VTIAX
VANGUARD TOTAL INTERNATIONAL STOCK INDEX FUND ADMIRAL SHARES
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Seeking Suggestions for Parents After Disappointing Financial Advisor Experience
VTIAX vs. VTSAX, how much of the VTIAX under performance is due to the strong Dollar?
To option or not to option, that is the question
What ETF should I invest in in my Taxable brokerage
Sell Mutual Funds in Brokerage Account to Fund the Same Mutual Funds in Roth IRA?
New to this, better to wait for a recession before I start investing? Different strategies?
3-Fund Portfolio Comparison: Vanguard, Schwab, Fidelity
Capital Gains Distribution (Mutual Funds vs ETFs)
Confused about whether I should invest in mutual funds or ETFs as a new investor.
Update to my “Roast my portfolio🔥” post, thanks to everyone for your help
Should I transfer VBTLX/VTIAX into VTSAX (Roth IRA)
What to sell to fund a real estate flip?
Question about diversifying assets between different accounts?
Feedback on my proposed Three Fund Portfolio before I join the market?
Comparable Merrill Lynch mutual funds similar to the VTSAX, VTIAX, & VTWAX without transaction fees?
12K to invest. Keep in savings? I'm too damn indecisive. Help!
Generally speaking, does rising interest rates lend itself to selling bonds?
16K to invest. 401K and Roth IRA already taken care of. What would you buy?
Advice on changing bond funds and minimizing tax loss
Retirement fund advice - Target Date Funds vs 3 Fund Method
Is there any reason I shouldn't invest in Vanguard funds using Fidelity? Unsure which arrangement of index/ETFs is best for me.
Alternative to Vanguard Intermediate-Term Tax-Exempt Fund (VWIUX) in Taxable account
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Correct, I had to stick to funds available in my plan so I went. I did this re-balance when Trump won and it's really paid off. - 50% VTIAX (ex-US) - 35% VFFSX (S&P 500) - 15% VEXRX (small & midsize growth)
Ive also dramatically increased my VTIAX since 2024
I'm a 35M, and my total Vanguard overall investment portfolio currently sits quite equity-heavy: \-76% in VTSAX \-17% in VTIAX, both in my taxable brokerage \-the remaining 7% in my 401K, invested in C975 Fidelity 500 Index Fund So roughly 100% in equities, with the US performance skewing my initial 80-20 approach I set 4 years ago. I'm looking to start slowly using my quarterly dividend yield to branch into VTAPX and maybe some VBTLX depending.
So you admit that the US market is overvalued by shiller PE and that international is fair valued by shiller PE, yet you won't invest in international because it has been fair valued but don't want to invest more in US since it is overvalued. So do you think prices revert to a mean multiple over earnings or not? Seems contradictory to me. Also, your international return appears to be excluding dividends, VTIAX has 3% dividend which is rather significant. FWIW I prefer VEA over VTIAX.
I will probably never do international. VTIAX only returned 5.6% in the last 5 years vs VTSAX returned 12.6% in the last 5 years. Not even close....
Since you're getting different perspectives here, let me add some practical context: The overlap between VOO/QQQ/SCHD is real - you're basically triple-weighting Apple, Microsoft, etc. For tax efficiency in your Roth, I'd lean toward gradually rebalancing rather than selling everything at once (though in tax-advantaged accounts, this matters less). On international: historically, having 20-30% international helps with risk-adjusted returns. The US has crushed it for 15+ years, but cycles change. Something like VTIAX or VTI+VXUS gives you that global diversification without the complexity. The "keep it simple" crowd has a point too - 100% VOO isn't terrible at your age. Your 401k target date fund already gives you some international exposure anyway. Bottom line: any of these approaches beats not investing at all. Pick something you understand and stick with it. You can always evolve your strategy as you learn more. The consistency matters more than perfect optimization.
If you want to simply, this looks very close to: 80% Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK) 20% Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund VTIAX As it's basically S&P 500 with a large cap tilt and a little international. Not investment advice, just an observation.
Any reason VOO in particular? I run VFIAX, VIMAX, and have trickled into VTIAX
Strong GDP? With VTI (domestic) up 13% over 52 weeks while VTIAX (international) up 35%? Not since WW2 has international growth so handedly outpaced US domestic markets. We had the "lost decade", but we lagged by only single digit percentages. The US markets are only keeping up with the rate of devaluation of the dollar. The monkeys are running the zoo.
Yes VTIAX is the same fund as VXUS, just a different share class. BNDX is good if you want international bonds. It is currency hedged though so it doesn't give you currency exposure, if USD drops you will do worse in BNDX than holding international bonds directly (and the converse, if it strengthens). It's fixed income and it doesn't meaningfully diversify you out of USD, you are very much tied to the fate of USD with BNDX. The idea with bonds is to reduce volatility in an overall portfolio. Unhedged, bonds can have extreme volatility due to exchange rate changes. This goes against the whole point of holding bonds in the first place, so Vanguard and many others generally advise to use hedged for international bonds, but not for equities.
All those apply to VTIAX as well right? Is BNDX a good buy now?
My strategy for 2026 is to not change my investment strategy. Save 25% of my gross salary via automated weekly transfers including HYSA and money market deposits for growing my emergency and sinking funds, then mutual fund purchases targeting a 60/40 split of VTSAX and VTIAX (or their nearest equivalents) for retirement savings - maxing my HSA, and Roth IRA while capturing all potential employer contributions to my 401k and ESOP.
VTSAX/VTIAX and relax. No need to complicate a good thing.
Fellow Brazilian here. VTIAX is the best way to diversify out of the US.
all-world VTIAX VTPSX ACWX Europe VEUSX VYMI Emerging market VWO
VTIAX!! --PS I have no idea what I'm doing
I'd drop the VIGAX and just have 5% more VTIAX, or maybe 5% of aj emerging markets fund. Otherwise looks really good.
Can someone help me understand if an ETF or mutable fund is better for me? I’m looking at VXUS or VTIAX. I understand the actual difference between the two, but am confused by which is the better choice. This would be in my taxable fidelity account. I have money elsewhere that I want to move over to an international fund over some period of time. Let me know what other info I can provide.
#metoo VTSAX and chill. Well, also a dab of VTIAX, and some FXAIX in a 491K. Maybe some TSP C and I Funds. But mostly VTSAX and chill.
VTIAX is VXUS in a mutual fund. There's also VTWAX which is VT in a mutual fund (65% VOO/35% VXUS). You can transact as much as you want in an IRA with no penalty. For simplicity sake I would probably sell everything and put it all in VTWAX. But you could also sell just the target date fund any whatever VTSAX is required and buy VTIAX till you hold 70% VTSAX/30% VTIAX. This assumes you want no bonds. There's nothing wrong with bonds and there's actually a good reason they put them in the target date funds. So 100% of the account in three 2050 target date fund is also good.
First trading day of the year, which means maxing out my Roth IRA. Question for those of you with much more experience and knowledge than I: Started this Roth IRA back in 2017 and for those first two years dumped everything into VFIFX (2050 Target Date Fund). 2019 to present I have been putting it all into VTSAX because I realized I don't need bonds quite yet. Now as I'm learning more I realize I have ZERO international exposure, and it seems like maybe I should rebalance with my IRA to get to something like 70 / 30 split between US and International When I started this Roth IRA for whatever reason I chose the mutual funds over the ETF equivalents, and now for my 2026 contribution I'm only given a choice to contribute to another Vanguard Mutual Fund, the 2050 Target Date Fund, or VTSAX fund. If I wanted to throw this $7500 into an international fund, which should I use? Most of the funds I'm aware of are ETFs, and it doesn't seem I can contribute to an ETF, only Mutual Fund. Should I put it all into VTIAX (Total International Stock Market Fund) then? And how could I go about getting to that 70 / 30 portfolio balance? Can I transact within the IRA to trade some VTSAX shares to International Shares? Or maybe better to get rid of the 2050 Target Date fund shares in favor of International Shares? FWIW - 38y/o, total IRA portfolio around $100k (86k VTSAX & 14k VFIFX)
And VOOG has out performed VTI. And VTIAX has outperformed VOOG. And VXUS has outperformed VTIAX.
Same! VTIAX up 61% since I started buying it late 2022, and VTSAX…you know
All I did was buy more VTSAX and VTIAX 😎
Looks great. I’d check out the boglehead strategy. Better off with just 2 funds: VTSAX, VTIAX….nothing wrong with qqq, but keep in mind vtsax is tilted tech at the moment Simple is better when it comes to index fund investing.
Maxing 401k out in an S&P 500 fund. Roth IRA in an international fund (VTIAX) Contribute extra $1k per month to mortgage Any remaining funds go into brokerage account growth fund (VIGAX).
Basically, they have some money, right? And instead of just using that money to invest, they are borrowing money (leverage) to use that in combination with their own money to invest in a diversified portfolio of stocks, specifically ETF's and mutual funds. An ETF is a collection of investments like stocks or bonds. A mutual fund is when a group of investors pool money together and a fund manager takes care of it. The manager either buys a lot of diversified stocks (actively managed) or the fund just mirrors an index like the S&P 500 (passively managed). Every person owns a tiny piece of the money in the pile. Using leverage is a double-edged sword because if the market goes up, the money pile grows fast. If the market goes down, it shrinks fast. The measure of how amplified that difference is, is called volatility. High volatility means stocks shrink or grow fast, low volatility means its much more moderated. A leveraged position becomes more volatile because the more money you put in a stock, the more of your own money is put at risk. Let's say you put $10k on an ETF like QQQ (tech), half of your money being leveraged (borrowed money). That is 2x leverage. This means if the market dips 10%, the amount you lose is 2x that because your equity (the money you truly own, subtracting what you owe) absorbs that impact instead of the money you borrowed. So instead of you losing $500 on your equity, you lose $1k. When you leverage money, the broker you leverage money from will require a maintenance margin, which means your equity must always be at a certain percentage of total assets. If you go below this percentage, the broker will issue a margin call which forces you to deposit cash to meet the minimum or sell assets to reduce the loan. If you cannot do this, the broker sells your investments automatically. When you have a leveraged position, every loss you take is felt by your equity, which means you are much more likely to be issued margin calls. The equity itself is put at risk which means you're basically gambling your money for a stock position to go up when your leverage is as high as 3.2x (the leverage we're seeing in the post), even if the portfolio is diversified. EDV is interest-rate sensitive which means that the value of EDV becomes volatile when interest rates change. This is dependent on if the Fed (the federal reserve) fears economic recession or inflation. If they fear economic recession, they cut the interest rates, which offsets losses and allows some breathing room if there's a sharp economic downturn. But if they fear inflation, they raise rates, which amplify losses. Since EDV holds long-term bonds (25-30 years), they are really sensitive to interest rate changes, because the interest rates and bond prices move in opposite directions. The duration of bonds has a big effect on how volatile it is. EDV is a good investment when inflation and interest rates by extent is stable, but a horrible one when it's not. VFMF is designed to reduce swings by holding less volatile stocks. It's still doesn't eliminate risk because it can still face market-wide crashes. With a 3.2x leveraged position, this reduction in risk is mostly negated. VTIAX is an international stock fund, which means its exposed to foreign economies, currencies, and political risks. This means any exchange rate swing can amplify your gains or losses. This is less correlated with U.S. stocks, but it can still drastically fall in global recessions. VOO tracks large-cap American companies. It's pretty ordinary. VTI and VTSAX covers all American stocks, from small-cap to large-cap companies. Small- and mid-cap stocks are more volatile, and market swings impact VTI and VTSAX broadly. You can see that their portfolio reacts heavily to economic and political events. With 3.2x leverage, if some sanction results in a 5% total market crash, his equity (which is $5M) is reduced by 16% which is a staggering $800k loss. That's only 5%, and if they face a margin call, losses are much worse. This is why this strategy is precisely horrible.
I'd agree, S&P 500 + NASDAQ are both heavily weighted in US tech. having both inflates tech exposure. If you want diversification, replace with broad market funds VTSAX/VTIAX precious metals are high-risk, low-growth assets. generally not recommended as a core long-term investment for retirement portfolios. I'd reallocate to intl/us stocks
I mean, this is constructively as possible: you are clearly not an intelligent investor and you’re treating investments like a slot machine, which is why you lost all your money. You put puts on fucking Apple. What was your logic there? Explain the DD to me. Delete your account, start saving again, open a vanguard someday, and put all your future savings in VTIAX or some similar market tracking index.
VTSAX and ~20% in VTIAX. Those are the admiral versions; VTI and VXUS are their ETF versions.
Ha now show it over the last 10 years. This is an extremely misleading chart. Don’t get me wrong in invested in VTIAX and others but come on. This is very deceptive. None of these are performing as well as the US in the longterm.
Remember the yearly contributions limits. In my opinion, drop JEPI and QQQ and put it into FXAIX and VTIAX evenly as you can easily change it in a Roth when you need income (QQQ is just nonsensical). Also, unless for some odd reason you have 2 separate roths, you may be charged to buy mutual funds from other brokerages so if with Fidelity, I’d get FTIHX for intl.
i was a boglehead then and i'm a boglehead now, but i've gone way heavier in VTIAX this year. i threw $350 in a gold ETF last may, its $450 now, that's fun. i still think the market is like a house of cards, because this economy is not solid, you'll never convince me this was a year of true growth because it wasn't. it was a year of manipulation. but i gave up trying to read the tea leaves and have some semblance of a life outside of the doom and gloom. it eventually gets to you.
I rotated my entire retirement from VTSAX to VTIAX because i thought US was screwed and I have not regretted that
I put 22% of my portfolio in VTIAX in October 2022 at its absolute lowest. Up 56%
lmao WHAT. I spend the majority of my day discussing new makeup and skincare releases as you can see from my post history, i'm not a stonks person, but i'm in this sub because I knew just enough to trust the bogleheads on here instead of myself to take me from $26k four years ago to $80k today with a monthly auto-invest in VTSAX and VTIAX. my advice is index funds and find a different hobby. Skincare's a super interesting one if the stress of losing 30k is showing on your face -- peptides, patience, time, hydration, and index funds will fix that!
Basically VTIAX and VTSAX. ln college, I did a presentation in debate class about 20 years ago basically Apple vs Microsoft products, specifically against the all iProducts. I totally didn’t have the foresight into Apple. Now I own almost every Apple product and I’m fully invested in the ecosystem. I have no way to predict how the market will shift. I can’t time the market and don’t want my personal bias to affect my NW. Just because I like something doesn’t mean the rest of the world does. Also market manipulation, politics, and who knows fuck about shit. Also, I got a B- on that presentation because the professor was pro Apple.
VTI + VTIAX and chill. It’s the entire US and international stock market.
Without knowing your entire portfolio it will be a bit difficult to take a guess. I also recommend giving your rough age. Younger people who have income should just put a large portion into VTSAX since it just covers everything and can wait it out 30+ years of growth while having really low costs. I have 80% VTSAX. 15% VTIAX, and 5% is just for fun stuff. There isn't much to change each year until retirement with that setup. If I were to start all over I would go 95% VTSAX I think and ignore international blend. There wasn't too big a difference to bother.
Your allocation actually looks pretty solid for a growth-tilted strategy. VIGAX specifically tracks growth-oriented large-cap stocks, which can provide nice upside during economic expansions. The Vanguard growth index has historically outperformed value indexes during tech and innovation cycles. That said, diversification is key - your mix of total market (VTSAX), international (VTIAX), and growth (VIGAX) shows you're thinking strategically. Consider reading some Boglehead forum discussions or William Bernstein's writings to dive deeper into growth vs. value philosophies. Your financial advisor's support is also a positive sign.
OP said VTIAX which is the Vanguard Total Int Fund. Very different from VTAIX.
Hard yes for VTSAX and VTIAX. Soft no for VIGAX. There are worse things than VIGAX, but unless you have a particular reason for the growth tilt it's better to just stick with blend (VTSAX)
I’m leaving my 401k and Roth IRA in VTSAX/VTIAX until I retire, but I am currently reallocating my taxable brokerage to majority bonds to up my emergency funds from 6 months to 12.
I am trying to take a Boglehead approach and capture the entire market. Unfortunately a total us stock market index isn't available in my 401k. There is a 500 index, but it has slightly higher fees than VIGAX and VVIAX. I decided to go heavy on VIGAX since historically it out performs the S&P 500. I figured the large cap value index VVIAX was worth having, since it has minimal overlap with VIGAX,and the two basically approximate the S&P500. JECIX is the cheapest midcap index available, I'm not really a fan of it, it doesn't seem to perform well compared to the othe indexs. VSIAX and VSGAX I figured are worth having just incase small cap stocks start doing better with potential interest rate cuts on the horizon. I only have 10% in VTIAX, but am considering bumping that up to 20% since it's done so well recently. But I'm not sure if it's worth taking away from the other holdings I currently have, so I settled at 10% for now. So far this year, my 401k rate of return is 18.05% , which I am very happy with. I am thinking, just adding a bunch of gold into the tax advantaged Roth will be beneficial long term. Been looking alot at the performance of gold vs stocks since we left the gold standard back in the 70s, and it looks like gold is about to repeat a 20 year cycle that outperforms stocks for the next few years. I still have about 30 years until retirement, so I am willing to keep holding and DCAing for a long time. Thanks for your feedback!
VIGAX is a bet on the growth subset of companies (ones with higher expectations and higher prices to match). Those have done really well the past decade/two, [but historically underperformed value](https://www.dimensional.com/us-en/insights/when-its-value-versus-growth-history-is-on-values-side). I wouldn't describe investing in it as "more aggressive" in the way that you want; what you're trying to do is increase returns through increasing [compensated risk](https://www.reddit.com/r/Bogleheads/comments/1cnjdvz/what_do_you_all_mean_by_uncompensated_risk/). For your goal, I would simply start with VTSAX, VTIAX, and a bond fund in proportions similar to the TDF, then reduce the bond percentage as you are comfortable: * https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Asset_allocation * https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Risk_and_return:_an_introduction * https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Risk_tolerance * https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Assessing_risk_tolerance
(34m) ditched tdf for 46.5%VTSAX 28.5%VTIAX 25%VIGAX did I make a mistake? TDF had an expense ratio of .64% that bothered me when crunching some number for over the next 10 years. I was between the funds listed above and GRMIX 75% VTIAX 25% the plan advisor steered me towards my current allocations. What do you guys think? I wanted something that mimicked the TDF without bonds, but more aggressive.
I personally moved from VOO to VTIAX.
Yeah maybe I didn't write it clearly because there seems to be a pattern of confusion. I dropped VTSAX in exchange for VTIAX and also picked up VXUS.
> I decided to drop my US stock holdings (VTSAX to VTIAX and VXUS) VXUS is total world market minus the US. So if you want to be out of the US, that's what you want to be in.
An 80/20 mix of VIGAX and VTIAX basically means you’re leaning heavily into U.S. large‑cap growth with a dash of international. That’s not crazy at 35, but remember growth stocks can go through long cold spells. A lot of people use a broader U.S. fund like VTSAX or the S&P 500 as their core, then add international and maybe small caps around it. Whatever mix you pick, the key is sticking with it and ramping up your contributions over time instead of chasing recent performance. A target‑date fund can also take the guesswork out if you’re unsure.
Oh sorry I misread yours as well!! VTIAX and VITAX lol they are so similair!
VITAX is American tech, mostly NVDA/MSFT/AAPL I seem to have misread your title as VITAX when it was in fact VTIAX (total world market). At any rate, I have never been interested in international stocks generally, and it is clear the American stock market is the place to be; however, it is fallacy to think these companies (big "American" companies) are not also international businesses. Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, etc. do business all over the world and I am definitely going to pick them any day over stocks in China, emerging markets, etc. There are many reasons for that.
Adding some specifics to smash brother's comment for OP, some total US market funds are VTI, VTIAX, FSKAX. A couple of International total market funds are VXUS, VTWAX and FTIHX. Actually, there are even total world funds like VT, VTWAX, AVGE (has a small and value tilt) and DFAW.
VTIAX. You know, for international exposure.
I use VTSAX (.04%) and VTIAX(.09%). Granted I have had assets in there for over a decade but they move along between +11-12% despite the several market shakeups since 2008. I didn't actually invest until 2009-2011 so I missed out in a large amount of the possible upside because like most people I was a bit afraid of starting anything, including an index fund, despite this I am doing well even though I missed out on a lot of performance.
I agree it's not hard. My portfolio does have more than one fund with VTSAX and VTIAX and such. My wife doesn't care (or doesn't care to learn) about the various asset allocations, US vs International, bond ratios, etc. Instead, she can go into a single ticker that glide paths for her. It's easy and she can do it every year in January when she maxes it out.
>How many people are rotating from VOO into VTIAX? Rotate? No. I've long held a mix of US (broader than VOO) and ex-US. >Given all of the uncertainty with tariffs and the dollar melting down, is this still a good idea? Has the ship already sailed? You should always be globally diversified. Market favor changes from time to time and we've seen plenty of periods of ex-US over performance. Market favor can change incredibly quickly as well. >I'm largely still a Buffet-head when it comes to index investing. I still believe in American market exceptionalism. I also think that given how much FAANG stocks run the S&P, they'll benefit from a weaker dollar come earnings season because they'll convert foreign sales to dollars and show larger gains. Think about American exceptionalism: what parts of it can't ever be properly priced into the market? What factors do Australia and South Africa have that would also put them as some of the best markets (Australia at one point recently even having beaten the US over the past 100+ years)? >Still, each day, I feel like there's more and more reasons from Washington to go international with money. Market history alone should show you the benefits of going global, not just actions from Washington.
Literally not a single dollar. None of what you mentioned is going to matter in the long term and VTIAX has drastically underperformed VOO over the years. Stop letting your emotions control your investments. Idk how many times we have to go through April this year and come out the other side to get people to just leave their stuff alone. It'll be fine.
Pretty much every ex-US index fund (e.g., VXUS or its mutual fund equivalent VTIAX) is focused on Europe/Asia, unless you have an issue with a 5% allocation to Australia, 1.2% in Brazil, 1% in S. Africa, etc. If you want developed only, then that's VEA. But imo if you want to diversify, no need to make it complicated and slice and dice regions.
Thank you for the help :3 I really appreciate it, I'll make of a note of that in case I mention this again or do it myself. Sorry again, I'm still learning the ropes. I looked up VTIAX , its a uh, mutual fund right? so its more of a set it and forget it type of thing for long term growth? 1/3 sounds solid though!
while VEA is fine, boglehead three fund portfolio recommendations VTIAX. And I’d just make each 1/3 of your portfolio. If you’re young, you are a bit too heavy on BND.
Index funds. Read up on that bogleheads three fund portfolio. Super simple and gives great diverse exposure Something of the equivalent below in equal 1/3s Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSAX) Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund (VTIAX) Vanguard Total Bond Market Fund (VBTLX) https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund_portfolio
Honestly, congrats on the bankroll. Well done! My advice, and it’s tried and true, is a 70/30 VTSAX / VTIAX combo. Tech bubbles are brutal when they occur. I always encourage knowledgeable folks like yourself to set aside 10-15 % and invest that as you see fit. See if you can beat the vfsax/ vtiax combo. There will be sociopolitical events and technological advances occurring over the next 10-15 weeks can’t even imagine. You may hit an absolute banger with your proposed portfolio over the next decade. History tells us a 3 company portfolio all in the same sector is a high risk. But again, congrats on the savings. Wishing you all the best. Keep us posted on how you deploy your capital.
VOO is a fine fund, but consider VTSAX. It gives you more domestic stock exposure than Voo. Maybe add some exposure to international stocks via VTIAX. Not more than 20% of the overall portfolio, of course. At 28, he’s in great position. Nice overall plan. Obviously debt should be minimal, emergency fund and life insurance if married.
I’ve always done a mix of foreign and US stocks in my retirement account, but in my brokerage I’ve been 100% VTSAX. The only change I have made is making VTIAX a portion of my brokerage now. 100% VTSAX just seemed too risky. Beyond that I have no idea
Diversification within the US. Gives you exposure to the 500 largest US companies. This is approximately 80% of the total US market cap. For us old folks, we lived through the dot com bubble, and are quite leery of investing in one sector. My $.02 - open a vanguard Roth IRA (you have the income but given your age it will be a Custodial til 18 or 21 depending on state). Go 70 % VTSAX, 20% VTIAX, and invest to other 10% as you please. Just for fun, see if your investments beat the broadly diversified VTSAX/ VTIAX combo over a 10 year period. Also, and this is most important, congratulations on investing early!!! Seriously, most folks your age would piss away that money on silly cars or weed. Great job and keep it up!! Your future self is going to thank you a thousand times over. Compound interest from 17 is awesome future gains!
VTIVX = target retirement fund VTIAX = international stocks fund VMFXX = money market fund When the announcement first came out I sold all my target retirement fund, and put most of it in a money market fund and the rest in international stocks and bought the dip as best I could, buying back into my target retirement fund weekly ever since from the money market fund. I stand by that decision, if for no other reason than my mental health, but also international stocks have actually done amazing. That said, my target retirement account invests heavily in international stocks too and also did great and in hindsight rather than fuck around I should've just left my target retirement account alone. Which is to say (not surprisingly) just leave it alone. You don't know what this fucker is gonna do, and I probably cost myself $2k trying to make moves.
I will give you mine just so you have different input from someone who has been running the same thing for 15+ years. I am 45 years old. 90% stock, 6% bonds, 1% short term, 3% 3 month treasuries. For the primary ETF blends I just have VTIAX (international)15% and VTSAX (US)70% For fun I have SCHD which used to be some random stocks I picked years ago, but eventually all the money ended up in SCHD. In the last month I picked up 1k in 3 month treasuries under SGOV. I try to keep 4-5 months of expenses in a high yield savings account for emergencies. The SCHD isn't even necessary but I like watching it, so I could just move that money to VTIAX someday as its just for fun. The performance from 10 years ago(2015) until today is about 12.00% per year without me doing anything except add to it. This includes most of the market crashes. I believe I started investing a little after 2009 but the impact of this setup wasn't noticeable until 6 or 7 years later. SCHD is slightly down as I made that adjustment only a year ago. It only represents like 1% of holdings. It is what people would consider a double exposure since I am technically holding a broad ETF that already covers what it holds making it kind of pointless but I wanted yet another account somewhere I could withdraw funds from that wasn't the main account...was my thinking. I don't have any really fancy plans, just to coast until retirement in another 25-30 years doing the same thing.
good question, most Americans have access to international through index funds like VTIAX or VT. ppl can buy ADRs as well, but most ppl buy low expense ratio funds like these.
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.
This is **my** rationale for not investing in international funds. Take the SP500, how much of those companies' revenue comes from international operations? Take a look at the top holdings of $SPY, representing >35% of positions: https://i.imgur.com/UKjWym5.png Do you see any company whose revenue/profits are 100% US? I don't. Now, let's take a look at the toip holdings of VTIAX, a Boggledeads' favorite: https://i.imgur.com/O2Jsz2c.png Do you see any companies that DO NOT have a US presence? Or, do not have a significant US presence? You don't. The point is that: * All the (good) US companies do significant business outside the US * All the (good) non-US companies do significanr business in/with the US So investing in securities available in the US markets we get all the trust in the SEC (outside the US is not as *safe*) and with less currency exchange risk (US companies hedge in favor of the dollar, and you will be investing in dollars). If you were to invest your dollars in a foreign company that hedges their currency risk *against* the dollar you might end up with a loss on a security that increased in price. YMMV
>My plan: $56,000 in VOO, $30,000 in VTIAX, $5,000 in two or three yet to be determined blue chippers like Coke, Apple, whatever. And $5,000 in two or three home run swings looking for the next big thing. Vanguard account. Reinvest dividends, don't touch the money for at least 30 years. This plan seems solid to me. Potentially you can get into [tax optimization](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Tax-efficient_fund_placement) and do only VTIAX there, with your VOO component in the tax-advantaged accounts and then claim foreign tax credits... but that's probably more than you want to deal with. >Most important question: Ok, how important is my initial timing here? Particuarly for the VOO allocation. Like obviously April 2025 would've been a great time. Again, I understand that nobody can really in the long run predict, and pulling out and going back in (giggity) all the time is a fools errand. But just for that initial investment, .... right wouldn't I want to wait for Trump's next stupid comment or action that tanks it? How important is the timing of the initial drop, and if it is important is there anything I can do for a preferrable outcome? Or is that trying to know the unknowable Timing _can_ matter, but we don't know what will happen. I think that's true even with Trump (that is, I don't think it's guaranteed waiting for a dip will be better for you), but some people will disagree and we don't know until it happens. A small DCA can be helpful here. Say, invest one third each month for three months. That gets you in while reducing some of the "if I had just waited a week". >Also, was reading some favor a three pronged approach where it's: s&p index, international index, bonds index. If I really can be disciplined and not touch the money, do I really need the bond aspect? You don't. I'm a fan of bonds and hold them, but plenty of people don't and that's a perfectly valid option if you stay the course. And if we don't have a weird situation where stocks go stagnant but bonds don't.
# First Time Investor -- Is this an ok strategy? 33 year old single male. Solid 80,000 in 401s. 30,000 or so rotting in savings accounts, 30,000 or so in CDs. White collar worker earning about 90k a year in a big city, but I keep my expenses down. Family situation is solid, I wouldn't ever really have to "go bust" thankfully if things took a turn. It's dark to write and I hate writing it, but: will likely inherit $1,500,000 or so in assets at some point. So if I went bust, it'd come out of that. No debt, no kids. So, I cleared $100,000 in an inheritance from a grandparent. Have been trying to get literate in this world. It's time, I don't want to be one of those people who doesn't grow their money out of ignorance. My plan: $56,000 in VOO, $30,000 in VTIAX, $5,000 in two or three yet to be determined blue chippers like Coke, Apple, whatever. And $5,000 in two or three home run swings looking for the next big thing. Vanguard account. Reinvest dividends, don't touch the money for at least 30 years. My thinking: Nobody can beat the market picking stocks, that's what the literature seems to suggest. Or, if they do for a decade, they give it back the next decade. Finding Netflix in 2002, or Apple before it was Apple, ..... I don't see that as beating the market but really just being a good sociologist haha. Is the two or three blue chippers thing even worth it? Like would the odds, over the long run, of those beating the VOO be negligible? Most important question: Ok, how important is my initial timing here? Particuarly for the VOO allocation. Like obviously April 2025 would've been a great time. Again, I understand that nobody can really in the long run predict, and pulling out and going back in (giggity) all the time is a fools errand. But just for that initial investment, .... right wouldn't I want to wait for Trump's next stupid comment or action that tanks it? How important is the timing of the initial drop, and if it is important is there anything I can do for a preferrable outcome? Or is that trying to know the unknowable Also, was reading some favor a three pronged approach where it's: s&p index, international index, bonds index. If I really can be disciplined and not touch the money, do I really need the bond aspect? Anyways, yeah, please don't hold back any comments or advice, I'm trying to be as objective as I can. I don't know shit, and am trying to be semi-literate in this language. I'm definitely someone with the discipline not to panic during bad times,moving forward, or invest money I might need in the short term into this project. Reading archived forums of people pulling out their money during the worst of the 08 crisis was a good use of time.
Getting granular matters more than you'd think. I had a "large cap" fund that was 30% mid-cap, which threw off my whole allocation. The style box classification can be misleading. Since you're adding new money rather than selling, consider simplifying forward — maybe just add VTI and VTIAX going forward to hit your targets without making this even more complex.
I think most emerging markets wish they could invest in American stocks and ETFs. In my retirement accounts I do have 10% allocated to International Stocks (VTIAX) however it’s underperformed relative to good American indexes. The barrier in many countries is the difficulty getting into our markets as countries want their citizens investing in their own markets, it’s changing though.
I don't understand your asset allocation. Why is there so much overlap? VTSAX and VTI are the same. Both contain VOO. Why not just have VOO and the desired weight of VOE, small cap, etc SCHF is contained entirely in VTIAX.
VTIAX in Vanguard and a 0 fee equivalent in Fidelity. I have been 100% US Equities my whole life and started reading about stretches International has outperformed US for a lengthy period. I might end up being wrong but I feel like we are in the early innings of that now. If you are looking for international stocks I’m not your guy I index that as I’m just not educated enough. Back to fishing.
Most people are going to be boring and say put it into SPY. I have some more interesting plays. My recs are: GLD for hedge against inflation/US debt crisis VTIAX for hedge against US stock underperforming. For past decade US has significantly outperformed and tariffs/govt policies are going to hurt the US more than rest of world.
Same, but more broadly I moved most of my 401k to VTIAX. Donald says there might be some pain, well, I'm not letting him screw with my money. I have little trust in the US stock market right now with these insane tariffs.
While I take everything chatgpt says with a grain of salt, it says it does. It says I still start at a loss, and would do better building one myself. However, it readily admitted they're complicated to set up, and thus, maybe you do pay for something. But I guess that's the heart of my question, really. I mean, why not just VTSAX+VBTLX+VTIAX instead?
Nope. But go for it! We have close to $1M spread across 40% VTSAX, 40% VBTLX, and 20% VTIAX. My spouse and I are content with a set it and forget it three fund portfolio. It provides stability and flexibility, which is what we want in life. Do you have at least $100k invested? Before gambling, at least have a foundation that'll continue to grow when your bets don't provide the return you expected.
VTIAX, VMFXX, emergency fund in a HYSA.
A Roth IRA is a gold mine. Open a Roth in Vanguard, go with a 60/40 split with VTSAX and VTIAX, and max it out annually until further notice. Then he needs to go to college. $23/hr is great, but that's his ceiling without a college education.
Emerging markets did particularly well, such as VEIEX at 9.82% per year. VGTSX, which exists today as VTIAX and VXUS, had an annual return of 2.7% per year. Even VWIGX, the longtime vanguard international growth fund, did 1.38% per year.
Recently sold everything except VTIAX and currently holding 80% cash. I don’t trust the market right now for shit. And yeah, don’t time the market is a fine strategy when you don’t know what’s gonna happen but I absolutely knew this idiot was going to do stupid shit.
I personally detest Avantis funds (they're actively managed) so if you really wanted some small-cap value, I'd just use VTV. A much similar solution is just doing 80% VTSAX and 20% VTIAX in your Roth. VTSAX sill cover the whole market, so you get mid and small caps in there too. But yeah either way you're doing great man, keep it up.
Hey all, I am looking to get some clarity on the right balance to target with a four-fund portfolio, diversifying from my current positions to include small-cap value (probably AVUV since that seems to be the gold standard). I am a pretty simple set-it-and-forget-it investor and don't want to complicate things. Currently, I have the following positions in my taxable and retirement accounts: * **Taxable**: VFIAX/S&P500 (75%), VTIAX/Total International (20%), VBTLX/Bonds (5%) * **Roth IRA**: VFIAX (80%) and VTIAX (20%) My new positions would be balanced as follows: * **Taxable** (No change) * **Roth IRA**: VFIAX (60%), AVUV (20%), VTIAX (20%) Are there any additional things to consider when diversifying from large-cap, or is it as simple as throwing 20% into AVUV for the long haul? Is 20% too high, too low, or just right? Please let me know if there is a resource I can follow, as opposed to seeking general public opinion. More info about me: 23 y/o American with a medium-high risk tolerance. My time horizon is 40 years for retirement. My taxable account could be anywhere from 10 to 40 years, which is why I have a small bond position.
The fact that you're even asking these kinds of questions at your age puts you way ahead of 99.9% of people. Seriously impressive. Keep nurturing that curiosity — it will serve you incredibly well in building wealth over time. My two cents: you’re a little heavy on tech right now. That’s fine if you really believe in it, but just know there are times when tech can get hit hard. If I were in your shoes, I’d keep it super simple. I’d split between VTSAX and VTIAX to get broad exposure to both U.S. and international markets. Personally, I go 70% VTSAX and 30% VTIAX.
If I reach the point where WSBs actually thinks this is fake, I will have self-actualized to Maslow's top of the pyramid. As for the mutual funds, two are just boomer Vanguard index funds (VTSAX and VTIAX). My advisor wants me to "eat my vegetables" so to speak lmao. The other two are alternative, institutional funds, they're not even accessible with regular retail platforms, you need an advisor. My understanding is he had to do training with those fund companies, so they then gave him the permissions to buy it. He told me not to share them, that's why I black them out. Also if I did share them, I bet WSBs would say I did it just to pump my bags lololol. You mentioned event-driven: Funny coincidence, I don't have one for that but he told me he's got his eyes on a few and once he is convinced, he'll recommend. But nothin as of now.
You'll be stuck with dollar denominated securities no matter what in the USA. Look at Vanguard VEUSX or VTIAX.
Yeah, I wouldn’t know. VTIAX went up today 🙂 I’m glad I sold my VTSAX a while back.
Would holding International stocks through dollar help, such as through VTIAX.
Would buying international stocks index such as VTIAX help
as a fairly passive investor, personally I'm going heavy into VTIAX (same as VXUS) until midterms at the least, and probably more in BNDX. If it's looking like he's going to be able to fire powell, i'll probably buy more IAU as well, I have a few shares at the moment. And most of my cash is in HYSA/CDs because 4% is better than the market's offering right now, but the moment the FDIC is cut/ended/burnt to the ground, I'll be transferring out to fidelity and vanguard to ride it out in SGOV/BNDX. that's the best i've got for this bullshit. I'm a long term investor forced to look at short term because of the economy policy rn, and i gotta admit i hate it
Still holding strong DCAing in my retirement accounts, though I'm just holding cash rn in mine and my husband's Roths currently because I'm reevaluating my usual target date fund. But non-retirement? I'm in short term CDs at Marcus and ally. I'm DCAing monthly into mainly VTIAX and BNDX, and I bought some shares of IAU this morning just in case, with that social media post about JPow and the frequent discussions about stagflation and hyperinflation; honestly, may buy a few more next week. My non-retirement accounts are where I invest for now through retirement. I'm even considering crypto and I NEVER have before. I am a different investor than I was 3 months ago, that's for sure
I'll have to look into that, thanks. Ideally I'm searching for a VTIAX-equivalent, but in euros.
Sure, do exactly this: 170k split into these three categories: 60% - VTI / VTSAX 20% - VXUS / VTIAX 20% - BND / VBTLX Set it and walk away, don't look for at least a year. Continue to contribute with the same 60/20/20 split when you have available funds. 5-7% returns most years. Stop gambling.