HI Lou
Great questions.
1) you do not need any software. I keep track of everything on paper.
The hard part is the hold zone. I made the QUICK AIM CALCULATOR to figure out the HOLD ZONE so I don't have to do the calculations every month. Look at the pinned posts, if you can't find a good link, message again.Anyway I put the hold zone for all my securities on one index card.
2) Starting from scratch I like to use 50% cash, especially now with the market high.
3) I prefer regular Aim. 10% buy and sell safe and 5% minimum order size.
4) I like ETFS to trade better than funds as you know the price you are getting. You can own the same securities in both your taxable and sheltreed accounts but try and trade only the sheltered account. Make a list of all Vanguard ETFS and decide what you want to own THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. That MIGHT be large, small, foreign ,REIT, and that is it or you might own a few industry funds instead of the large cap fund. You don't NEED an allocation to bonds because AIM will have you own CASH and some of that can be put in bonds in the future when rates peak. I hate bonds at the present time, I just use the sweep MM account. It is there to be stable, not make money.
5) I just answered that. Cash is meant to be balast.
6) I LOOK at my account monthly. It is very rare that I will trade the same security a few months in a row.
7) like I wrote above you can hole a few of the securities in both accounts. Try to trade only in IRA except sales for spending money.
8) Aim will do better than the market in a down or flat market but worse in a screaming up market because of the cash it holds. It gives you disipline and takes the emotion out of investing. It is like rebalancing your account on steroids.
The above is just my opinions. There will be other points of view to the extent it will confuse you. One thing I will say, WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO INVEST IN AND WHATEVER PERRAMERTERS YOU DECIDE TO USE, STICK WITH THEM . Aim is designed to take the emotion out of investing, if you keep switching things around, you are defeating the purpose. Aim takes a MINIMUM of one whole business cycle to see it working.
Hope that helps.
Toofuzzy
Take the road less traveled. It will make all the difference.
