IXUS
iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF
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My strategy has been "wrong" for the last decade (Intl vs US). Will I continue to be wrong in the next decade?
My HSA investments got liquidated and moved to Wealthcare
Having 2 different but similar ETFs for tax-loss harvesting
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I’m not sure. Over the last 5 years, there is a 60-70ish% underperformance of IXUS compared to VOO. Over 10 years there is a 200% difference in cumulative returns between IXUS and VOO. It’s a huge difference. From a psychological perspective when things were shitting the bed in march/april, it was nice to have one part of the portfolio net even YTD or slightly up compared to the US market. It’s also hard to pinpoint the exact moment of regime change. I do see several compelling arguments for holding ex US assets (US AI bubble, US tariff, labor, fiscal, and monetary policy, cheaper valuations elsewhere, etc).
Let's tackle SCHY first. The Schwab International Dividend Equity ETF focuses on high-dividend international stocks, currently yielding around three-point-five to four percent. On the surface, this looks attractive for a Roth IRA where dividends grow tax-free. The problem: you're getting paid to own slow-growth, often declining businesses in Europe and Japan. High dividend yields frequently signal lack of growth opportunities—companies that can't reinvest profitably return cash instead. The data on international dividends vs US growth is stark. Over the past fifteen years, the S&P 500 has crushed international developed markets, and most of that outperformance comes from reinvested earnings compounding rather than being paid out. In a Roth where you have decades until retirement, chasing yield sacrifices growth. The four-percent dividend sounds nice until you realize the underlying stocks appreciate two percent annually while the S&P grows ten percent. You're trading long-term wealth for current income you can't even spend yet (since it's in a Roth). Currency risk is another factor. SCHY holds non-US stocks, so you're exposed to dollar strength. If the USD continues strengthening—which it has been—your international holdings underperform purely on currency translation. Some ETFs hedge this, but SCHY doesn't. Timing question: "would you buy at this time or wait?" Valuations on international stocks are cheaper than US stocks, which is the bull case. European and Japanese equities trade at significant discounts to historical norms. But they've been "cheap" for a decade for good reasons—structural growth challenges, aging demographics, regulatory burdens. My take: if you want international exposure (reasonable for diversification), skip the dividend focus and buy a broad international index like VXUS or IXUS. You'll get the valuation discount without overweighting low-growth dividend payers. In a Roth, prioritize growth. Save dividend strategies for taxable accounts where qualified dividends get preferential tax treatment. Now, STCE (Bitwise Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF). This is a crypto basket that's inherently speculative. Your rationale about Bitcoin's halving in 2027 (or 2028—the schedule is approximately every four years, with the last one in April 2024) is a common narrative. The theory: reduced new supply after halving creates scarcity, driving price appreciation. Historical halvings have preceded bull runs, but correlation isn't causation, and past performance especially doesn't predict future crypto returns. The volatility point is key—STCE is explicitly for investors who can tolerate wild swings. Crypto routinely drops fifty to seventy percent in bear markets. In a Roth IRA, this is a disaster if you're forced to sell during a drawdown, because you can't reinvest losses across multiple years to harvest them. The opportunity cost of a multi-year crypto winter (like 2022-2023) is enormous when you could be compounding in traditional assets. Here's the uncomfortable truth: Bitcoin might go to zero. It also might go to five hundred thousand. Nobody knows. Proponents argue it's digital gold, a store of value, inflation hedge. Critics point out it's failed every one of those tests—it crashed in 2022 alongside tech stocks (opposite of what a hedge should do), and "inflation hedge" arguments died when BTC tanked while CPI surged. STCE is diversified across Bitcoin and Ethereum, which is slightly better than single-coin exposure. But correlation between major cryptos is near-perfect in crashes—they all fall together. The "diversification" benefit claimed for crypto portfolios is mostly marketing. When Bitcoin drops thirty percent, Ethereum drops thirty-five percent. Practical allocation: if you're convinced crypto has a place in your portfolio, cap it at five percent of your Roth. This allows upside participation if you're right while preventing catastrophic losses if you're wrong. The disciplined approach is to rebalance—if crypto runs to ten percent of your portfolio, trim and lock in gains. Most crypto investors ride winners up and back down, which destroys returns. Timing crypto around halvings is like timing the stock market—theoretically possible, practically unreliable. The 2024 halving was already priced in by the time it happened. By 2027, the same will be true. Efficient market hypothesis suggests that predictable, widely-known events don't create alpha opportunities because everyone front-runs them. Alternative consideration: if you want tech upside with less volatility, companies like MicroStrategy or Coinbase offer crypto exposure through equities with some underlying business operations. They're still wildly volatile but have revenue streams beyond pure crypto speculation. Final answer: I wouldn't buy SCHY in a Roth—wrong strategy for the account type. I'd consider a small STCE position (under five percent) if you have genuine conviction and can ignore it for five-plus years without panic-selling in the next crash. Neither should be core holdings. For retirement accounts, boring index funds compound reliably; speculation belongs in taxable accounts where losses are at least deductible. If you're looking for data-driven portfolio construction strategies that balance risk and growth, our newsletter breaks down asset allocation research that actually works over multi-decade timeframes.
It's truly admirable that you have this kind of investment mindset and plan at such a young age. Long-term investing certainly has its advantages of stability and historical validation, especially for retirement planning or the slow, safe growth of family assets—I completely agree with that. However, in the current economic climate, relying solely on long-term investing often results in too long a return cycle and limited growth, making it difficult to significantly improve your quality of life. If you plan to retire at 55, you can continue with a diversified investment portfolio, such as a combination of medium-, long-, and short-term investments. Long-term investing is like slowly nurturing a tree, while short-term investing is like seizing the season to reap the rewards. The two are not contradictory, but a combination yields better results. Especially now, with clear market trends and opportunities, missing out on current opportunities may require a much greater effort to catch up in the future. I choose short-term trading now, not for speculation, but because it can truly benefit my life. You can continue holding ITOT and IXUS; I find them to have tremendous growth potential, and your wealth will double in a few years.
Yeah, I just started a Roth in hood for that 3% match on Oct. 30 and take away the 3% match and the portfolio is down 1.96%. Still have $3200 on the sidelines waiting but I only have until eoy. Playing this like my 401k so ITOT, IXUS, AGG, SPY, QQQ, QQQI, SPYG, WMT and SCHD
IXUS, or maybe a mix of international ETF's. My main thesis now is world > US.
This is actually a really well-thought-out portfolio 👏 You’ve done a great job blending growth, quality, and international diversification while keeping simplicity and balance. The barbell approach between QQQM and SCHD is smart — it captures momentum without leaning too heavy on tech. RSP also does an underrated job of mitigating top-heavy risk from the S&P 500, so nice call there. If I were to tweak anything, it’d just be small refinements: 1. Consider a small-cap or emerging markets slice (like AVUV or VWO, maybe 5–10%) to capture long-term factor diversification and global growth outside developed markets. 2. Think about tax efficiency and rebalancing frequency. SCHD throws off solid dividends, so if this is in a taxable account, just make sure that aligns with your tax strategy. 3. IDEV is fine, but VXUS or IXUS could give you slightly broader exposure if you ever want emerging markets automatically included. Overall though — simple, diversified, logical, and low-cost. This is the kind of setup most investors would benefit from sticking with for decades. Nicely done
You’re about to buy a fund of funds. Each fund inside of the ETF has an expense ratio and then the whole ETF has another one. Although it’s vanguard who is known for its low fees VEQT has 0.24% while SPLG (SP500) is 0.02 I would pick about 3-7 good ETFs and build a quick portfolio. Don’t worry about rebalancing. Although individual stocks are going to out perform its a lot more hands on. If you’re just going to set it and forget it I would do an ETF portfolio and not touch it till you’re 55. SPLG 35% SCHG 25% VIOG 20% IXUS 10% EEM 10% Feel free to swap SCHG for one of the QQQs and SPLG for SPY or VOO if ya like. *Not financial advice, do you’re own research and determine your own long term goals and risk tolerance
That shit seems all over the place. Imo the simplest aggressive portfolio of etfs should be 55% VOO 30% IXUS 10% IJH 5% IJR If you want some crypto exposure pull 2% from VOO 1% from the rest and put it in your favorite btc etf. This is easy auto win portfolio in this bull market. Up 44% in 3 years.
Not exactly. The underlying stocks in VXUS/IXUS are foreign, but your claim to them is still through a U.S.-domiciled ETF and a U.S. broker. That means your access is tied to U.S. custody, U.S. law, and the U.S. financial system. If you really want to be outside U.S. “guardrails,” you’d need a non-U.S. brokerage account and ETFs domiciled abroad (like UCITS in Europe). Otherwise, even if Nestlé or Toyota are fine, you still depend on U.S. financial plumbing to touch those holdings. So you’re not completely insulated it reduces U.S. company exposure, but not U.S. system exposure.
Vanguard’s VEA is actually “international” which is defined as “non-US”, while IShares ACWI is truly global large-mid cap (at 0.32% ER). Vanguard has their all-cap global etf VT at 0.06%, while State Street has a less popular all-cap global SPGM at 0.09% that’s more concentrated than VT but usually has better returns (price and dividend). I’d love ACWI at a VT expense ratio, but one reason it’s more expensive reportedly is it tracks its index better = attracts traders. Now iShares URTH is global developed, so it will invest in an index with the US, Europe, Japan and other long term capitalists countries, but leave off China, India, and smaller recent capitalistic coin. It does have some stocks that support the emerging mkts but are domiciled in the U.S. ~ less than 1% last I checked. Vanguard’s VEA is all caps developed ex-US with a cheap er but their VEU is all world ex-US large-middle cap with still some small-cap stocks. Another possibility if wanting to leave off China, India, etc.. but keeping South Korea is Schwab’s SCHF at just a tad more er for a large to mid-cap etf. There’s VXUS or IXUS with more small caps, but personally having only 100 mostly U.S. stocks in QQQ vs 3,400 to 4,400 in IXUS or VXUS kind of seems unbalanced to me (but YMMV). Also Fidelity offers an all-cap version of QQQ with the symbol ONEC.
There are some individual stocks I invest in like UL and SHEL but for the most part just for simplicity I use an ETF. IXUS and AVDV is what I use.
SCHF looks like a international ex-US developed fund, and doesn't include ex-US emerging markets holdings (Taiwan, China, etc) Two low cost funds would be VTI or ITOT, (total US, SCHB is pretty close) and VXUS or IXUS (total international, including developed, emerging, and frontier markets). Or a single low cost fund with both US and ex-US would be VT or SPGM.
You’re already got quite broad coverage with the VOO/VT strategy here. That being said, I’d have you think of branching out to more growth focused ETFs like SCHG, VIGI, IXUS.. but DYOR as always, these would be nice for Cap gains in a taxable account. Good place to be at, congrats on attainting/maintaining good safety nets here.
I buy VOOG regularly and hold 12% I also hold a lot of Nvidia. 65% at an ultra low cost basis. Smaller positions in Google, Amazon (5% total) And decent positions in VRT, AMD, IXUS International ETF and BTC. And some other stuff on the side that make up about 5% of my portfolio. Actually, don't copy my portfolio lol, mine has been built over several years. Keep buying VOO or VOOG right now and some international and whatever else you like.
Put the 12 months of expenses in a HYSA or SPAXX at Fidelity in a CMA account as your emergency fund. If you can open a Roth IRA, do that with a limit of $7k and invest that in SPLG. The rest can go into either a taxable brokerage or the same CMA. Dollar Cost Average into SPLG, IXUS, and SGOV ETFs. Maybe $1k per month each. I would buy individual stocks but that might be too much since you have never done this before.
VOO (alone) is single country risk (revenue source doesn't make it global, as it is the performance of foreign stock markets that we're after and companies act like their home market). US only is single country risk, which is an *uncompensated* risk. An uncompensated risk is one that doesn't bring higher expected long term returns. Uncompensated risk should be avoided whenever possible. Compensated vs uncompensated risk: * https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/uncompensated-risk/ * https://www.northerntrust.com/middle-east/insights-research/2024/wealth-management/compensated-portfolio-risk >But not all risks are compensated with an expected return premium. * https://www.pwlcapital.com/is-investing-risky-yes-and-no/ (Bold mine) >Uncompensated risk is very different; it is the risk specific to an individual company, sector, **or country.** VT wouldn't be a good pairing with existing VOO, as currently over half of VT is already the entirety of VOO (VT would replace VOO). A dedicated ex-US fund would be an appropriate addition. VXUS or IXUS for example. Think of it like this: * VT is essentially equal to VTI + VXUS * VTI is essentially equal to VOO + VXF So VT alone could be all you need (in a tax advantaged account like an IRA there's no taxes to work about if selling A to buy B), or cost either VTI or VOO (or equivalents) for your US exposure and pair that with a dedicated ex-US fund (VXUS is one of many examples).
VOO (alone) is single country risk (revenue source doesn't make it global, as it is the performance of foreign stock markets that we're after and companies act like their home market). US only is single country risk, which is an *uncompensated* risk. An uncompensated risk is one that doesn't bring higher expected long term returns. Uncompensated risk should be avoided whenever possible. Compensated vs uncompensated risk: * https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/uncompensated-risk/ * https://www.northerntrust.com/middle-east/insights-research/2024/wealth-management/compensated-portfolio-risk >But not all risks are compensated with an expected return premium. * https://www.pwlcapital.com/is-investing-risky-yes-and-no/ (Bold mine) >Uncompensated risk is very different; it is the risk specific to an individual company, sector, **or country.** VT wouldn't be a good pairing with existing VOO, as currently over half of VT is already the entirety of VOO (VT would replace VOO). A dedicated ex-US fund would be an appropriate addition. VXUS or IXUS for example. Think of it like this: * VT is essentially equal to VTI + VXUS * VTI is essentially equal to VOO + VXF So VT alone could be all you need (in a tax advantaged account like an IRA there's no taxes to work about if selling A to buy B), or cost either VTI or VOO (or equivalents) for your US exposure and pair that with a dedicated ex-US fund (VXUS is one of many examples).
I just took my acorns account and rolled it into my fidelity account. Is any of this redundant? Should I look to sell some and invest in others? I'm mainly looking at long-term/retirement. GOOGL - 29.51% VTV - 21.58% OHI - 14.28% O - 8.48% VTI - 7.61% SCHD - 6.81% VOO - 5.79% IXUS - 3.93% IJH - 0.95% BITO - 0.49%
I have some IXUS from a previous fund and that got transferred into my current broker, so I keep adding to that.
Voo - 55% IJH - 10% IJR - 5% IXUS - 30% Here's correct ratios. Sorry about that.
For total international (non-US), it’s VXUS or VEU for Vanguard. VXUS has more small caps as a % though VEU has a slight performance advantage most years. The iShares IXUS is between the 2. Some separate international further out into 3 developed to 1 emerging (so VEA, IDEV or SCHF to VWO, IEMG, or SCHE).
For total international (non-US), it’s VXUS or VEU. VXUS has more small caps as a % though VEU has a slight performance advantage most years. The iShares IXUS is between the 2. Some separate international further out into developed> emerging (so VEA, IDEV or SCHF>VWO, IEMG, or SCHE).
>Currently I have voo+ schg +schd. * Why ignore the broader US extended market? * Why extra weight on dividends? * Why a large growth fund? >I was thinking of adding in some international exposure I've been doing research on vsux. You mean VXUS? Vanguard eX-US, not Vanguard SUX. VXUS is logical in that it is a broad coverage international fund: large and mid and small caps, value and growth and the stuff in between, developed and emerging markets. There's a few others that can be considered equivalents, like IXUS for one example, but that's a fine choice.
If you just want to pile money in and not have to follow things id do VOO - 50% IXUS - 30% IJH - 20% IJR - 10% My etf portfolio is exactly this allocation and despite the red day im up 36% YTD. I swear investing has never been easier.
Both options are good: with 2 I would do VOO & IXUS With 1 I am currently YOLOing ULTY
IUSB yields about 0.5% more on average but with bond funds/etfs every little bit helps (%yield, %er) to make it worthwhile over purchasing bonds themselves (though most may prefer shorter term CDs, TIPs for inflation, etc. the latter US govt backed for US saver-investors fwiw). It still has enough investment grades and ultimately Treasuries to weather foreseeable downdrafts, plus probably respond better to the inevitable bounceback. High yield default rates long term averaged 4% in the 1980s down to 2% recently; 2009 was a high with 10% defaulting in the U.S., but the amt of high yield in IUSB is still very low vs investment grade. Now if looking at risk parity like I did when starting, look at long term Treasuries. I did following the late Harry Browne’s advice on his late ‘70s “permanent portfolio” though there’s an updated discussion on optimized portfolio website (which points out that investment grade corporates aren’t as safe as govt bonds … to each their own). Caveat: I might be a little fearless as I still have long term Treasuries and even long term zeroes from a previous “risk parity” portfolio of mostly US aggressive growth for .. growth vs. LT treasuries as a “hedge”, though still be looking to cash most of those in with my going into retirement bond funds [they themselves “4 fund”] being almost equal SHY/maybe ISTB, IUSB>>TLT, hedged BNDX>>> unhedged IGOV (not counting actual TIPs and CDs to cash in …). [i]Add[/I] so for stocks, I’ll be “2 fund” with VONE>IXUS in my IRA (US self-directed retirement account), .. for bonds I’ll have more than a few funds/etfs to spread various risks.
Really appreciate the breakdown, especially the point about VXUS vs IXUS. I’ve struggled with VXUS’s small-cap tilt too. Curious if you think IUSB’s current yield makes it more attractive than BND despite the slightly higher risk? Been debating if it’s worth the extra 0.3–0.4% in yield long-term.
Long-term having US and non US stocks is less volatile, and as some pointed out, many of these big companies are multinational to various extents. Small stocks are more representative of local conditions, but being small very few will actually move the needle. Vanguard’s VEU (with less non-U.S. small stocks/more non-U.S large stocks) slightly outperforms VXUS most years. US and developed small cap stocks tend to profit during an early bull market while some of the more brainy fund families have been trying to figure out why emerging mkt small caps just sit there? Looking at some of these etfs trying to squeeze performance from EM small cap, I’m just not seeing hardly any difference from VSS. So maybe low expense VSS when non-US tank, build a position vs VEU (or the similar iShares IXUS which I have), .. and then sell at the start of the next non-US bull mkt?
> can’t see it beating a Chinese/Indian .. AI/robotics No one knows for certain though India is likely prime for “growth”. Also consider that the U.S. has 62% to 66% of global market cap despite only 4% of the global population (80% if talking about the “‘mega-caps”). Market standards and the American worker kowtowing to Milton Friedman style capitalism [perhaps not that willingly but anyways..] do matter. One idea may be a “global” portfolio or even fund/ETF. Vanguard’s all-cap VT or for just large/mid caps .. iShares ACWI for a pure market cap play. There’s also dividing up VTI (US) and VSUX(non-US) …or ITOT and IXUS for iShares. Another interesting twist would be Vanguard’s new environmental/social all-cap funds .. ESGV (US) and VSGX (non-US); “feel good” stuff especially if there’s an eco-disaster in the future, .. plus DFA research noted some sectors, like emerging small cap value, have large stocks that just sit there; a firm going after environmental certifications the company may be more proactive in all aspects imho.
You don't want VT and VTI as they contain many of the same companies. I use ITOT, IXUS, and SGOV/AGG myself.
The tech stocks already have higher returns growth futures baked into their current pricing. Unless you think you are smarter than the overall wisdom of the market I suggest just getting the overall market average return by buying low costs broad market ETFs such as VTI/ITOT/SCHB total US stock market ETFs and VXUS/IXUS international stock market ETFs. Yes, boring. But in investing boring is sometimes the best.
VXUS, IXUS, EUAD, EWJ, etc.. you are correct. Now is the time to get against America.
Curious if anyone would be happy help simplify (and add diversification) to my current portfolio. We are mid 30s, in the US, maxing out retirement accounts, with a 25-30 year retirement horizon. Our current portfolio: 30% SPLG 30% QQQM 10% VTI 5% speculative stocks/Bitcoin 25% cash (available for investing to rebalance) I recognize a fair amount of overlap exists with a tech tilt in the SPLG/QQQM positions. I am comfortable with these two effectively functioning as a S&P500 position. We have relatively no international exposure. I have seen recommendations for VXUS and IXUS. If we use cash to purchase VXUS would we have any blind spots? In this scenario would it be advised to leave the VTI as is and allocate future contributions to SPLG/QQQM/VXUS? Potential future portfolio: 60% S&P500 Tech Tilt (SPLG/QQQM) 20% VXUS 10% VTI (no longer contributing) 5% Speculative/Bitcoin 5% Cash Appreciate the help and any alternative strategies that can accommodate my current positions.
On a taxable account I use not only VTI but also the near equivalents ITOT and SCHB for the total US market ETF, and VXUS and IXUS for the total ex-US market. I tax loss harvest by selling lots that are at a loss, immediately replacing the with the same dollar amount of the near equivalent ETF. Those ETFs are similar, but since they use indexes from different index suppliers they are not subject to wash sale rules as they are not "substantially identical".
Dollar Cost Average into an SP500 ETF like IVV, SPY, or VOO which holds 500 large capitalization stocks. It doesn't matter which SP500 ETF. When you get to $10,000 in your portfolio, start diversifying into international ETF like IXUS or other ETFs that focus on technology, financial, healthcare, and/or other sectors that are in a growth trend in the business cycle. When you turn 21 and live independently, start saving cash in a High Yield Savings Account or Money Market Fund. You should save 6 months or more worth of expenses. Keep this cash away from your investments. This is your emergency fund for the tough times that hopefully never happen. After that start researching individual stocks with growth potential and start buying those.
I like Fidelity but it doesn't super matter. You can put any amount of money at a time into mutual funds like FXAIX, FZROX, FZILX or buy fractional shares of ETFs (slightly more of a hassle) like IVV, ITOT, IXUS.
I try to avoid complexity unless there is a significant benefit. I have seen many portfolios managed by financial advisors that are complex combinations of both growth and value funds, in addition to blended funds. When I do a backtest on them they end up being essentially the same return as a basic low expense ratio total market fund. [Portfolio Visializer](https://www.portfoliovisualizer.com/backtest-portfolio) is good for backtesting, although free accounts are now limited to 10 year maximum backtests. For the portion of my portfolio that are ETFs I just default to the old reliables of VTI/ITOT/SCHB (total US stock market) and IXUS/VXUS (total ex-US stocks). I use the multiple ETFs for total US and total ex-US for tax loss harvesting. In your Roth that is irrelevant, so the simplest and easiest and most effective thing to do is to simply figure out our US/ex-US allocation and buy VTI and VXUS, at both brokers. VXUS tracks FTSE Global All Cap ex US Index, with 0.05% expense ratio with a fairly large tracking error of 1.78%. It is also available as the mutual fund VTIAX at the slightly 0.09% expense ratio. IXUS has 0.07% ratio and tracks MSCI ACWI ex USA IMI with 1.59% tracking error. The overall returns of the two ETFs are essentially identical. Your 20% allocation to international is very reasonable. Although market cap weighting of international is higher, due to the extra volatility from exchange rate variations, the minimum volatility (in USD) is in the low 30% range of ex-US. I choose to apply a mild home bias and chose overall 80/20 US/ex-US. Because the individual stock portion of my portfolio (old, low cost basis shares in taxable accounts) are predominantly US, my ETFs are about 60/40 US/international.
As you have discovered, leverage is great, …. until it isn't. Take your losses. Pay attention to what you have learned. You may be lucky and outguess the market and make great stock picks, and have great timing getting into and out of the market. The more likely path is what you have experienced. At some point hopefully you will realize that just because you were "not satisfied with 8-10% returns" does not matter. Unless I think I am smarter than the rest if the world or know something that the rest of the world does not know or realize, I just buy the whole market via broad based ETFs like VTI/SCHB/ITOT and VXUS/IXUS. At some point you may find the wisdom and maturity to "accept what the market gives". Spend some effort on determining your optimal asset allocation and the rules for rebalancing. Then follow them. Do not change course in the heat of the moment, Stay the course with the plan you put together during a period of calm reflection,
I felt the same way before Trump started to go full isolationist. Recently, IXUS (~15% YTD) has been doing much better than SPY (~4% YTD). Doesn’t make up for years and years of underperformance, but going forward I do think there is some diversification benefit because the US and Europe now have divergent central bank (and trade) policies.
VXUS or IXUS. Currently world market cap is 62% US + 38% ex-US. Vanguard recommends 20%-40% ex-US.
You see how China barely sold off? This is why I sold my IVV for IEMG and IXUS ASHR is you want to be spicy I’ve got lottery ticket calls for this one
Those are funds that buy effectively every company on the market. Info on the idea and implementation: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund_portfolio You can do it with any number of funds, but with Blackrock would be ITOT, IXUS, and IUSB. Some discussion on why this approach: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Bogleheads%C2%AE_investment_philosophy Fund providers have created target date funds that implement this strategy, and these days they've gotten very cheap in terms of fees, which is great because for most people they can simply pick something from their brokerage called like "target retirement 2055" and it'll do basically the right thing, including maintenance and risk adjustments over time, with zero effort from the investor.
SPY up .2 IXUS up .3 IEMG up .9 Emerging markets have more upside than US stocks
VXUS and IXUS are basically identical, one is Vanguard and the other is Blackrock, right? I'm one of those weirdos that likes to hold from both as a really paranoid hedge. I'm already pretty good on VXUS and considering making future purchases on IXUS.
Hi Duble, The S&P 500 has done great the past several years and is a good choice. And I was lucky to get into NVDA right when it launched like a rocket a couple years ago. But past results do not indicate future performance. I recommend you diversify with a small cap fund and an international fund. Maybe 40% SPY and 30% each small cap and international. Vanguard’s VB is a good small cap based on the Russell 2000. Remember, MSFT and NVDA were once small cap. VXUS and IXUS are good international funds that exclude US companies (because you already own them in SPY). Most important for the next 30 years is to STAY INVESTED and keep adding to your investments. Even if you are only adding $20 a month, just make it a habit to keep increasing your investment. If the market drops 20%, that means your next purchase is on sale, 20% off!
Best bet is to vote with your dollars and divest from america completely. $IXUS 99% of the global market outside US.
I'm going to assume you're a US citizen located in the US. Correct market timing is... difficult at best, so general advice is to just get money in. Longterm it really doesn't matter much. If you find that difficult you can DCA your way in as a psychological hedge. Why the discussion of taxes? Is it because you're out of tax-advantaged space (if so, the rest of your portfolio is important)? Because this is for a shorter-term goal than retirement? If you want to target individual sectors, I think you're going to have to make those decisions yourself. Our opinions are already priced in. The easiest way to get broad global diversification is through VXUS or IXUS. If you want to target developed vs emerging, or large cap vs small cap, or both, the major etf providers have cheap funds for those; https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Blackrock_iShares has a good table if you scroll down a bit. If you're a factor investing person, Avantis also has interesting funds.
Gonna push back, but I do love this answer! If you long for stocks (which I personally enjoy), then do your research first. I looked at top funds across sectors and researched the key players, the ones that had the highest allocations. If I liked them (good performance, necessary good or service), yay. If I didn’t, I didn’t buy (ehem, tsla). Also, Buffett says invest in what you know. Pick stocks that you understand, that you can follow along with, so when something happens in the news, you know what to do with the stock. If that sounds overwhelming, then pick 2-4 etfs and just start the journey. I like SPLG, IXUS, SMH, FUTY.
Keep your spending under 3% of your invested assets (including trust funds yet to be delivered). Invest the bulk in equity index funds, with a reasonable split between US and International funds (VTI/ITOT and VXUS/IXUS). Keep about five years of spending in an appropriate short-term government bond fund. And don’t get married without a strong pre-nup. Hire a good CPA. And don’t really tell anyone about the wealth.
Makes sense for IRAs and 401(k)s, but not taxable accounts. You can't get the foreign tax credit with VT and BNDW not ideal for higher income types. IXUS seems better than VXUS for taxable accounts - higher percentage of qualified dividends.
You could add the US extended market (small and midcap) as well as ex-US developed and emerging markets. The easy was is just a single fund like VT, AVGE, etc. instead of the S&P 500. You could instead combine a cap weighted total US (VTI, ITOT) with an ex-US fund (VXUS, IXUS). If someone already has a S&P 500 fund (e.g. VOO), they could add extended market (VXF) and ex-US (VXUS).
Fair. I watch my ETFs regularly, so I can manage them if needed. If that feels like too much work, then a standard international ETF like IXUS is not a wrong choice.
>would it be beneficial to do 3:1 SCHF/SCHE? That is a reasonable approximation of what the ex-US market cap weight looks like. >or choose one. Have you considered VXUS or IXUS or similar? These combine developed and emerging into one, at market cap weight. >my biggest holding is SCHG Are you aware that despite recent history, it is the complete opposite corner of the style box that tends to do best in the long run, small and value?
You are worried over nothing. Millions of people do this every year with no issue. There are many confirmed reports online that VTI/ITOT and VXUS/IXUS were acceptable TLH partners.
Not a “blanket statement”. Comes down to convincing another human being, an IRS agent, that VXUS and IXUS or VXUS and DFAI are not identical enough to trigger a wash sale. And VXUS and IXUS has a much higher risk of an unsophisticated IRS agent saying it’s a wash sale.
Not a “blanket statement”. Comes down to convincing another human being, an IRS agent that VXUS and IXUS or VXUS and DFAI are not identical enough to trigger a wash sale. And VXUS and IXUS has a much higher risk of an unsophisticated IRS agent saying it’s a wash sale.
I would not like to try to have to prove to an IRS agent that VXUS and IXUS are different enough after being accused of a wash sale. I can very comfortably with DFAI and VXUS.
IXUS and VXUS are too similar and would risk triggering a wash sale in my opinion.
You could of also switched to IXUS or SCHF. DFAI is actively managed and is going to have a higher expense ratio.
Thank God I diversified out of VOO lol. Have a lot more in IXUS now and I'm doing way better than previously.
That's what I did. Slightly diversifying with BNDX but also buying BND right now since I can get more. If rates get cut the cost of these will go up. Figure I'm saving about $10 per share right now as I keep DCA-ing in. That and IXUS to better diversify. Has worked well here in the short term. Also invested in RNMBY about a year ago as the war in Ukraine continued. Never thought Trump would put so much pressure on Ukraine but he riled up the European defense sectors so I guess it worked out. Probably should've invested in some European Defense ETF in hindsight but oh well.
Seems overly-complicated with a lot of overlap and particular bets that you should have a reason for weighting. You have no international. I would consolidate all your ETFs into VTI, reconsider your individual stocks unless you really believe in those companies for some reason, and add IXUS or something similar.
Same. I used this downturn as an opportunity to diversify out of US markets. Used to be almost 100% US and realized with this downturn how risky my positions were. So I started buying lots of foreign stocks to diversify. Never really anticipated a single day of like 7-8% growth on IXUS though lol. But I'll take it.
Long-term I am. But this was a wakeup call to diversify my portfolio immensely. Prior to Trump I was about 98% US stock. Pretty much all VOO, heavy NVDA (bought at like a $10-20 cost basis pretty rapidly post CHIP act announcement), and the rest was various random stocks. Now I'm starting to diversify into foreign funds. I'm investing a lot into IXUS and will use that, and VOO, to loss harvest to minimize the impact of contractions on my total value.
Everyone keeps talking about US stocks This is a sell off across the board IXUS is down just as much if not more than SPY Literally every single stock is suffering because of this MF
I’ve been in plugging away in IXUS this entire time while SPY has been outperforming for probably about a decade. It has sucked for a long time. Now with the US turning isolationist there may be some diversification benefit with ex US funds. But who knows I still think Europe is going to be in a war in 5-10 years and can’t deal with the Houthis so I’m not too optimistic there.
Forget the IXUS/VXUS crap. AVNM and EUAD is the way.
VXUS is a standard as well as IXUS. I’m not buying them anymore but if you are into dividend plays VYMI and DIVI are nice. AVIV is a good international value play. Of course, AVDV is a good International small cap value ETF.
* Why have any dividend focus at all? * Have you considered either SWTSX or SCHB to combine SWPPX + SCHA into one? * You're currently taking on a tilt towards emerging markets compared to developed (market cap weight would be roughly 35% of stock as combined international, within that roughly 70-75% would be developed, the rest emerging). The 2 are fine, but if you want further simplicity and are willing to give up the emerging tilt, you could use VXUS or IXUS instead for your international coverage (Schwab went free to trade on ETFs, even those from other issuers, back in 2019).
I gotta say, I can't stand the fund name. It's why I dropped IXUS and got into WWWFX. Lol
What i find hilarious is that weeks ago, many were saying to diversify internationally via IXUS/VXUS etc. Many others shot that thought down because Big Tech brrr. Now they are panicking and wanting to or at least thinking about adding international to their portfolios.
Good on you for trying to get this figured out at your age. Here is some friendly advice that I urge you to consider, but please do your own research as well. With $3,000 monthly to invest, you're in a fantastic position to build wealth, but it's smart to be thoughtful about your approach. If I could start over at your age, here's what I would do: # The Core: Index ETFs (70-80%) I'd make diversified index ETFs the foundation of my portfolio. They give you broad market exposure while minimizing the risk of any single company tanking your investments. * Total US Market ETF (VTI or ITOT): 40-50% of portfolio * International ETF (VXUS or IXUS): 20-25% of portfolio * Bond ETF (BND or AGG): 0-10% depending on your risk tolerance This core approach gives you exposure to thousands of companies across different sectors and geographies, which significantly reduces your risk compared to individual stocks. # Individual Stocks (20-30%) With the foundation set, I'd allocate a portion to individual stocks you believe in. This gives you the opportunity to potentially outperform the market while keeping overall risk in check. Consider companies with: * Strong competitive advantages * Consistent growth in revenue and earnings * Reasonable valuations * Industries you understand or are passionate about Rather than chasing the next Nvidia, focus on quality businesses you'd be comfortable holding for 5+ years. # My Personal Strategy I'd implement a systematic approach: * Automatically invest in my core ETFs every month * Research individual companies thoroughly before investing * Resist checking my portfolio daily (this leads to emotional decisions) * Rebalance once or twice a year * Continue learning about investing through books and reputable sources Remember that consistency is far more important than timing the market. The monthly $3,000 commitment will benefit enormously from compound growth over time.
VXUS is more diversified than IXUS and provided a higher yield. Either is a great choice.
VT is still 65% US stocks. Is there something more heavily skewed to international? I want to diversify by adding etfs. Liquidating existing voo/spy holdings to rebalance will unfortunately result in a huge tax bill. I‘m looking at VEU and IXUS?
MY ROTH is now 50% REITs 20% IXUS 20% ETH/BTC 10% S&P/ other
[IXUS up another .5 if only you MFs listen instead of having regency bias](https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/1ixsczp/comment/mer9w5f/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
YTD IXUS: 6% SPY: 1.8% Keep buying overvalued tech stocks though!
Stop buying American stocks this country is an absolute shit show Stick to the rest of the world everything is undervalued in comparison Look at IXUS up .5 when the entire market is getting wrecked and it has amazing holdings with TSM as the core along with Tencent BABA NVO and SAP
I'm looking at VXUS or IXUS.
IVV 0% daily gain IXUS .55% daily gain This is the top for US stocks enjoy the neverending theta harvest
Tax-deferred: 85/15 with 60+% in US large-ish growth and tech specific ETFs, 10% in SCHD, and 15% in IXUS (nice little dividend). Probably need to rebalance the growth to dividends and non-US. 15% bonds in 5% LQD and 10% EDV. Will be looking to buy low on these for the foreseeable. Regular? Cash
1. 70–80% U.S. Stocks (e.g., VTI or SCHB) 2. 20–30% International Stocks (e.g., VXUS or IXUS) 3. (Optional) A small allocation to bonds or alternative assets if you want to reduce volatility. Some people prefer an all-in-one global equity fund (like VT), while others want to split U.S. and international. The choice depends on whether you want control over your U.S./international ratio.
You could stick to 100% VOO and end up just fine, first of all. However you are concentrated into US large caps only, and you’re recommendations for other funds is spot on. Id recommend some small cap for sure. Yes the SP500 has returned about 13% the past 10 years and even higher in the past 4 years, but keep in mind that long-term small caps have outperformed large caps to a tune of about 12% vs 8% annual return. Small caps have lagged large recently and I personally think they will catch back up to long term averages. At the end of the day, the largest companies can only grow so much and small caps are where there’s truly upside on return in the long term and these riskier small companies should be returning more. Also agree some international exposure is warranted, in January 2025 the US SP500 was outperformed by most other developed capital markets particularly the EU. Similar story to small caps where these have lagged the past 4-5 years but it’s good diversification to have especially with how high valuations are on US stocks right now (Market Shiller P/E is around 37-38 still, Dotcom bubble started at 41). Dividends arent a bad idea, but you’re young enough to skip them, I still personally do about 5% in schd (Im 28). Tech funds like QQQ will give you more risk and is good diversification, same with bitcoin as an inflation hedge. The one thing you never mentioned are leveraged funds. Now, personally Im not buying these at today’s prices (too high for me), but you can sprinkle in some $SSO (2x SP500) or TEXL (3x tech fund) to crank up your risk and return if desired. If you’re unfamiliar with leveraged funds, they are funds created to return some multiple of daily returns. So SSO for example will return about +2% on a day the SP500 is up 1%, but also same to the downside. When the market is way down (for me this was Spring 2020 and Fall 2022, I load into these by replacing about 40% of my regular SP500 allocation with the 2x. Finally - I think not doing like 5% bitcoin is a mistake. Id suggest this simple etf portfolio, this is similar to mine without individual stocks that I also do: 45% VOO SP500 20% AVUV or IJR Small Caps 15% VXUS or IXUS Broad International exposure 5% EMG Emerging Markets 5% QQQ or similar 1x growth tech fund 5% SCHD Dividends growth 5% Bitcoin Why I have the right to suggest this to you: Was a finance major, work in finance, advise for friends and family, and my 124% 5 year return is beating the 99% 5 year SP500 return currently using a similar strategy! (I did invest in NVIDIA in 2021, that’s mostly why Im outperforming though…). Happy investing! *This is not financial advice*
That’s actually literally what I do. 95% of my investing goes into VTI in my Roth. 5-10% of that into IXUS The other 5% of my money I put into an individual account just for fun. That’s the account I’m talking about here Thanks for this advice though. It’s important for people to hear
If you like what it's doing, then just replicate the percentages with cheaper ETFs. For Schwab these would be SCHB (US), SCHF (International) and SCHZ (bonds). Ignore small/medium/large cap splits in your current allocations, that's largely just smoke and mirrors to make it look like your roboadvisor is doing more work. Just invest in SCHB for US and call it a day. Every brokerage has their own versions of all-market index funds, I use iShares, which is ITOT, IXUS, AGG. Track roughly the same indices, charge roughly the same fees.
Newbie. My current portfolio. Should I move over to fidelity? 28m this is my current portfolio: 52.25% VOO, 9.5% IJH, 4.75% IJR, 28.5% IXUS, 5% BITO. Have been investing since Sept ‘21 through Acorns. Used them as intended. Set my portfolio to aggressive and forgot about it. 4 years later my portfolio value is $13,300 and I’m up 31% overall. • Taxable account • $1 monthly fee I have been thinking about switching over to fidelity and adjusting my portfolio to something more aggressive and growth oriented. I was thinking of something like: SCGH, VTI, IUS FZILX. New to investing, but these seemed like pretty solid ETFs. If not, I would love to hear recommendations on ones that I could look into to help build a better portfolio. My main reason for switching to Fidelity is that I don’t have a Roth IRA yet and was planning on opening one with a split of FZROX/FZILX. So wanted to go ahead and also switch my taxable account over. I also feel like my acorns portfolio isn’t as aggressive as I want it to be giving I plan to invest for the next 30+years and don’t mind taking risk until l hit a point where I feel I need to start being more conservative. Is it even worth me moving over to fidelity and completely changing my portfolio to like the one I gave above or should I just stick with the current one on acorns? I know there will be tax implications etc, but if I’m ever going to move over I feel like the time to do it is when my balance is relatively small. Sorry for long post. Hope it was easy to read at least lol
It's rather disheartening watching this rally, while IXUS and AMD are being left behind and represent some of my biggest holdings
I was somewhat tempted to use Acorns. I was going to have VOO, IJH, IJR and IXUS. Not a bad portfolio.
VXUS = Vanguard Ex-US I think it’s actually a good name. IShares does the same with IXUS
Dividends + Capital Appreciation = Total Return Total Return - Dividends = Capital Appreciation There's no free lunch. Despite this fact, some people believe that dividends are "a good thing" and some even base their entire investment strategy on them. Those people will, generally speaking, underperform over the long term compared to people who invest for total return via low-cost, total market index funds (e.g. VT, VTI, VXUS, ITOT, IXUS). Dividends are less tax efficient than capital appreciation because you realize the tax liability for dividends each year as they are paid, which reduces the amount of capital available for reinvestment. In addition, dividends make tax planning more difficult because they're forced income: You're paid the dividend when the company issues it, whether you want to receive it at that time or not. If you're an investor with a large tax-deferred balance that you want to convert using a Roth conversion ladder during the first decade or so of retirement, having a large amount of forced income from dividends can complicate that strategy. As for "guaranteed income" there's nothing guaranteed about dividends. They are not bonds. Dividend investors who held Kodak, Polaroid, Radio Shack, Washington Mutual, US Bancorp, AIG, JC Penny, Barnes & Noble, Rite Aid, and other beleaguered dividend favorites found that out the hard way. When those companies slashed the dividend, those hit the hardest were those who were retired, relied on those dividends for groceries, and saw both their dividend and their capital appreciation evaporate. The fact that the list of fallen Dividend Aristocrats is longer than the list of current Dividend Aristocrats reveals that the obsession on dividends is based on survivorship bias. The better approach is to invest for total return, using low-cost, total market index funds. You'll still receive some dividend income, because a total market index fund contains all of the dividend-paying companies as well as the non-dividend paying ones. But you'll have a more tax-efficient portfolio and have more control over the cash flows in retirement. When you want income, you simply sell some shares of the index funds. As long as you adhere to a prudent withdrawal strategy (e.g. the 4% rule) the capital appreciation over time will offset the capital consumed as retirement income. Invest for total return.
IXUS exposure is helping my port fly today
I swap between buying ITOT/IXUS, VTI/VXUS and SPDR funds for that reason. Probably not necessary, but it's some insurance against fraud.
Have you considered simply combining VOO/IJR/IJH into VTI or ITOT or SCHB? These 3 funds are all total US market style. They'll hold all 3 market cap segments at their respective weights. >International Exposure? I’ve heard mixed advice about adding international stocks. I’m currently 100% U.S.-focused. Is that okay for a Roth IRA, or should I be looking to diversify more globally? US only is single country risk, which is an *uncompensated* risk: one that doesn't bring higher expected long term returns. Uncompensated risk should be avoided whenever possible. Compensated vs uncompensated risk: * https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/uncompensated-risk/ * https://www.pwlcapital.com/is-investing-risky-yes-and-no/ (Bold mine): >Uncompensated risk is very different; it is the risk specific to an individual company, sector, **or country.** Many people try to use the excuse that S&P 500 companies do lots of business overseas, but that isn't the international coverage that actually matters. * https://www.dimensional.com/us-en/insights/global-diversification-still-requires-international-securities - Companies will act more like the market of their home country, so foreign revenue isn't the international exposure that actually matters * The purpose of the international holdings is to be covered during the orange periods of the graph here https://www.mymoneyblog.com/us-vs-international-stocks-cycles-outperformance.html Plus that's true of large companies in most countries. There are many market sectors where foreign companies are some of the key players and do lots of business within the US, but that doesn't mean we can go 100% IXUS. Going global can both help with returns and volatility.
>But what should we do? Properly diversify one's equity portfolio with international index funds like VXUS or IXUS. Geographic risk is uncompensated risk and is to be avoided via diversification. *See, e.g.*, Rick Ferri, *All About Asset Allocation* (2d ed. 2010).
International ETFs like VXUS, IXUS, IQLT and EMGF can improve diversification.
In the past, I have seen this portfolio swing drastically up and down. Each time it goes down, I think I should have cashed out when I was getting 30+% ROI. I know the "time in the market," "cash out when you have a better investing strategy or need," etc. I don't need the money now, and I don't have any other investment plans. But I don't want to regret not getting the 25% + ROI, and I'm unsure if this will be sustained. This is a genuine question: Should I continue to add recurring to this portfolio, cash out now, and put it in a bank with 5% returns until the next market drops, or invest in a different portfolio? Current gains: 26% return; portfolio: $258K Funds in acorns with daily $100 investing: VOO - $142K IJH - 25K IJR - 13K IXUS - 77K Thanks!
Skip the S&P. 100% VT and chill. VT provides you both US and ex-US (international) companies. Geographic risk is uncompensated risk, which should be avoided because (by definition) the expected return doesn't compensate the risk. So either add an international fund such as VXUS or IXUS to your VTI/ITOT/VOO/SPY or just go with a global index fund like VT.
Holy God. Please sell 95% of that and move it to IVV VT or similar with like some IXUS mixed in. I get the appeal of Intel but your entire inheritance in a single stock is pretty insane. At your age, aggressive is great. I’d say invest all or most of it in equities. But a single stock? I hope this is a joke.