Vangaurd is very helpful if you call them to get the specifics about opening an account.
Now. I always think that dad's are very good advisors so his mix of 70/20/10 is good but conservative. I have been managing my childrens Roth (I made them fully contribute as soon as they can work at age 16). They have a nice nest egg already and they have been fully invested in equities. I did move them out of equities (upon Bob Brinkers sell call) for two years. The market went down I think about 30 or 40% so I was a happy camper not to loose money. Upon Bob Brinkers advice I bought back into the market in March of 2003. Since it has gone up 60%. I am a real happy camper! Since you are so young, you could be more aggressive and have a complete equity portfolio. You can take more risk at a young age. Also, as rates are moving up, bonds are not doing that great. Bonds do well when rates move down. So not convinced now is the time to go into bonds. I would also suggest that you listen to bobbrinker on the radio each weekend to educate yourself on self-managing your own money. Go to
www.bobbrinker.com. He also has a recommended reading list of suggested books. You may want to start reading. He has a newletter but you have to subscribe. His recommendations have a very high rating and he called the sell signal at the highs in about 2001 (around there) and a buy signal in march 2003 to get back in the market. I have done extremely well with his recommendations and he primarily uses mutual funds to buy equities. You will also enjoy his weekend programs and learn quite a bit.
His recommendation this month (just posted today) is to either dollar cost average into the market or lump sum when the S & P (Standard and poors Index) reaches 1180. It was at this level in October and I put my kids Roth contributions in at that time. Since Oct. it has gone up 7%. So... this is not a good time to lump sum it into equities. Go ahead and open your account and at least put it into a money market within your ROTH. Identify what fund you will participate in to represent your equities. YOu may contribute monthly or wait until there is a pull back and the market goes down. Don't be anxious to jump in when the market is high. You will notice that there are pull backs. We have been in a bull cycle where the pull backs (dips) are followed by higher highs. Bob Brinker believes the S & P will get up to 1300 level. We are actually very close to that now. In OCT. I put money in at 1175 so it has had a nice little run up. Now you are seeing what is traditionally called a Santa Clause Ralley. It happens every year. Also just after the 1st of the year, additional money ususally makes its way into the market due to contributions from usually retirement accounts. NOt always but often. Just keep your attention on the markets and take advantage of weekness to buy.
Actually, I would probably have the bulk of my portfolio in total stock market index and about 5% in international. Bob's recommendation is 5% Vanguard International Growth.
This would give you a good start. Now you also mentioned that you like realestate. Vangaurd also has a REIT index Fund. It is up 11.90% this year. However; with the softening of the housing market be careful. YOu may want to wait until rates have leveled before committing money to this sector fund.
Now Vangaurd only allows you to move out of an account via internet 2 times a year. This avoids short term buying and selling (causing the fund to have more expenses). You can have as many written requests to move money if you have exceeded your two moves. It may be different for a ROTH IRA but don't think so. You really don't need to be moving money around and for sure don't chase run ups. Ask Vangaurd via phone for their policies. I really haven't found this to be a problem until this year when we have been making withdrawls for college expenses. Just work around their rules.
Hope this helps!