Investing: A chat with Vanguard’s Gus Sauter

Kathleen Pender:

Q: What is your favorite part of the stock market today?
Sauter: I think you should have some international investments. I think we are going to see foreign economies start to pick up. International funds have risks that U.S. investments don’t have. I wouldn’t throw caution to the wind. I would use them as a diversifier. I would include emerging markets.
Q: If you could buy only one fund, what would it be?
Sauter: Vanguard Total Stock Market Index.
For first-time investors who want one complete investment, we’ve got our Balanced Index fund, which is 60 percent Total Stock Market Index and 40 percent Total Bond Market Index.