Best Investing Moves for Young Families
Don't let family demands on your income stint your retirement savings.


You probably have multiple goals for your money at this stage. The best way to plan, save and invest is to do so for each goal separately.
Best Investing Moves at Every Age
- Best Investing Moves When You're Starting Out
- Best Investing Moves for Empty Nesters
- Best Investing Moves for Pre-Retirees
- Best Investing Moves for Retirees
Fully fund your retirement
Saving for retirement can’t wait by this age, so fund this goal first. Aim to save 15% of your pretax salary per year, including any employer match. Take advantage of Roth IRAs, which differ from traditional IRAs because you contribute after-tax dollars today but pay no taxes when you withdraw money. If you file your taxes jointly with your spouse and your modified adjusted gross income is less than $186,000, you can each contribute up to $5,500 to a Roth in 2017.
With retirement still a couple of decades away, a simple portfolio such as one target-date fund still meets your needs (see the previous section for more on target-date funds). The Price fund currently holds 86% of its assets in stocks.

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
Consider a college-savings account
State-sponsored 529 plans, which let investments grow tax-free, are typically your best bet for college savings (see How to Pay for College). Check to see whether the best option is your home state’s plan (most offer a tax break for using an in-state 529 plan) or whether an out-of-state plan is better. (See The Best College Savings Plans.)
The portfolio we recommend assumes college is still at least 10 years away, and therefore it holds 60% in stocks, diversified between two broad index funds. If these funds aren’t available in your college-savings plan, consider an age-based managed portfolio. These portfolios are similar to target-date funds; they hold a mix of stocks and bonds and will reduce risk as the first tuition bill approaches.
Protect money for a home
Our model portfolio assumes you will purchase a home in three to five years, and it holds just a sliver of large-company U.S. stocks. This portfolio and others hold taxable bond funds, but well-heeled investors may be better off with tax-free municipal bond funds.
Hire a robot
Too many goals to juggle? Consider a robo adviser. As part of its basic plan, Betterment lets you set up multiple portfolios to save for different goals and time horizons. For a more human touch, we like Schwab Intelligent Advisory and Vanguard Personal Advisor Services, both of which pair automated investment management with basic financial planning with an adviser (see Robos Get the Human Touch).
Portfolios
Retirement
100% T. Rowe Price Retirement 2050 (TRRMX)
College savings
45% Schwab Total Stock Market Index (SWTSX) or ETF alternative: Vanguard Total Stock Market (VTI)
15% Vanguard Total International Stock Index (VGTSX) or ETF alternative: Vanguard Total International Stock (VXUS)
25% Metropolitan West Total Return Bond M (MWTRX)
15% Pimco Income D (PONDX)
Home down payment
20% Fidelity 500 Index (FUSEX) or ETF alternative: iShares Core S&P 500 (IVV)
50% Metropolitan West Total Return Bond M (MWTRX)
30% Vanguard Short-Term Investment-Grade (VFSTX)
Get Kiplinger Today newsletter — free
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.

-
Ten Cheapest Places to Live in Texas
Property Tax Looking for a cheap place to live in Texas? Look no further. These counties have the lowest property tax bills in the Lone Star State.
-
AI Is Missing the Wisdom of Older Adults: What It Means for You
AI will increasingly affect your healthcare and finances, but young workers are primarily designing the systems and getting most of the jobs.
-
Stock Market Today: Good Feelings and Solid Data Lift Stocks
Resilience and de-escalation defined another generally positive day for financial markets.
-
Stock Market Today: Tesla Drags on Stocks Amid Musk-Trump Feud
Sentiment has soured between President Trump and his once-loyal ally, Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Brush Off Weak Jobs Data
The yields on the 2-year and 10-year Treasury notes fell sharply after a pair of weak economic reports.
-
Stock Market Today: Rally Extends on Good-Enough Expectations
Fiscal policy still has markets' attention, but taxes rather than tariffs and deficits rather than inflation are participants' primary focus.
-
Stock Market Today: Markets Move With Fresh Trade War Winds
The new uncertainty is the same as the old uncertainty, which is fine with investors, traders and speculators.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Bounce as US-China Tensions Escalate
Stocks were volatile to end the week and the month amid concerns a trade truce between the U.S. and China is splintering.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Chop as Judges Block Then Reinstate Tariffs
The Trump administration has asked for and received a stay in a case that seems headed for the Supreme Court.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Struggle Ahead of Nvidia Earnings
The three main indexes closed lower as Wall Street awaited the AI bellwether's quarterly results.