VTI

FordF100_turbo

Is VTI basically the same thing

letitgo99

VTI/VOO/VUG and chill.

BobtheChemist

This is a Fidelity mutual fund. It has actually beaten the S&P by a small amount, even after fees, over the last 10 and 20 years. So its not a bad choice, and has likely done well. But it makes sense to diversify your account, and reduce fees over the long term, so spreading the money over several funds might be better long term, and in the event of a downturn. So he has made some money for you over the S&P, but may have also made more for himself. I prefer ETFs and to self manage my accounts, so I would just thank him for him suggestion and say to put it into the VTI. Or just take over the control of the account and manage it yourself. If you start with a few simple funds like VTI or VOO, you can slowly add more diversity as you research what you want to do. But so far, he has not appeared to put you into a horrible fund, or lost much i any money compared to VTI or such with that choice.

sparkyslammitt

My holdup with this has always been that you're selling all your losses and only holding gains and that is sort of hidden if you're not considering your future tax liability. Doing some quick calcs, you're left with $13,077.81 of gains. Taxed at 20%, you have a future liability of $2,615.56. Net you have $55,767.22 ($56,718.84 + 1,663.95 - 2,615.56). Whereas, with VTI, you'd have $7,166.51 of gains (some are divs so not exactly right), and a future tax liability of $1,433.30, for a net of $56,307.35, and a difference of +$540.12 compared to FidFolios. The difference in net in your case mostly comes down to the underperformance vs VTI which is probably random over time, though should drag due to higher management fee. From what I can find quickly, you are limited to using $3,000 of short term or long term capital losses as a deduction against ordinary income, so the more you're making using the strategy, the less relevant your ordinary income tax bracket is. If they used the losses to offset an equivalent amount of short term gains, then you're left with $6,144.70 of gains, and that's just straight up underperformance vs VTI. I am not an expert with these portfolios, so I could easily be missing something, but I've never been able to understand the positive in these strategies. Either way, I appreciate you sharing actual numbers.

ath1337

19% overall gain, with 7% of the portfolio in bonds/treasuries. Mostly in VTI, but individual picks of ARKQ, GOOG, BE, and Uranium ETFs helped beat the market.

Jemmo1

VTI for 90% and 10% ASTS (and hold that!) Dont go stock picking, stay away from options and especially leverage. Read up on alot

No_Cow_8702

VTI and call it a day

SpicyElixer

Cashing in on my individual stocks. Did really well last 2 years. Going back to VTI for now. Keeping my all Amazon shares, and half my Google shares. Might grab some meta. Staying away from crazy PE ratio stocks this year. Done with space stocks for now (where most my money came from last year). Shit feels like beyond bubbly to me now.

MassiveBoner911_3

Around 16%. Little less. I hold a LOT of VXUS which is international. Rest is VTI.

BenjaminDanklin1776

56% MP, LAC, LYNAS, FCX, LUNR, RKLB, LNG, VTI, VXUS. Im big into critical minerals, space, and energy.

clingbat

Lol go into /ETFs or /bogleheads and VT vs VTI+ VXUS comes up pretty much daily... Anyone can buy VT. I'm holding it in my Fidelity account without issue. Heck here's one from just a few hours ago... https://www.reddit.com/r/Bogleheads/s/BmoIdS4Hsg

GaylrdFocker

He made more money putting you in FAGOX. You don't need an advisor. Fire him and move your money to Fidelity, Vanguard, or Schwab and invest in VTI.

DarkDollarDocs

Your concern is reasonable. VTI is a low-cost, broad-market index fund, while FAGOX is actively managed with a much higher expense ratio. Over long horizons, costs and tax efficiency matter a lot, especially in retirement accounts. If your advisor is compensated based on AUM or fund selection, it’s fair to ask whether they’re acting as a fiduciary and how they’re paid. At minimum, I’d want a clear, data-based explanation for why an active fund justifies its higher costs versus a simple index approach.

GaylrdFocker

It's a great option. It's all US stocks. Don't overthink things. He wants you to invest in a front loaded fund with 1% expense ratio, and he probably gets a commission for it. As opposed to VTI which costs 0.03% per year

Valdackscirs

That depends on your goal, time horizon, risk aversion, other investments, and specific investment needs. VTI is a total stock market ETF, so it is pretty simple. If that is all you want then it is good for that after you consider the above items.

Chemical-Fun3692

Interesting!! I’ll have to investigate what the name of the money market is at Schwuab. I for sure wait to park my money and use it as a checking account with an APY growth. Regarding VT, can I buy that on Schwuab? Why don’t more folks talk about it? That’s what I wanted to get is both US and International diversified ETF all in 1! Does Schwuab have their own or is VTI for everyone?

oddlotL1zard

Do you think VTI is a good option?

Valdackscirs

If the only thing you want is to buy VTI then you don’t need an advisor.

sailphish

I’ve read a number of your comments and you seem a bit confused. A lot of the big funds (like VOO, SPY, VTI…) you can buy at any brokerage. You don’t have to buy VTI on Vanguard, you can buy it as Fidelity or Schwab or wherever. IMHO this is the best option. Vanguard has terrific funds, but Schwab and Fidelity are better platforms to deal with. I personally wouldn’t own any of the smaller proprietary funds (sometimes marketed as no cost, as they are all so cheap anyway) that are only available on Fidelity or Schwab, as it could force a capital gains event if you ever want to move brokerages in the future.

clingbat

Yes, in fact I think for Fidelity at least, you can actually get a check book and debit card to a CMA which is linked to your money market funds so you can freely swap money between the two (and your investments) and use the CMA essentially as a checking account. We don't do this, but it's an option. We just have our TD bank checking account directly linked to our MMFs. I doubt FZCXX can be set up in Schwab given its a Fidelity MMF, but you can always check, or they may have their own version of the same thing. No I mean VT. VT is vanguard's total world stock ETF that self balances US and international stocks across the entire globe (almost 10k stocks). I believe currently it's a 62% US / 37% international stock split. I can't think of a single more diversified single ETF that exists, hence me choosing it for my set and forget stock in taxable account. VTI is vanguard's total US stock ETF, so it lacks the international component (hence people pairing it with VXUS for international exposure).

MattieShoes

> however they don’t have that index fund SWPPX > /ETF No trade fees on ETFs so you could use any ETF you want. Back in the trade fee days, they offered $0 trades of IVV. > Schwab doesn’t have VTI You can absolutely invest in VTI at Schwab. > neither of these 3 brokerages use the term “index fund” but only have ETF. They all offer ETFs and mutual funds. "Index fund" is just a term for a fund that follows an index rather than trying to pick winners. It could be used for mutual fund or ETFs. > Are there any benefits to using one brokerage than the other? Not significant ones -- mostly comes down to preference.

Chemical-Fun3692

this is so smart! So essentially instead of having money in my checking account, I can have it sitting in FZCXX and it will grow like 4% APY or more? Why haven’t I done this years ago?!! So essentially I can have unlimited transfers between checking and FZCXX? And FZCXX is secured and low volatility? Also, can FZCXX be setup on Charles Schwab in a seperate account? When you say VT, you mean VTI?

danrennt98

I'm not sure what you mean VTI is on schwab as are other fidelity and vanguard funds, in addition to the VOO. Schwab is the best broker especially if you use their bank account which has literally 0 fees and they reimburse you for ATM fees.

maxpax43

+42%, this was my best year yet. Only have 4 stocks in my portfolio after simplifying in March: NVDA, GOOGL, VTI, and SOFI

HumanWoodpecker8216

You seem pretty knowledgeable, so I wanna ask you, if somebody was to invest in VTI, would they have favorable fees investing in a vanguard account as opposed to Fidelity or Schwab?

bazillaa

You can absolutely get VTI and a variety of s&p 500 ETFS through Schwab.

GayFIREd

It’s just VTI and QQQ

nakfoor

I'm not too familiar with what Canadian citizens have access to but if you can get broad US stock or broad western market stock funds with low fees, that's a good choice. Vanguard offers two funds called VOO and VTI that are popular. Most financial institutions offer their equivalent for it. Schwab has SCHB. Fidelity has FSKAX. Basically what we have seen is that these markets grow on average about 7% per year. Key point is that is over long periods of time which is why you have to be okay with volatility. It might grow 10% for a few years, then be down 20% for a year. Then 3% the next year..etc. 7% is the average over the 20-30 year span.

er824

Index Fund just refers to a fund that tracks an index instead of having a fund manager pick stocks. An Index fund can come in either ETF or Mutual Fund form. SWPPX, SWTSX, VFIAX, SCHB, SCHX, VTI, VOO are all index funds. There are no fees for buying/selling ETFs at Schwab. There are no fees for buying/selling a wide range of mutual funds at Schwab. Schwab doesn’t allow buying fractional shares of ETFs or setting up automatic periodic purchases of ETFs. They do allow both these things for mutual funds. ETFs tend to be more portable than mutual funds should you decide to change brokers. ETFs are slightly more tax efficient than mutual funds when held in a taxable account. This is because mutual funds are more likely to have capital gains distributions, though they tend to be minimal for index mutual funds so not a major concern. If you are ok not being able to buy fractional shares and auto invest I’d hold ETFs in a taxable account for the increased portability and tax efficiency. I’d use Schwab Index Mutual Funds in an IRA. Especially if you want to set up a monthly contribution and have it automatically get invested. These are minor differences… either ETFs or Mutualfunds are ok in both.

er824

You can buy VOO and VTI at Schwab for no fees. The only downside is they don’t allow purchasing fractional shares of ETFs. Schwab doesn’t have their own S&P 500 ETF, though SCHX is similar. They do have an S&P 500 mutual fund (SWPPX). SCHB is roughly equivalent to VTI. SWTSX is the mutual fund version.

DoctorMario1000

Ended the year up $355k holding VTI, tech stonks, and gold- here’s to you 2025 🥂 ✨ 💰

idontgottaclue

Take this with a grain of salt as I’m not an expert, just another person on the internet wanting to learn more about investing to secure my future…I’ve been with Schwab for over a decade. I’ve recently moved my private equities into ETFs to simplify things. My main fund is SCHB, which is a broad market fund that includes large, mid, and small cap companies. This would resemble VTI to the best of my understanding. The only issue I have so far is I always have money leftover after buying these ETFs. You can instead choose a mutual fund such as SWPPX (which tracks the S&P 500) or SWTSX (which is a total stock market index). It’s a dollar a share and you can buy whatever you want without having any leftover cash drag. I use the Schwab funds as I earn a low wage and the Vanguard funds are beyond my budget. I keep SCHB in my Roth and SCHX in my taxable (any leftover change after maxing my Roth goes here). I get a 1099 form every year only for my taxable account for any capital gains I had (selling a stock) or qualified dividends.

Tayler_Ayers

Buy and hold. 25%. Nvda, VTI and vxus in my Roth

NewPhoenixRising

I would stick with a three fund portfolio minus the bond fund. [https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund\_portfolio](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund_portfolio) I would do 80% VTI and 20% VXUS (they can be purchased just as easy at Fidelity or Vanguard, doesn't make much difference). I am guessing you currently have the funds invested in a taxable brokerage account at Schwab, which means you would have to sell the fund you have at Schwab since you want to make a portfolio change but that could incur a capital gains tax. Unless the fund you are currently invested in is terrible, you might also look into the option of keeping it and investing all future money in 80% SWTSX and 20% SWISX at Schwab.

AnselmoHatesFascists

Not great, about 11% because I had some Amazon and SGOV. Turns out I should have sold everything and bought VTI early in the year, but oh well, I’m not always going to be perfect every year.

therealjerseytom

VOO and VTI are *not* "low risk" especially over a short time frame. By all means stick with your brokerage, but you can use something like SGOV as a quasi-HYSA.

SirGlass

>or should I go low risk, and put it in VTI and/or VOO? While lower risk than individual stocks , VTI and VOO are still considered high risk , they are not "safe" investments in the short term.

Emotional_Ad3951

I'm up 6 figures on BTC alone. Call it what you want. I don't do shit coins. I have some into ETH and a small amount into SOL. Nothing else. Paid my taxes. Taken my profits and put it the profits into VTI and my retirement. May rejoin if BTC hits $50k. I think it remains in a transition period and we are still finding the intrinsic value with the ongoing adoption. Calling it gambling or a sure fire thing are both dangerous and foolish. Not being able to accept changes is also equally dangerous.

Feisty_Wind_8211

Your risk adjusted returns are likely similar, but yes VTI is a more diversified fund. If the market drops, VOO will likely drop more. 

isinkthereforeiswam

Ideally you rebalance once or twice a year between your big etfs. When VOO is doing great, you trim it and move the trim into your VTI that may not be doing as well. When VOO is doing poorly, you trim your VTI that may have other sectors and buy VOO. The other goal is risk aversion. VOO is heavy on tech /mag 7, and if those tank you could lose tons overnight. Meanwhile VTI isn't as heavily concentrated in tech. For the rebalancing, i think folks usually do VOO and an international fund thinking US and internationL may not move together (us stocks might go down but rest of world is ok, and vice versa). Bc the US is so big we usually saw intl go the way the US did. But other countries are gaining ground.

Similar_Particular40

It would be called VTI, VOO, or QQQM which are all large index funds that pull from diverse stocks

LAtoBay

If there is a correction the VTI will be less volatile than VOO or QQQ. VOO is heavily weighted in the magnificent 7 stocks. With less volatility and risk you are trading some upside but when the market corrects you will be better off than those holding risk on assets.

amg-rx7

I don’t understand why anyone would select QQQI when VT VTI VOO vug and so many other good performing ETFs exist. Personally I’d pick VOO and add some vug for a time frame such as yours

scruffy-hugger

QQQM would be a better comparison with VT and VTI. Lower distribution but greater total return than QQQI

Machine8851

Its because VTI is more volatile than VOO and its more diversified. However diversified doesn't mean higher returns.

legible_print

And VOOG has out performed VTI. And VTIAX has outperformed VOOG. And VXUS has outperformed VTIAX.

Machine8851

I like FXAIX, its cheaper than VOO, performs a little better than VTI

secondbushome

People generally choose VTI over a SP500 ETF for further diversification, not for outperformance. Yes, SP500 has been doing better bc the MAG7 makes up a slightly larger piece of the pie. And that’s been the primary growth driver for any US broad ETF in recent history. I don’t think there’s really any good reason to think small caps will ever consistently outperform the rest of the market esp if we don’t see those ultra-low interest rates again. But that still doesn’t mean diversifying into them is a bad idea. Who knows if tech will continue performing as it has or if it will suffer a targeted correction. Even then, the difference between VTI and VOO is relatively small, there’s no point in debating one scenario over the other.

LanceX2

66% VTI 34% VGT is what I buy in taxable

bigclick69

Impossible question to answer. 5 years isn’t really that long for equity investing. There’s no rule that says what out performed the last 5-10 years will continue, if anything history would suggest the opposite. Rather than comparing funds vs other funds or indexes and chasing the best, figure out how much money you need in the future and calculate the return you need to achieve that, and compare your results over the long term against this need. Typically, a diversified option (VTI) is more than enough to meet goals and carry’s much less risk than betting on a specific sector (eg. tech) to outperform on a gut feeling.

OdaNobunaga69

VT (Total world) which is even broader outperformed both VOO and VTI, 20 vs 17 vs 16, so strictly speaking for last year US small caps were underperforming, while the largest diversification of VT proven valuable

mrdungbeetle

I'm mostly in VTI. The underperformance of small caps is more like overperformance of the Mag 7. We have no idea if that bubble will ever pop, but if it does I will be glad to have some diversification. Also, when interest rates come down, small caps tend to thrive because they benefit more from cheap credit than large cap companies. More investors are willing to borrow money for riskier bets, and the companies themselves can more easily get loans to assist them in growing.

Different_Height_157

I have VTI and VGT to get some of the upside while having some balance when tech dips. I also use individual stocks for more upside but those can be short term. It always comes down to the level of risk you want.

Banned3rdTimesaCharm

Loss harvesting isn’t just selling losers, it’s selling losers and buying back into a similar equity. You bank the losses and don’t lose the opportunity for a bounce back. For example, if I’m holding VOO at -10k, I’d sell that and buy into VTI. On paper I have 10k less to pay taxes on, but when the market rebounds I have lost zero equity.

MattieShoes

The S&P 500 is an *index* -- just an on-paper listing of 500(ish) of the largest US stocks. They make sure all sectors of the market are represented, and they weight the stocks by market cap. S&P 500 funds just copy what that index says. There are MANY S&P 500 index funds. I don't know how many, but I assume without checking that there are well over 100 of them. For the most part, it doesn't matter which you choose because their holdings will be nearly identical, their performance will be nearly identical. The list (off the top of my head) of why you might care: 1. Expense ratios. These basically get subtracted from your return each year. SPY has 0.09%, VOO has 0.03%, so in theory, VOO should outperform SPY by 0.06% each year. But there's so much random noise because maybe they rebalance on a slightly different schedule, on different days, etc. that it's almost irrelevant for such low expense ratios. It is something to look out for if some financial advisor dude is pushing an S&P 500 index fund with like 0.7% expense ratios though, because that's insane. 2. ETF vs mutual fund. Again basically the same performance, but one might prefer one to another. 3. if mutual fund, are there trade fees? For instance, I have Schwab. I cannot trade Vanguard's S&P 500 mutual fund (VFIAX) for free. I can Schwab's S&P 500 mutual fund (SWPPX) for free though. So if I wanted mutual fund over ETF, SWPPX would be the one for me. If I didn't care about mutual funds, I could buy any ETF for zero trade fees, so IVV, VOO, whatever, all fine. 4. If I want to play options games like selling covered calls on my S&P 500 fund holdings, I'd want SPY, full stop. VTI is also an index fund, but it's a different index. Instead of including 500 of the largest US stocks spread across all market sectors, it has several thousand US stocks spread across all market sectors. But since it is also weighted by market cap, that means those 500 largest that comprise the S&P 500 also make up the majority of this other index VTI uses... three fourths? I'd have to look, but that's a reasonable ballpark. And the several thousand smaller companies tend to follow the same trends as those 500 largest ones, so their returns are... not identical, but nearly identical. In theory, VTI will outperform if small cap companies outperform those mega-giant companies, and VOO would outperform if those giants outperform smaller companies. But in practice, it's mostly just all cancelled out over the long term. TL;DR: VOO or VTI, doesn't matter.

crazybutthole

I used to think a balanced portfolio means sp500 / VTI and some international ETF. But right now that portfolio is super concentrated in the top 10 which is like 80% tech giants.

Electrical-Taro-4058

Quick PSA first: VTI is the plus-one who brings every single coworker to the fancy gala, not just the S&P 500 A-listers. Now, stop overthinking which fund to pick! Grab the lowest expense ratio option from your broker and set it on auto-pilot. Obsessing over that 0.015% gap between FXAIX and VOO is like arguing which brand of bottled water tastes better when you’re just trying to stay hydrated for 40 years straight. Go touch some actual grass instead of refreshing this thread every 10 minutes.

Electrical-Taro-4058

Quick correction first: VTI is total market, not S&P 500 — it’s the friend who invites everyone to the party instead of just the top 500 cool [kids.As](http://kids.As) for which to pick? Just grab the lowest expense ratio option from your broker that tracks the S&P 500. Overanalyzing the 0.015% difference between FXAIX and VOO is like arguing over which brand of bottled water tastes better when you’re just trying to stay hydrated long-term. Set it on auto-buy and go touch grass instead of refreshing your portfolio 10x a day.

GeneralStudy8636

Other than selling the returns from VTI every year to pay for expenses, what is a good option to replace VTI?

Vindaloo6363

You may want to sell when you retire. Income from VTI is a little over 1%. Most people will use 3-5% per year in retirement.

GeneralStudy8636

As much as I love to hold them forever, a lot of non-US residents, me included, would get taxed of up to 40% if we do pass away while holding U.S situs assets like VTI and U.S. stocks worth anything above $60K. Not many countries will have an Estate Tax Treaty with the U.S. Because of this, we eventually need to sell them all before we kick the bucket.

Accomplished_Kick845

SMH, VTI, VOO, VGT, QQQM. Save your money.

plasticbug

Given your investment time horizon (30+ years), I wouldn't buy SCHD in your Roth. Your Roth is the most powerful tool you have to grow your wealth. Rather than SCHD, I would buy VT, or mix of VTI/VXUS that will give you more growth than SCHD, even with all the dividend invested. For example, in the last 10 years, SCHD with dividend re-invested, had total return of around 11.5% a year. VTI did 14% in that time frame. That doesn't look like much difference, but assuming same rate of returns, over 30 years, you will have twice as much, if you went with VTI rather than SCHD. Once you near your retirement, and want more stability in your portfolio, you can sell off your positions with no tax drag (isn't tax advantaged account wonderful?) and rebalance.

teckel

VOO is the S&P500, as is SPYM and FXAIX. VTI is the total US market by weight, which is close to the S&P500, but not identical.

cfaatwork

You don’t need SCHD at your age, your focus should be on total return, i.e., dividends PLUS capital growth. You’re unnecessarily omitting non-dividend paying stocks. Look at VTI/SCHB to capture the broader market. SCHD may make more sense if/when you may actually need to rely on dividends in 30+ years. You’re also heavy in US-only stocks. This is always a debate but I believe you should have some weighting in developed/emerging markets, like VEA & VWO. This year is a good example of international outperformance relative to domestic.

stbloc

Why not just go VTI and throw the whole market in one fund vs 500? That to me seems to eliminate a bit more risk. I personally in retirement looking to do a 70/30 blend. In my 70% I was thinking g 50% VTI 25% VUG 25% VO.

ElectricOne55

I've been doing the same going from individual stocks to VTI and VOO.

retirement_savings

It doesn't really matter. Go with VTI if you're not sure.

er824

VTI is not an S&P 500 fund, its a total market fund. It doesn't really matter. VOO is a fine choice. As long as the expense ratios are similar they are al about the same.

No_Skirt_4689

I did. Sold a shit ton of puts post-Liberation Day and am 100% invested in VOO/VTI. 

secondbushome

The short of it, SoFi is planning on paywalling benefits that used to come free when direct deposit is used. Some of these benefits include the 1% match on Taxable investing and 2% on IRAs. It's going to be $10/mo starting in April. I'm not happy with this change but whatever, SoFi is a business. Personally I'm going to take advantage until it happens then switch to RH when I start my Roth deposits again. I'm still using SoFi as a bank but most of my money is goes to investing so they are losing my business in that sense. The benefit of RH Gold's margin is that the first $1000 is free to use. Normally margin has interest fees you owe on it. This means you could just buy something safe like SGOV and use the dividends to help pay most of the Gold fee. I'm planning on using it with what I normally buy for my Roth (VTI, VYMI, SPMO) so ideally I should be getting steady gains each year from the grand without taking too much risk.

Heyhayheigh

So at your age, you should be ok with more risk. But VTI is fine. It’s basically the same. I’m twice your age and I buy QQQM weekly and don’t think about it. I have fun on the side, invest in things in particular. But the shoe money is the auto weekly. If you do that you will be fine. Don’t rely on self discipline, set to auto. As to what your worries are: you won’t know for 20-30 years in the future brother. Best of luck.

BarefootMarauder

Ouch. Those were tough stocks to hold, especially this past year. Stick with low-cost total market index funds like VTI and VXUS. If you're going speculate, especially on stocks like MSTR, do it only with money you're willing & able to lose.

Inevitable_Pin7755

At 21 the biggest advantage you have is time, not picking the perfect ETF. VTI is already diversified across the whole US market, so if an AI bubble does deflate, you are not concentrated in just one theme. QQQ is great but it is much more tech heavy, so it will swing harder both up and down. If you are nervous about timing, one option is to split it. Put most into VTI for long term stability and a smaller portion into QQQ if you still want growth exposure. Another simple approach is to invest the 15k in chunks over a few months so you are not stressing about one entry point. No one knows what 2026 looks like, but staying invested in a broad fund beats sitting on cash long term. The worst move is usually doing nothing because of fear.

CherryRoutine9397

At 21 your biggest edge is time, not timing. If this money is long term (10+ years), VTI is a perfectly fine choice. Worrying about bubbles is normal, but sitting on cash because you’re scared of a crash usually hurts more than it helps over decades. If you’re uneasy about dumping it all in at once, split the difference. Put half in now and dollar cost average the rest over 6 to 12 months. That’s more about managing emotions than maximizing returns, and that matters. QQQ is more concentrated and more volatile. Higher upside, bigger drawdowns. If you’re already nervous about AI risk, it might not match your temperament even if returns end up higher. The real mistake at your age isn’t picking the “wrong” ETF. It’s waiting too long to get invested or constantly changing strategy based on headlines. Pick a simple plan you can stick with, automate future contributions, and stop watching the market daily. Consistency will matter way more than which ticker you chose.

Emotional-Power-7242

VT does not qualify for the foreign tax credit as it is not currently more than 50% international equities. So holding VTI+VXUS is slightly more tax efficient. You will get the foreign rsx credit for VXUS. You may have to do a little rebalancing (just once yearly is fine) to maintain the correct ratios.

BarefootMarauder

Nobody can predict the future, but you're 21 and VTI is an excellent total market index fund. You have a whole lot of time on your side.

FragrantImportancee

The WBD rally surged from +22% to +112%, utterly insane. Rolling profits into VTI was the smart move to lock in gains. When you buy a stock everyone despises, people call you crazy; but when it soars, they pretend they saw it coming. Rebounding from a 40% drawdown to finish at a yearly high is no small feat. Enjoy this victory, you've earned it.

FuzzyArachnid8537

Dude just go QQQ/VTI 50/50. Keep it simple. Stays growth oriented with way less craze.

jvick3

I even left out dividends. VTI has a dividend of about 1.1% compared to VXUS 3.2%.

jvick3

They’re nearly even last 6 months: VTI 11.3% to VXUS 9.9%. But in 2025, VTI did 17% to VXUS 29%. Do you really think US is always gonna beat international? There are lots of periods where it doesn’t.

jvick3

2025 has entered the chat. VXUS had much higher returns than VTI

wegster

Look - I do think you're getting \*wrecked\* by some of the comments, but they're also not wrong. You're background whining about more or less being an incel and 'woe is me,' before the market losses, and I get it - life can be a bitch. However: 1. You're young. You've got plenty of time to improve your life and to make better choices. 2. You're employed. A ton of people aren't - a someone who has been hiring in tech over the past years, it's been damned obvious the entire market (including hiring in AI unless you have a \*very\* special/unique pedigree (e.g. leaving Deepmind or a few others) has been utter crap for at least 3 years now. 4 years ago, couldn't get submissions. 2.5-3 years ago would get 300 submissions in 2-3 days. Make yourself seen in a \*useful\* way at work. 3. I see you've already posted about 'maybe coming back in a bit and trying again' - this doesn't sound like 'lesson learned,' it sounds like 'once I have enough money to gamble, I'll do it again.' It's your call, but hey, S&P is up 18% or so and VXUS even more - you could have taken the cash, or profits and dumped 90% of it into VTI or SPYM/VOO and VXUS or DFIV and had - <something>. I won't even ask if you've got retirement accounts, but there's a reason for the mantra of emergency savings, pay off high interest debts, max retirement allocations, etc. before brokerage or trading accounts. RE: no friends, no dates, blah blah. Try to take a look at yourself from the outside. Are you obsessed with trading that any convos you have are about that, or do you actually listen to other people? Do you give monologues or actually interact when you engage with others? Do you bathe, shave, wear clean clothes, etc. ? These are all things you can work on. Look at Meetup groups or equivalents, hopefully for something besides options trading. Get out of the house/apartment/etc. It's ALL work, man, but the endless 'woe is me' is a self-perpetuating cycle, and even real friends can get tired of hearing about it if everything they get from you is negatives. You can take lessons from the past, but nothing good comes of obsessing over it as it can't be changed, but you can change in how you look at things, and plans for the future. If you want to jump back on the options train, how about limiting it to for example, 10% of your holdings max, no matter what happens? It's all on you if you take any sane lessons away from this, and use it to improve your own future, or stay in the 'woe is me, maybe I get fired, no one likes me' mentality. And you're not the only one - many of us have had serious ups and downs in their lives, and had to 'adjust' as to 'now what?' I've moved across 10 states or so not knowing a soul - a whole lot of lonely 'new starts from scratch' with accompanying moments of loneliness and 'wtf am I doing?' at times. Came damned close to losing a house, temporarily lost a career in one of the big crashes, but you don't give up - you take the lumps, the lessons learned, and move the F on. Good luck!

ZestycloseAd9040

Felt it was undervalued . Lot of confidence in them long term. Beyond that, I plan to put 7500 in next week and get into an SPMO, SPY, VTI. The original plan was 25% in each but I felt adp was undervalued.

throwawayiran12925

1) VTI and chill is not my style of investing, it's the style of investing people suggest to babies on the internet who can't google search 2) If someone has significant wealth and can't take the time to educate themselves on basic personal finance enough to find an acceptable investing strategy, I don't respect them. Yeah let the financial advisor take 1-2% every year. Just go do whatever he tells you to do. Invest in some random mutual fund he makes a commission off that you need to call him and pay a fee every time you want to make a transaction. Why not? Better yet, just set the money on fire. Then you don't have to learn how money works at all!

No_Housing_4210

Im sure you are, so are the other people in this sub that reply some version of "fire your advisor, VTI and chill". Yes ideally everyone could stomach a ton of risk without blinking but that is not everyone. Telling someone that isnt like you to try your style of investing is going to turn out horribly for them if they dont have the knowledge or stomach for it. You and other people here might not blink seeing your life savings drop by a third or more, a ton of people will and they will panic sell if they cant stomach it.

PinPsychological82

Lol. I would rather just hold VTI over ADP. What made you put all 7,000 in one stock? Also congratulations on contributing to your Roth!

dimsum_eater

Currently: \~85% equities (93% of those equities in VTI equivalents; 7% of those equities in QQQM). \~15% in cash equivalents (high-yields savings account, treasury bills/notes, money market accounts, etc.). Holding <1% in cryptocurrency (BTC, ETH). Contributing same for 2026 and letting market do its thing (no plans on intervening/rebalancing).

UwU_MilkDrop

I would stick with VTI + VXUS if you already have a large amount in VTI, especially in a taxable account. VT is convenient, but tax-wise it doesn’t change things dramatically.

BackstrokingInDebt

- VT: this is certainly easier however you are then at the mercy of the index methodology rules. Vanguard replicates the FTSE all world index. - VTI + VXUS: requires some maintenance from time to time (maybe annually if not every 3-5 years) along with a “plan”. By plan I just mean set a default target like your 80/20. The benefit is you get to set your own risk metrics here when it comes to US vs world balance. - for example I do 2 funds to keep a different mixture to the world index. The reason is historically US tend to account for maybe 45%-50% of the market cap. Due to the sharp run up in the last 5-6 years, now US cap accounts for ~70% and I view that as out of balance. So I use 2 funds to bring the allocation back down about 50% target US vs world. - it also allows me to take a view for the short term like lowered US exposure to 40% since beginning of 2025 which helped out a lot this year because of the outperformance of international markets.

Turbulent-Push-4657

Actually you are very good at it but couldn't overcome the greed. I have gone from $850k to $988k and then dropped to $690k in an attempt to cross the million mark. I am upset like you and irritated on myself. But will not trade till the anger is over. I am near retirement so this loss hurts but I stopped before it fell below US average retirement savings. A few things to note. 1. Do not chase a target number like you did towards $100k and fell for a million. These totals are a side effect, instead focus on winning and risk management. 2. Maintain at least two accounts. One is for active option and the other for saving the profit. You started only with $500. When reached some celebration number, say $3000; move $1000 to the profit keeper account and store in VTI NTSX like investment. That way you have preserved some to restart without putting more. When you get to $50k, move $5k to that savings account from option. You are young, so can keep all in stock. 3. You saw that option can gain like crazy in a bull market. Just wait till you are comfortable again. If you could win all the time...., realize that you are just a trader without risk management skills. Read on that. Not many can convert $500 to $50k+, so be proud, but it's a side gig, not your career, or entire life. So, relax.

InjuryEmbarrassed532

Or just get VTI and don’t focus on value trash.

resilient2

Look at NATO and EUAD if you like defense/aerospace. This would diversify your portfolio towards Europe. There's also a new EU ETF called wisdom tree WDEF. Also KDEF holds Korean defense. Importantly you could look at XAR, UAV and JEDI, which hold drone tech companies. I also like Rolls Royce (RYCEY in the US). I also like the solid VTI/AVUV advice (see VT as well). I don't invest in those other sectors you listed.

Rich_Foamy_Flan

What in your research tells you that the timing is right for equal weighting these sectors across the board? Your sectors entail a cyclical nature as well as commodity risk (energy). Regarding financials, I think this will continue to be an interesting sector as many feel we are looking ahead to some serious credit headwinds. Even if the sectors do well, it looks like our considering individual stocks also - I would do far more research if this is your route. Equity research analysts dedicate their entire lives to *sub*-sectors just to have an idea of the leaders and laggards are… and they bat far from 100%. Picking stocks is the furthest thing from set and forget in these sectors. Again, the cyclical and commodity driving nature of some of these sectors make it difficult to pick the single best horse long term. Stock picking means tracking closely and culling winners and losers based on new 10ks and company reports. I’d strongly consider VTI as a replacement for all of this, and just layer in the sector etfs to weight your portfolio towards where you think the growth is. But even this isn’t set and forget as you’d want to time the sectors for their growth phase… which, again, if these sectors are just going to stay static and a consistent, equal weighted part of your portfolio… just buy the whole market with VTI, perhaps tilt to small Cap value with AVUV, and forget about it lol

SeaEconomist5743

Up 30% on VTI having bought during tariff meltdown, and +300% on TMC. Thank goodness because who knows what the hell 2026 is going to bring 🤷‍♂️💀

broncoelway100

Snagged Goog and NVDA in April also sold TSSI at a 110% gain on average. Only 10% of my portfolio is in individual stocks. My Roth says 26% return. Rest was index funds majority in VTI. Value index funds underperformed but I will maintain my allocation.

The5thRedditor

I feel like VOO and VTI and the SCHD of 25/26 It is a great investment.

SirGlass

Lets say some how index funds were no longer a thing, you either had to pick stock or use active managers who picked stock Not much would change, as a whole people in aggregate would probably be invested much like someone who buys VOO/VTI Some people complain its too tech heavy , but honestly ask people if they hold any individual stocks, and the ones that do tend to be holding nvidia , amazon , apple, microsoft , meta and google

boyinahouse

Trust me, no one is investing in VTI. You're on reddit so you think they are. I am in the medical field, and most of my friends are doctors, as are most of my acquaintances. None of them know about index funds to the extent that you think they should.

thanos_was_right_69

Ideally, you wouldn’t put 100% into VOO/VTI. You would want to mix in international funds and bonds. If you do that, it should cushion the blow from a US recession