What is a better investment for the ROTH IRA, the S&P Index 500, or the Total Stock Market Index?

They are both under Vanguard.

They'll be about the same. I'm not sure exactly which mutual fund or ETF you're actually comparing. Go with the one with lower fees.

I looked up the Vanguard ones. It's .18% and .19% fees. They're both about the same.

They're here: http://flagship5.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/...
and here: http://flagship5.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/...

You can see that they're almost identical in every respect. Neither one is a bad choice.

I have to comment on the things below. Historically, 75% of mutual funds underperform the S&P, after fees because they have to earn an extra 1.5% or so to beat the S&P. So, it's more like getting an A- or a low A, gambling for that A+ and then falling short most of the time.

Sure, 25% do better, but it's not always the same 25% every year.

It depends on how diversified you would like to be. The S&P 500 fund will be mostly focused on large-cap companies. The Total Stock Market index should track the Wilshire 5000, which is basically the entire stock market. It will give you more mid- and small-cap coverage. I will ask you one question-why index funds? There are two basic schools of thought when it comes to mutual fund investing, passive or active management. Passive management focuses on index fund investing, rationalizing that if you just follow the overall market you will get better returns. Active management believes that the goal should be to BEAT the returns of the index. Not all of them make it, the trick is to pick out funds that outperform consistently. I once had someone describe it as being the difference between being a C student or shooting for an A or B. Just my two cents! ;)

If that is all you are thinking of putting into your IRA, you could be short changing yourself. If by total you mean IYY, you are investing only in U S based companies. In my mind that is a mistake. Where is the greatest growth? It is not in the U S. What is happening to the U S dollar? Here is a hint. It is not rising.

To maximize your chances and minimize your risks, you need to be globally diversified, I think.

30% in S&P 500, 40% in two different foreign EFT, 30% in stocks that look like they have promise. Why not learn to pick stocks while your are at it?

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　　Vanguard Fund 　　Value Investment 　　Trust Investment 　　Stock Investment 　　startup Investments 　　Startup Capital 　　Sector Fund 　　Seed Money

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