VTI

LectureForsaken6782

Oh right, i know divies aren't free...but thanks for the note on VTI...I didn't know that's how it worked

IndexFundPhil

LMT and NOC are solid companies but just a heads up — dividends aren't free money, the share price drops by the dividend amount on ex-div date. both of these are already in VTI at market cap weight, so a total market fund gives you the same exposure without the single-stock risk. worth considering if you're aiming for long-term

Malprin

VOO / VTI and chill. Maybe mix in a little world or international ETFs if you want. Time is your biggest asset right now.

ra__account

> my Dividend portfolio is up over 120% in 4.5 years Sure, what's in it? VTI and VOO are at 66.55% and 70.80% during that time period, so you're either very lucky or a mad genius. Or full of it, given that every specific stock you mentioned has underperformed index funds the past 4.5 years. VERY badly in the case of P&G and AWR. https://schrts.co/FQEzcAUi (as a note, this includes DRIPing the dividends at a 0% tax rate)

JimiForPresident

If “we” is your portfolio, then sure, it’s possible. But SPY and VTI are down less than 1% from June 2nd all time highs.

JRshoe1997

Index funds. VOO and VTI when you’re just starting. Good on you for starting so early!

2plus2_equals_5

Total market index funds. VTI/VXUS or VT

jvaritek33c

She should stick to non-sector specific index funds until she knows enough to make that call herself for her own risk profile. VOO WAS my tech-exposure recommendation as opposed to the true conservative answer which would be VTI until she knows enough to specialize In short, I agree with you, but due to her young age I feel it's better to keep it maximally diversified while she uses the time to learn about her specific investment style Maybe she's a value investor, maybe a growth investor, maybe she ends up selling theta to option freaks But for now she's a 15 year old with homework and friend group drama and everything that comes with being a teen and QQQ can swing a lot for a new investor and comes with its own drama of "is it a bubble?"

ofesfipf889534

Open a Roth IRA and buy VTI

vertigo88

You don’t. Just buy VT/VTI/VOO/QQQ or some mixture and flavour and chill.

shitbergfuckstick

VTI and get high...

user4443337

What about using funds like Dimensional and Avantis that have shown to beat the indexes with flexible trading and implementation? I don’t own DFUS, but it has beaten VTI over time. DFAX has beaten VXUS, they’re very similar but they try to have a slight edge. Don’t own those funds though - it’s not a free lunch and it is some risk. But they do estimate a tiny amount of gains for the patient, flexible trading as opposed to being forced into the index rules. https://stockanalysis.com/etf/compare/dfus-vs-vti-vs-dfax-vs-vxus/ Of course this is a short time period and they can underperform, but with all their research they totally could edge out the market over time.

FewCinnamon

I spent days trying to learn. Eventually I realized I probably can't beat or time the market, so I just ended up investing into VTI + VXUS

viperex

You know damn well OP isn't talking about VTI. Just because the overall market is going sideways doesn't mean some sectors aren't in a pullback

_BearHawk

You're arguing against a strawman. I'm not saying yolo your entire portfolio into penny stocks. I'm saying when you're 25 and your net worth is $30k, allocating a small percentage to higher-risk/higher-reward plays makes sense precisely because of the asymmetry. The expected value calculation changes when you have 40 years of compounding ahead of you. Yes, most individual picks underperform. But the downside is capped (you lose the $5k, which you can re-earn in a couple months of saving) while the upside is lifechanging. That's not reckless, that's just math. Nobody is saying don't also have index funds as your core. But telling a 25 year old to put every dollar into VTI and nothing else is optimizing for median outcome at the expense of any shot at an exceptional one.

PomegranatePlenty110

I have, I’m not huge into the market, and kind of set it forget it. I was thinking 70% VTI, 20% VXUS and 10% BND.

jabs09

Low cost index ETF like VTI/VOO it’s better that way

MegaWeinerFarts

VTI

ra__account

People invest for income, people invest for medium term purchases like a house in 10 years, people invest for retirement. And other things. Knowing what you're trying to do is important to give accurate advice. If you're investing for retirement, you should not be selling. You buy VTI/VOO or equivalent and you sit on it until retirement. You want to move as much of it as you can into a tax shelter. Are you legally documenting any of what income you do have? That's a requirement to have either an IRA or self employment 401(k).

whitenoize086

Usually telling them to go VOO or VTI doesn't work out cause what if the crash comes. I start by getting them to open a brokerage and go full SGOV. Then remind them of the VTI gains comparatively over time.

Delicious_Bicycle527

I’m thinking the SPY has many hidden costs that don’t get advertised. For instance being forced to buy at a high because every index piles in at the exact same time when something is added to the SPY. …. Basic supply and demand shock is a major expense to VTI and others.

LanceX2

yes. VTI is up 10% by July. "substandard"

milkplantation

Nothing will survive a true crash. Outside of short term treasuries, everything will get crushed. A market correction is inevitable, but we also can't predict the cause or type of market decline, so it's difficult to forecast which ETFs will fair better. As an example, VOO's valuation is very rich, while VXUS has a lower valuation. Logic would suggest that VXUS is priced for more growth over the long term, but few could have predicted the current issues in the Middle East. Global and emerging markets are more sensitive to fluctuations in oil prices than the U.S., and accordingly, when Hormuz was shut down, VXUS was hit harder in the drawdown. So, as the saying goes, "diversification is the only free lunch in investing." With that said, you could buy the whole market with 80-90% of your portfolio in something like VT total world ETF. Or, you could mix VTI and VXUS to a ratio that suits you. It's also worth noting, though not an ETF, Berkshire Hathaway is a diverse holding company and stock with the most downside protection. They have 400 billion dollars on the sidelines in the event that a crash does occur. They also have a floor in how far the stock can actually fall as they buy back their own shares with that 400 billion if the price decreases enough. They also hold a lot of recession proof businesses like railways and energy companies. The stock tends to underperform the market during a bull run, of which we're currently in, so you will have to accept less portfolio growth in the near term in exchange for that downside protection. One last note, keep your cash in a high-interest savings account (HISA) or buy short term treasuries (T-Bills). Both HISA's and T-Bills are often called cash equivalents. They'll mitigate the capital loss caused by inflation while giving you modest returns with zero downside risk. SGOV is an ETF that acts like short term treasuries, paying you out with a dividend by holding government debt. Look into how this works. It adds up.

RichardKowalski1

Honestly most people asking this end up buying VTI or similar anyway. Just skip the year of research.Low expense ratio and broad market coverage is basically all you need for ETFs. Individual stocks are their own game, you actually need to understand the business. My cousin spent 2 years reading finance books before he just gave

Apart-Selection5680

All ETFs will decline in the event of a crash. Diversification can help only to an extent. I would split it this way - 30% VTI, 20% VTV, 25% VXUS, 25% VUSXX.

Proud_Possibility256

Your advisor is feeding off of your mother's money, he does not care about you. VTI is your answer. 

MenopauseMedicine

The advisor will suggest investments upon which they get a commission in addition to the fee you're already paying them regardless of the performance of that investment. After ensuring you have an emergency fund. Open a Schwab account, put all your money it, buy VOO or VTI. You just saved a lot of money.

sexyshadyshadowbeard

Actually, you should invest in VOO or VTI or SPY because you don’t understand. It’s investing in stocks in its simplest form for a novice investor. Most on here suggest VOO because it’s the lowest fee structure of all of these very similar investments. It’s also the index to measure any advisors worth (ie is s/he beating this index?).

OutspokenLurker

If the advisor charges $300/year, probably OK if he's checking every few months like that. But why even have an advisor? Just put it in VOO or VTI and so some self-study over the next 20 years while it grows.

DrEtatstician

Just dump the money in VTI and forget

WhiteLotus_1776

Managed accounts always lag and you lose tons of money in their fees over 40 years. Get rid of that. Also Robinhood sucks, move to either Fidelity, Schwab, or Vanguard. 70% VTI / 20% VHUS / 10% is how I have my teenage son’s Roth IRA and it’s done great

GatorBo69

It’s all individual stocks, over 200+ stocks so that way there’s no expense ratio (since I’m obvs paying them, lol) I’m pretty impressed with their choices but have to admit I would NEVER have picked what they have.. They obvs have strong positions in the Mag7 stocks, but also BP, Amex, Lilly, ASML, CAT, Coca Cola, Citi, I mean I could go on.. Stocks from S&P, Dow, Nasdaq and spread fairly evenly across recognizable names, but they change their positions based on the market and trends… My portfolio isn’t heavy in any one sector, which I actually like, but I can’t deny the performance is astounding. Surprisingly I have no positions in RKLB or SpaceX as of now, but I did start my own brokerage account that only has like $115k in it where I try to “beat Fisher” but have never been able to come close. I basically follow the standard playbook that most people use: 50% VTI, 30% VXUS, 20% VOO, but I recently opened a $40k position in FSELX at the beginning of the year that has been performing amazingly, especially since I opened it in the middle of March, lol. I try to always have $100k in liquid cash in my HYSA so I can jump into a position during a market downturn. Trump made a pattern in his first term that I have been able to benefit greatly from, last year when he announced the tariffs I threw all of my $100k over to Fisher, and then this year when I saw he was getting ready to do the same thing in late January with the Iraq war I asked Fisher to exit my positions, gave them $60k and asked them to wait until March to reinvest, and that’s when I used the other $40k to open my own holding in FSELX.. But I’m not ballsy enough to do what you did!! And I gotta say, it will most def pay off, bc we have never had a President that has manipulated the market more, and I absolutely love it, lol

Particular_Maize6849

If you have any high interest debt (i.e. credit card debt), put it towards that first. If you don't have any savings at all, put it in an HYSA that you will try to build up to at least a months of expenses. If that's all taken care of, only then start to invest. Put it in VTI or VOO or something. Don't pick individual stocks.

CryptoSamia

I mostly just hold VTI so I get all of them anyway lol. but if i had to pick I'm with you on google at the top, youtube alone is insane and nobody talks about it enough. I'd probably swap meta up though, they print money on ads. nvidia I'd put lower just cause everyone already expects perfection from it, feels like a lot is priced in. and yeah tesla last, its barely trades like a normal stock. Apple idk, I'm kinda meh on it but I have no reason on that other than I don't like their products so it's personal

DoinIt4DaShorteez

No, VTI and VXUS are fine for a majority of your portfolio. SMH gives you plenty of aggressive growth exposure.

Dazzling_Repeat_3950

VOO vs SPY is basically Coke vs Pepsi, you’re splitting hairs at that point. Pick one, set up automatic contributions every paycheck, and don’t touch it for 10 to 20 years. If you want to get slightly fancier while still lazy, some people do 80 percent VOO and 20 percent VXUS for international, or just grab a total market fund like VTI and call it a day.

AndyMilonakis717

Dude should be in VTI

InvestingNerd2020

First I want to congratulate you and your father for starting on this pathway. Too many people are scared to invest. Nowadays it is a lot easier to do so, and the way to grow wealth long-term (5+ years) has been well refined. 2 good books to read that helped me a lot are: - Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J Stanley. - I will teach you to be rich by Ramit Sethi. Lean about different retirement accounts (company sponsored and individual ones), active vs index funds, and ETFs vs mutual funds. Accept that investing into most individual stocks is far worse than a collection of stocks (index ETF or index mutual fund). The only exceptions are high growth stocks that are literally effecting an economy (Tesla, Google, or Nvidia). Also, the most popular funds are not always the best to apply in all situations. Mindlessly following VOO and VTI isn't the best thing to invest into in every account type. Some other investments have lower expense ratios, better automation, can be less difficult with brokers that don't offer fractional share investing, or better suited when turning on the breaks in retirement. Zero expense ratio funds with good performance are around. The only things I would have done differently, would have setup a HYSA sooner and invested into a Roth IRA sooner with my tax returns. However, the 2000s was a bad decade to start with far more limitations and fees. This generation has it far too easy, which I am happy for them. Just take full advantage of it. Avoid brokers with bad customer service (Robinhood and E*Trade). Fidelity, Charles Schwab, Vanguard, or SoFi are the best choices for long-term investing with good to decent customer service. At your age and using a custodial Taxable brokerage account, just get started with ETF SPYM. Lowest expense ratio for a good ETF and it follows the S&P 500 index. The S&P 500 index requires all the stocks in it to have 4 straight quarters of profits, so only winners.

youngishgeezer

I hope you’re investing this in an IRA. If it’s in a traditional brokerage you should consider splitting your VT investment into the US portion and non US portion by buying VTI & VXUS instead. It slightly lower fees, but more importantly will let you reduce your taxes on the foreign fund distributions. But really just aim to max out your Roth IRA every year and buy VT. $100 per month is a great start.

RichardKowalski1

Put it all in VTI or a similar total market index fund and forget about it. Don't try to pick individual stocks at this stage, the expense ratios on broad index funds are basically zero and you get the whole market. The one thing I wish someone told me at 16: stop reading financial news, it makes you want to do things to your portfolio when doing nothing is usually the right call.

D1rtyH1ppy

I think full port GOOG is a good move. I'd sleep better at night with VTI, but that's just me.

UnfairDiscount8331

Do you think I’m being a little too safe sticking to VTI and VXUS?

Thermogenic

One thing I’ll add is VT is a bit inefficient in a taxable account. In a taxable account you may be better off with a blend of VTI and VXUS to have roughly the same coverage but capture some of the tax benefits of foreign dividends. VT traditionally does not have enough in foreign investments to be eligible for the foreign tax credit.

plshelpmebuddah

VTI is \~1.6% off ATHs lmao. If there's a real correction, there will be so many tears in this sub JFC.

madhattr999

If the price doesn't drop in 6 months, then there's no bag being held. The relevance of it being float-adjusted is that significant time is elapsing to discover a truer price. The insiders' shares are not on the market, and not reflected in VTI.

blindnlearning2see

Just put 10% of your pay when paid into VOO (or whatever VTI, etc.). For most people this is twice a month.

Sufficient_Habit5091

Again you are reframing into a straw man. No one is saying that isn't VTI's duty. What OP was stating was if SPCX is being dumped onto VTI bagholders from insiders. And you're response is "it's float-adjusted" which is completely irrelevant as that will change soon to 40% and then 100% next year. Sure if it tanks a lot then we can all say "no problem". But if it doesn't the argument holds.

madhattr999

I don't really see it as moving the goal posts. VTI has a duty to replicate the performance of the total market, even if that includes stocks that aren't fairly-valued. I very much agree with you that its problematic for insiders to be dumping shares onto the public when the stock price is being manipulated to be higher than it's worth. I don't think the solution can be that Vanguard creates that solution (whether its some special exception to exclude SpaceX or something else).

FistEnergy

VTI

drew-gen-x

In fairness the whole world economy & markets have pumped up by money printing. But that's why when I am asked if I am concerned that $VXUS is being propped up by Samsung, ASML, TSM, and SK; I say yes. But those stocks make up less than 10% of the market cap of $VXUS vs $VTI being at 37% tech/Mag 7 stocks. Everything will get hit if this bubble pops. But I don't think people are looking at what is in what they own and are buying. This is what people are missing about today vs dot com. It wasn't the shit tech stocks that crashed the market. It was that everyone owned the same 6-10 stocks and they made up over 35% of the $SPY. If everyone owns the same damn stocks and they all start to fall then who is gonna buy when everyone is selling the same 6-10 stocks when they sell their index funds???

madhattr999

You're saying price discovery doesn't matter? If the stock moves down toward more objective values between now and the end of the year, that's a good thing. A total market index like VTI should include SpaceX, simply because it's part of the market. And it makes sense to be float-adjusted so that only attainable shares are included. If by the end of the year, all of those shares are attainable, then I think that's fair and reasonable. I dislike Musk and corrupted practices as much as anyone, but total market indexes need to include the stock.

drew-gen-x

There's a lot to be concerned about with the absurd valuation of $SPCX entering the Nasdaq. I don't know enough about when it will enter the $SPY or $VTI. I did buy some $VT today and I'm sure $SPCX will be in there as well, but at a much lower concentration than $VTI. And we are gonna get OpenAi piece of shit IPO eventually as well. The markets need to follow the old rules where a stock had to wait 2-3 years before entering the S&P and Nasdaq. This is another reason I am more bullish world ex US over US stocks. There's risks everywhere, but the Nasdaq is super concentrated w over valued stocks bleeding cash right now. Mag 7 super spenders and now Space X and soon Open AI. And it would be 1 thing if these stocks made up 10-15% of the market cap concentration of Nasdaq. But it's gonna be near 40% after Space X is added to the Mag 7 stocks.

Sufficient_Habit5091

It's not about price discovery? It's that a substantial amount of stock will be unloaded on retirement accounts, VTI, target date funds, large cap blend, etc. It's the grift and people unknowingly buying this overvalued crap that's the problem. Never in history have we had an instant mega cap at such a size besides Aramco. Except that was a state backed mega profitable company printing $110B in pure net income a year. Not hemorrhaging cash.

madhattr999

I'm no expert, but I think there's a big difference between VTI having to allocate 5% of the market cap of SPCX vs 100%... "by end of year" and "by 2027" is the same thing.. So I'm not sure what you're trying to say there. 6 months is lots of time for price discovery, compared to one or two weeks.

Sufficient_Habit5091

There's rampant misinformation about how much SPCX is grifting and conning retirement accounts. People keep saying "VTI is float-adjusted!" Why would that matter? By EOY 40% of shares will enter float. By next year 100%: https://i.imgur.com/H7SSWKN.png

Sufficient_Habit5091

There's rampant misinformation about how much SPCX is grifting retirement accounts. People keep saying "VTI is float-adjusted!" Why would that matter? By EOY 40% of shares will enter float. By next year 100%: https://i.imgur.com/H7SSWKN.png

AskPatient1281

Because of diversification -> smaller risk. With VOO you invest in 500 companies. With VTI and VXUS you invest in 12,000 companies in the entire globe.

CryptoSamia

first off sorry for your loss, and smart of you to not just blow it. keeping some in the HYSA as your emergency fund is actually the right call, dont invest all of it. for the rest, open a Roth IRA (Fidelity or Schwab are both easy) and put money into a total market index fund like VTI or a target date fund, then just leave it alone. you dont need to pick stocks or time anything at 20, time is your biggest advantage. set up auto investing monthly with whatever you can comfortably spare and let it ride. one more thing, if the inheritance is a bigger sum, it might be worth a one time chat with a fee-only fiduciary advisor (flat fee, not someone selling you stuff) just to get a plan that fits your situation.

CryptoSamia

I've been thinking about why so many new investors blow up their accounts and it usually comes down to one thing, they treat the market like a casino instead of a savings machine. the stuff that actually works is kinda boring. pick a low cost index fund like VOO or VTI, buy the same amount every week no matter what the price is, and just dont touch it. thats it. no charts, no timing, no checking it 12 times a day. The magic isnt picking the perfect fund, its consistency. when the market drops everyone panics and stops buying, but thats literally when your $100 buys more shares on sale. the people who keep buying through the scary times are the ones who win over 10-20 years. two things that help a lot: automate it so you never have to think about it, and if you can, use a Roth IRA so you dont get taxed on all those gains later. whats the boring habit that made the biggest difference for you? curious what people wish they started sooner.

Regular-Print2896

Thanks! I heard the VT and VTI were some solid global trades ❤️

AskPatient1281

It is a great idea! $100/week in VTI is even better. $80/week in VTI and $20/week in VXUS is even better better bestest.

RJ5R

If I just put $1,000 per month into VTI for 40 years will I be able to retire?

drew-gen-x

Well, that's good to know. BTD in $VTI over the $QQQ.

madhattr999

I think SPY needs to wait a year.. And VTI is float-adjusted... so I think QQQ is the only problematic one.

drew-gen-x

Luckily, $SPCX has every $VTI, $QQQ, and $SPY buyer to help lighten up those bags.

Walkabye25

If patterns are still a thing. Triple top pattern on VTI.

DoU92

No speculation allowed in the stock subreddit,sir! Buy VTI and stop discussing exciting new industries that need time to mature! Imagine being THAT guy.

MayaIsSunshine

Oh no, VTI is down 0.5% in pre-market, how will I survive 🫨

leaning_on_a_wheel

Buying broad indices like VTI is already treading carefully enough. Don’t try to time the market, just keep buying and never sell

vn2017s

You can recover, but takes long time. Make strict rules. No margin. Put 90% in VTSAX, 10% do option trading. I suggest MF version. As you can't trade it like ETF VTI . It curbs the impulse trading. If you have side job, slowly add money. Withdraw if you have winning week and spend it.

gucciman333

Incredible and how much did you start with when you invested in VTI? No one is making 8 figures with a regular day job throwing money into vanguard.

Exquisite-Load8654

No - Buy VTI. Save yourself from yourself.

drew-gen-x

I'm 80% World ex US if you add in Gold. $VXUS is my largest position and I am well aware that most of the gains this year have come from ASML, TSM, Samsung & SK. But at the end of the day $VXUS has 21% tech market cap weight vs $VTI 36.95% tech market cap weight. I find it hilarious that people are fleeing to the Mag 7 cap ex spenders or $VTI as a flight to safety. It might work. But you are less diversified and have a much higher tech market cap concentration than the foreign markets you are claiming have hit their tech peak. Any way Cheers & good luck.

earthwormdeath

I think he just means that S&P general funds - like VTI for example - are styled to reflect the overall market. Thus - when there are bad apples (large company, low performer) - those apples would naturally over time be replaced by some nice shiny ones. This is because the float of the company that is underperforming decreases. As the goal of these index funds are the mirror the overall market - an underperforming company’s will hold less weight relative to the index portfolio as the size of the company relative to the overall market decreases.

drew-gen-x

This is a market. Prices go up and prices go down. I'd be much more worried about SpaceX diluting my $QQQ or $VTI positions if I had any. Everyone is calling for the tops in these semi companies like Samsung and yet Samsung projecting to make more money this quarter than any company ever & has a market cap that is lower than that SpaceX pos stock burning hundreds of billions of dollars being shoved down the throats of every 401K in America that is in the $SPY or $QQQ. I think people need to look at what they actually own and ask themselves which stocks or indices are actually in a bubble??

Alucard2051

VTI

johyongil

I love it how no context is applied and the immediate reaction is “GTFO”. Let me ask you: I have a client who I charge \~1% annually for my services. However over the past 5 years (when I acquired my client) I’ve run an average net alpha return of 7% against a VTI/SPY benchmark. Meaning if you benchmarked me against a VTI/SPY portfolio (of virtually any configuration/allocation) I’m returning more than 7% AFTER my fee is assessed. And that’s before any tax mitigation is done. With it, I’m probably well above 11%. Would you advise this person to leave and tell her she’s being robbed of her savings and investments? Some clients are higher, some are lower net returns depending on the client’s situation but I chose the median case. By the way, Vanguard published a white paper that even says that advisory services can net returns better than self-directed investments. There are MULTIPLE papers by Vanguard on this. You have no idea what OP’s situation is. You have no clue about what his investments are comprised of. You don’t even know the performance details. You have literally nothing to go on about whether investing on their own is good or not. And before you say anything, I turn plenty of people down. Just this past week I’ve turned away about 3.75MM in business because it wouldn’t be a good fit. Our group fired a client worth well over 20MM for the same reason. How this has anything to do with my example: a Bloomberg terminal is clearly not a good fit for people with less than some large number. But it still widely regarded as a VALUABLE tool. Obviously a 50k or even 1MM account isn’t a good fit for usage but there is a point where it does become valuable. OP is getting charged just under 1%. That typically means he has some serious assets. Definitely over $1MM, potentially over $5MM. **What business do you have rushing to a judgement call saying advisory is not worth it with no other info?**

fen-q

Yes. Although, by principle, picking individual stocks should not be discouraged. Sure, park most of your money in safe places like ETFs and bonds, but purely from learning perspective, picking stocks should encouraged. There should be nothing but posts discussing fundamentals, technicals, moats, giving each other advice, how to do proper DD etc, but instead of that, when someone comes in here and asks something, the general response is "you're too dumb to do this, just VOO and chill" or "you're not the next Warren Buffett, just VTI and chill".

EmpathyFabrication

Kenvue (KVUE) broke $20 today, almost around what it was trading at pre-bullshit. Kenvue up 14% YTD beating VTI

Blade3colorado

What an imbecilic post. I own 2700 shares of NVDA and my profits have been 104.31% . . . More important, VOO owns 7.89% of NVDA and it sits right at the top as its largest single holding, carrying an immense amount of weight in the index. Want more? VTI holds nearly 3,500 U.S. companies (including mid, small, and micro-caps). Because the fund covers the entire domestic market rather than just large caps, NVDA's concentration drops slightly, though it remains the fund's top holding at 6.70%. As others have said here, what the fuck do you want? All of those other stocks you mentioned, sans MSFT, might as well be "mom and pop grocery stores" compared to NVDA.

No_Current3675

If yallz panicking over this maybe yallz need to just VTI n chill

StatisticalMan

It is one reason I just own VTI and VXUS. Own the market and hope the global economy does well. While VTV is mostly value it is a guess is value will outperform and if it does it is unclear given VTV isn't a perfect proxy for that it will also benefit.

colxa

With all due respect, your comment doesn't make much sense. Are you implying that an advisor will be able to navigate through a down market and generate returns better than the s&p 500? History shows that is not true. Are you implying you'll be better off timing when to take your money out while the market trends down? You won't be. Investing in the s&p 500 or a total market fund like VTI is definitely the move for someone that just wants to grow their money over time without the overhead of having an advisor.

Dario_Agger

Mid-caps are beating the S&P 500 YTD, so it definitely isn't mid-cap underperformance. Standard all-cap U.S. funds like VTI are beating the S&P 500. As you said, this just looks like a poorly managed fund. And I'm sure the high expense ratio doesn't help.

MrP1anet

Most people in the world, including highly paid active investors do worse than the market. Something like 90% would have done better with VTI over any random 10 year stretch.

UnObtainium17

During my early investing days, I was just buying VTI every payday. I was passively investing for many years all while reading up on how to pick good stocks.. I only started picking my own stocks once I got confident enough about it after reading heavily for almost three years. Now years have passed and I am glad i learned how to pick stocks, I will not have the kind of gains i have - have i stuck with just VTI.. But you have to be patient about it, start dipping little by little and not head on first. If you are patient and cautious you will do great.

taplar

I'm curious. Does anyone employ a long term strategy of holding something like a market ETF, along with a bond ETF and an information security ETF? Thinking about random investing things, I was looking at a back testing tool to see if you held VTI and BND, how much of VGT could you have historically held to have gotten the same returns. Wondering if anyone actually puts something like that into practice. Sorta an alternative to leverage to alter the over all risk level.

WhiteLotus_1776

Pretty soon you’ll be able to change it to things like VTI and VOO ….. the SPYM is just the starting default ….. you’ll also be able to transfer it to other brokerages like Fidelity and Vanguard ….. give it a chance to get completely up and running Here’s a quote from the article tagged below: “During the growth period, funds must be invested in broad U.S. equity index funds – such as mutual funds or ETFs that track market indexes like the S&P 500 – with no leverage and annual fees and expenses capped at 0.1%. Subject to limited exceptions for cash, no other investments are permitted, including sector-specific funds.” https://www.chase.com/personal/investments/learning-and-insights/article/trump-accounts-for-kids-considerations-for-parents It all comes down to, nobody is forcing anybody to open one for their kids. If you don’t want to open one for your kids, don’t ………… 20 - 30 years from now we will see who’s doing better……… the kids of the parents who opened the accounts and fully funded them for their kids for years until they turn 18 then converted them to Roth IRA ….. or the kids of people who didn’t.

fakieTreFlip

lessons I learned the hard way: * stock picking is very hard * timing the market is very hard * stock picking requires a ton of time and research * stock picking is very stressful * ETFs like VTI are very easy, they do all the thinking for you * ETFs are boring but CONSISTENT

otterbarks

>I’m curious to hear experiences from people who kept consistently DCA’ing during market crashes and months of downtrends, what made you keep going when everything kept dropping? Frankly... setting up a diversified portfolio, then not looking at it again for a decade. Set a recurring monthly investment so everything happens hands-off, then just ignore it and keep contributing. The key there is having a diversified portfolio, so that I can rely on Modern Portfolio Theory. This would not work if I was picking individual stocks. >How did you stay confident that it would eventually go up again? Because historically, a diversified portfolio always has. Short of global social and economic collapse, the total market will keep going up. I was invested in broad-market ETFs, like VTI/VXUS. I'm not going to beat the market, but just meeting par is actually pretty good over that horizon. As long as you're okay letting funds sit for 10+ years and you have a truly diversified portfolio, it's a pretty safe bet. \> how did it actually turn out for you? I started DCA'ing into my portfolio in 2008. The first few years were rough, but 18 years later I think I'm in a pretty good place.

Foreign_Ostrich

Please God if you get me out of this I’ll buy VTI

Vegetable_Link9896

Are you young with retirement accounts? 100% stocks babyyy (like VTI + VXUS). Got some more cash for shorter time horizons (8-15 years)? Yeah I'm holding about half of mine in SGOV while still investing the other half.

drew-gen-x

I buy & hold $VXUS, $EWY, $EWJ, and I trade $DRAM for my AI/Semis positions. My thesis is different from many others here I am sure. I think we are seeing the beginning of a long term cycle of cash move from West to East. The AI cap ex spenders (Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and META) have stopped all their stock buybacks and are now spending all of their 2026 FCF, diluting shareholders, and adding debt and sending the majority of that cash to Pacific Asia. (SK Hynix, Samsung, ASML, TSM, Kioxia and Softbank). I want to own the indices that are receiving this cash and reinvesting that cash back into their local economies (South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, etc.) This has more volatility than $VTI, $QQQ, or even $SOXX as I also face USD currency fluctuations. But I am looking at the long term big picture as we enter a new market cycle. I own $DE for the USA data center build out since it is trading at a much cheaper valuation than $CAT. Good Luck

declanpalmerston

I think the first question is whether you’re trying to invest in **the AI value chain** or just the companies with “AI” in the marketing material. Personally, I’d lean toward the picks-and-shovels approach. For semiconductors, I like broad funds such as **SOXX** or **SMH** because almost every AI workload ultimately depends on chips. Whether the winners are OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, or someone we haven’t heard of yet, they all need massive compute infrastructure. I’m more cautious with AI-specific ETFs. Many are actively managed, relatively expensive, and often end up holding the same mega-cap tech names you already own through an S&P 500 or Nasdaq fund. You’re paying a higher fee for exposure you may already have. If I were building a 10+ year portfolio, I’d probably allocate the majority to a semiconductor ETF and complement it with a broad market fund like VTI or VOO rather than trying to guess which AI software companies will dominate. Chips benefit regardless of who wins the AI race. One thing I’d avoid is buying an ETF just because “AI” is in the name. Always look at the holdings—many have very concentrated portfolios or simply repackage the Magnificent Seven with a higher expense ratio. Sorry for the long reply hope it helps

Im_Still_Here12

I'm not doing anything different. Keep a few months of cash on hand and keep buying VTI/VXUS/VTG. Nothing ever changes except it just keep going up over the years.

ranting_chef

First - coming here for serious advice is a terrible idea. Second, don’t ever feel bad about taking some profits. I make pasta for a living and like 90% of the people here, I started buying/trading stocks during COVID. I don’t know anything, but I’ve been really lucky the last few years. I’d tell you what I assume many will: stick to an index fund, but I see you have plenty of VTI. My big index fund is SPY, so I feel fine about that. Nobody can predict what will happen with any single stock - I can’t imagine google under-performing the market anytime soon, so I’d maybe hang onto that one. RKLB has done really well but I wonder if it will continue to do so with SpaceX being publicly traded now.

MobiuS_360

As everyone else said buy broad ETFs like VOO, VTI, VXUS, etc. But I don't think it hurts to buy individual stocks if you believe in it and actually invest. I've invested a lot into GOOG for example because I think over the long term it will be a good investment. But 90% of my portfolio is still broad ETFs. If you don't believe in any individual stocks or you only plan to invest in them for the short term then you're better off with only ETFs.

Beautiful_Proof586

Let it compound. Just add 70% VTI to your ETF portfolio

Beautiful_Proof586

VTI is also spectacular long term

Exquisite-Load8654

Explore VTI. Save yourself from yourself.