
You should want no load.
I like your mix. In real life asset allocation is tough to change.
Open an account with a discount broker and hold the shares there. Easier to make changes between fund groups. On the other hand, if you will always be satisfied with your fund family it is cheaper for them to hold.
I use TD Ameritrade.
I wish there was a book with all the answers.

Vanguard has an excellent no-load total market index fund that invests in all segments of the market, both big and small companies.

Fidelity has a no-load total market fund that has a slightly lower expense ratio than Vanguard's. The Fidelity fund is FSTMX.
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You can get free saving and investment advice at Uncle Leo's Den (www.uncleleosden.com). The site lays out a basic framework for thinking about saving and investing. Use the navigation bar to pick the subjects you want to read about.

You seem to be focused on long term investing. That's a very good thing. A simple way to build wealth is to invest in a lifecycle or target date retirement fund. These funds to do the investing and diversification of investments for you. They are growth oriented when you are young and change their investment focus as you grow older to lower the risk profile of your investment portfolio. That's desirable because you should reduce investment risk as you approach your retirement (in order to protect the wealth you've built up). Vanguard, Fidelity, and T. Rowe Price, as well as other mutual fund companies, offer lifecycle or target date funds. Pick one with a target year around the time when you hope to retire.