I've done some recent reading from financial independence evangelists (ex. Mr. Money Mustache, etc[0]) who advocate low-fee index funds like Vanguard's. The ide

I've done some recent reading from financial independence evangelists (ex. Mr. Money Mustache, etc[0]) who advocate low-fee index funds like Vanguard's. The idea (which generally makes sense to me) is that the overall stock market has historically significantly beat inflation over basically any period over 10 (20?) years, so an investment that has that overall profile is fairly low-risk. There are various things you can do with 'target retirement' funds or other methods of allocating more towards bonds as you age to reduce your short-term volatility risk as you near the age you want to use the funds. [0]http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/05/18/how-to-make-money-in-the-stock-market/ http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/05/18/how-to-make-money-...