VOO outperforms target date funds for long-term growth; target date funds cause significant profit loss over 40 years.

If you can log into your Vanguard account, and instead of choosing a target date fund, since you are 25, take 75% or most of the $38,000 I would put into the S&P 500, then take the rest and put it into the Nasdaq, and maybe take a small portion and put it into international investments like VXUS, and you'll be on the right track.

So, you could think of VOO, or perhaps VUG, or VGT as alternatives to Nasdaq. Then VXUS could be the international fund you're looking for. These are all Vanguard funds and I'm sure you can find them within the platform if you decide to self-manage.

If an average person aged 25 to 65, i.e. in this 40-year example, puts their money into a target date fund instead of just an S&P 500 index like VOO over 40 years, they will lose between $500,000 and $2.5 million in profits, depending on the value of their monthly contribution.

Invest it in funds like VOO and QQQ and let it grow for two or three years until you reach the age of 21 or 22.