VTWAX
Vanguard Total World Stock Index Fund
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Question: why does "past performance is not a guarantee of future returns" not seem to apply to index investing? At what level *does* it start to apply?
Does it ever make sense to have multiple brokerage accounts?
Best Funds and Allocation Strategy for a 100% Equity Portfolio - 100% World Vs 100% Only USA
Capital Gains Distribution (Mutual Funds vs ETFs)
Why shouldn't I just put it all in Berkshire Hathaway?
Wash sale rule "substantially identical security"
Help me understand VTWAX (new to investing + I'm from LATAM)
Comparable Merrill Lynch mutual funds similar to the VTSAX, VTIAX, & VTWAX without transaction fees?
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Looking for some advice/input on how I should invest my Vanguard Roth IRA. Currently I have the minimum $3k in VTSAX, as well as another $3k in VTWAX. I'm aware of the 120 rule, and at my age it states I should have 90% of my portfolio in stocks. What are some good fool-proof, set and forget stock options I should be looking at???
New to investing. Would appreciate some guidance in terms of how my Vanguard Roth IRA portfolio spread should look. Currently I have the $3000 minimum in VTSAX, as well as another $3000 minimum in VTWAX. The rest is in short-term reserves (VMFXX). I'm aware of the 120 rule, and at my age the rule states I should have 90% of my portfolio in stocks. What are some good set and forget stock options apart from VTSAX & VTWAX to diversify some more???
In March, I was originally going to invest a bonus I earned in VTWAX in my brokerage account. Instead, with so much economic uncertainty, inflation, and hardship, I opted for VUSXX instead. I’m going to stay the course because I don’t believe meaningful rate cuts are going to be happening any time soon.
Why go for vxus and vti when you could just do a total world fund like VTWAX or VT?
Or it's bigger brother VTWAX. Both are great low cost options, it just depends on if you want international or not.
>Currently I have a Vanguard Roth IRA with about ~50/50 split into VLXVX and VTSAX I'd use VTWAX instead of VTSAX if you insist on holding a TDF + something else. >VFIAX Is unnecessary as it is fully contained within the TDF, VTSAX, and VTWAX. If you want to go even more aggressive, look into factor investing. Factor investing starting points: • https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/factor-investing.asp • https://www.fidelity.com/bin-public/060_www_fidelity_com/documents/fidelity/fidelity-overview-of-factor-investing.pdf (PDF)
Usually ETFs are more tax efficient than comparable mutual funds. Some Vanguard mutual funds and ETFs act as a different class of share of the same underlying holding so they act tax efficient. They will have slightly different fees, and ETFs will trade during the day, while mutual funds are priced once a day. Some mutual funds have minimum investment requirements. The cool thing about the mutual funds is that you can automate investing, and you can't do that at Vanguard with ETFs. VTI/VTSAX is the total US market. VXUS/VTIAX is the global market excluding the US. VT/VTWAX is the global market. I'd either do a mix of VTI/VTSAX and VXUS/VTIAX if you want to control the ratios (80/20 is popular) or just dump it all in VT/VTWAX (which is currently equivalent to about 60/40).
Total world, like VT/VTWAX or pairing VTI/VTSAX with VXUS/VTIAX. The US isn't always the best place to be invested, going global can provide better returns and/or less volatility than 100% US (or 100% ex-US).
1. VOO is so stable that for a beginner, buy as much as you can. You can buy partial shares, so dump all $500 into it. As always though, I'm assuming that when you say you have $500 to invest, you still have a cash emergency fund. No telling what the market will do tomorrow. 2. More VOO is solid. You can also branch out into other index funds such as VTSAX (another of Vanguard's highly-diversified index funds, albeit based on US companies only), VTWAX (Vanguard again, 60% US, 40% international), or Vanguard's Target Date Funds (pick the one closest to when you anticipate retiring). The target date funds start off stock-heavy to take advantage of their faster growth, then transition more into bonds the closer you get to retirement, just in case the stock market slumps at an inconvenient time for you. 3. Put in the order whenever you want. It'll get processed soon enough anyway; one day doesn't mean squat over 40+ years. Market hours are really only important for professionals actively trying to play the market.
I have VTWAX and am worried about the same issue. I suppose I could swap to VT.
>20% into VTWAX for total international stock market, VTWAX is total world, not total international. Roughly 60% of VTWAX right now is US. You're probably looking for VTIAX, that's the one that doesn't include US.
I would recommend you look into the 3-fund portfolio and the 4-fund portfolio. I agree with you that putting 100% of your nest egg into just the S&P 500 is not the most wise idea, though it is definitely better than trying to stock pick and time the market. But a 4-fund portfolio that invests in something like 60% into VTSAX for the total US stock market, 20% into VTWAX for total international stock market, 10% into VBTLX for total US Bond market exposure, and 10% into VTABX for total international Bond market exposure gives you great diversification across basically every publicly traded stock/bond in the world. And all that with just 4 funds, all with low expense ratios.
I am 40 year old from from USA and has full time job I'm relatively new to investing and looking to start building my portfolio with Vanguard ETFs. After doing some research, I've narrowed down my options to the following stocks: VFIAX (Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares) - 10K VTWAX (Vanguard Total World Stock Index Fund Admiral Shares) - 10K VOO (Vanguard S&P 500 ETF) - 8K VUG (Vanguard Growth ETF) - 8K VTI (Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF) - 4K VGT (Vanguard Information Technology ETF) - 8K VHT (Vanguard Health Care ETF) - 7K I'm aiming to invest for a balanced portfolio that offers good potential for returns over the long term. I'm particularly interested in knowing the differences between VFIAX and VTWAX, and which one might be a better fit for my investment goals. Additionally, any insights or advice on the other ETFs listed above would be greatly appreciated. I'm open to hearing about your experiences with these funds, any pros and cons you've observed, and how you've incorporated them into your own investment strategy. Thanks in advance for your help!
Whichever tool you like more. Some don't let you auto-invest into ETFs, but most do auto-invest into their mutual fund equivalent. For example I auto-invest into VTWAX, which is the mutual fund equivalent to VT. For Schwab the funds would be: SWPPX (S&P 500) SWTSX (Total US Market) VT (there is no direct Schwab equivalent) would be a 60/40 split between SWTSX and SWISX(International) You could also just put a weekly or monthly reminder and still buy ETFs, where you log in and click a few buttons.
VTWAX, VFIAX if I'm feeling spicy.
And? Always be buying. I DCA into VTWAX every Monday through thick and thin. Worked out well so far.
Start simple. Open a brokerage at Vanguard/Fidelity and simple invest as much as you can/are comfortable with every month into the S&P 500. VFIAX for Vanguard or FXAIX for Fidelity. Once you get that going, I'd look into a bit more diversification, maybe some international. (Like 80% VFIAX/20% VTIAX), or even VTWAX(which is the whole stock market). Let compound interest be your best friend, get it in there, and let it just grow and grow and grow.
VFIAX is 100% fine being young. It's never a bad time to invest in it. I do VTWAX in my brokerage (since I like international) but my 401ks are all VFIAX.
Honestly, you could easily just do 1 (something like VT). I've come to realize over the last 4 years of investing, that people tinker too much. That's why I do VTWAX(VT) and just freaking chill. The hardest part is just doing it, leaving it, and waiting. (Also fighting FOMO)
The correct play is don't touch anything and keep buying more ETFs/mutual funds. I DCA into VTWAX every Monday, if the market is up/down/left/right. Just don't touch it.
Whether I have $10 or $10,000,000, I'd invest the same. Low cost passively managed funds. I picked VTWAX to gt exposure to the entire world market.
VTWAX is a global stock fund. It is a balanced diversified option but understand it isn't just US stocks it is both US and foreign stocks (about 38% foreign).
My HSA's investment options have similar but different titles. I'm holding $23K and want to put it to work. Any idea if what you recommend would be the same as "Vanguard Total World Stock Index Fund", ticker = VTWAX ?
Yeah I'm DCAing into VTWAX every Monday, through thick and thin. The great thing about it is, it changes as the market changes. If India were to suddenly do well it would grow from its 2.10% now to 3%, 4%, etc, etc. You never have to worry about timing stocks or markets with it, since it'll self adjust over time. Now, the downside is you'll probably never get the 'best' gains (say if VOO has another 20 amazing years), but if you keep investing, longer term you should be OK.
First professional gig started May 2019 making 50k a year. Had 8 grand saved and an older car I drove into the ground a year later. No family inheritance. Community college and scholarships in state school left me with only 15k in student debt. Went from $0 investments to $100k invested inclusive of gains by December 2021. Basically saved 50%+ of my income in tax advantaged accounts, threw any additional money I came across into the market, and kept expenses ridiculously low with roommates and living in a LCOL country abroad. VTSAX for the IRA, target fund for the 401k, and VTWAX for the small amount of brokerage funds. Market run up had helped hit 100k the first time. I stayed around 100k with constant contributions through most of 2022.
As opposed to wht? VTWAX and leave it alone or stock picking?
Look at the VT & Chill strategy, it's right up your alley. $VT or $VTWAX I have 5M in $VT, all you need.
Depends on what kind of diversification you're looking for. VTI is every publicly traded company in the US. So it's as diverse as you can possibly get for domestic stocks. You can add in international stocks if you want with VFWAX (FUND)/VEU(ETF). Or you could just buy a single world index that grabs both with VTWAX(FUND) or VT (ETF). Then you get into other asset classes. You can add treasury bonds, you can add all bonds, you can add precious metals, you can add international bonds, and on and on. You can get as diverse as you could ever want pretty easily, but other than bonds there's no real clear data that it makes you a better risk adjusted return to add all of that. Thus the 3 fund portfolio. VTI domestic, VEU international, BND for US bond market. As a general rule, some mix of those 3 will be appropriate and VEU is optional.
What about VTWAX in Vanguard? It's a global asset. Would you consider it a diversed move to invest in both VTWAX and/or VTI, VTSAX?
Thank you. I was also looking at VTWAX to diversify into a global asset, any thoughts on that one?
what are people's thoughts regarding VQNPX Mutual Fund vs VTWAX? I'm interesting in potentially investing in both to diversify my portfolio.
VTSAX VTWAX and maybe some VIGAX
Is VTWAX and VBTLX sufficient?
At the expense of Christian missionaries, the punchline is just that you can VTWAX and relax just as well as VTSAXing and relaxing. [the etymology of gospel is “good news”]
Have you heard the good news about VTWAX?
I've been looking at by 401ks/IRAs/Roth IRAs and I forgot I was holding TDFs with allocations I don't like (too bond heavy). I'm considering moving it all into VTWAX or VTSAX. If there an ideal time or just swap those holdings asap? The TDF are all in retirement accounts. * Late 30s from USA * Employed with a 12% 401k, 6% Roth 401k, and Backdoor Roth * Money is for retirement, both in a Roth IRA, and Trad IRA
Half VOO, half VTWAX. A year's salary in HYSA. Few thousand for dumb shit like BTC, random options plays, stocks I think will fly soon. I'm the sole provider in my house right now and therefore no fucking around.
I'm sorry it took me so long to get back to you. The key is to make a good plan & stick to it. There is no perfect plan; no one knows which stocks, sectors, countries, etc. will provide the best returns over any particular future period. What doesn't work is market timing - switching around based on our perceptions of the market. We have a tendency to switch out of something that has underperformed & is about to rebound, and into something that has overperformed & is about to drop or have slow growth. In other words, we buy high & sell low. At one time, Vanguard recommended 20-40% of stocks in internationals. They now use 40% for most of their target date funds & LifeStrategy funds. Picking a ratio in that range & rebalancing occasionally to maintain that ratio is good plan for a lot of people A lot of people like to use the global market weight, which is currently about 61/39. This can be done by investing in a fund like VT/VTWAX, Vanguard's Total World Stock Market Fund. No rebalancing would be necessary. This can also be done by investing in funds like VTI+VXUS or VTSAX+VTIAX & rebalancing occasionally (though it would be needed less frequently than if trying to maintain a specific ratio, as above). So, yes, 55/45 does seem a bit high on the internationals, but only a bit. I hoe that helps. If you have follow-up questions, I should be able to respond more quickly next time.
Yes. VTI = ETF of all US Stocks. VTSAX is the mutual fund version of VTI. It's the same thing, just without the concept of "shares", and trades are resolved at the end of the day, not during trading hours. VT = ETF of all the developed world's stocks. All available data suggests you should buy this. VTWAX is the mutual fund version of VT. I don't hold international because I'm old, biased, and somewhat foolish. I also believe the US will outperform Europe in the coming decades, but that's just me. Look up Ben Felix on YouTube. If you have a question, there's a good chance he's made a video about it. He's extremely rational. https://www.youtube.com/@BenFelixCSI
I see so I should have been aiming for 100% VTWAX then instead to avoid pennies? My next HSA transfer should be able to get this done.
1. Go to /r/bogleheads. 2. A total world passive index fund from Vanguard is the best long term investment. VT is the fund in the US. There’s an Irish equivalent, but I don’t know the name. 3. VT is an exchange traded fund. The mutual fund version is called VTWAX. It’s exactly the same thing aside from how it’s traded.
Those American funds are so expensive. Redundant too. Just go VT/VTWAX plus a bond fund if you want bond exposure.
I went for VTSAX over VFIAX. Well, VMGMX, VTSAX, VTWAX, and VWUAX, but I have the most ($113k) in VTSAX. I'm hedging bets weirdly in my portfolio.
VT is global market cap weighted. The 21st spot in VT (HD - Home Depot) has a market cap of 346.978B (spot 20 is foreign, so I think the listed market cap wasn't in USD), while O is only 41.24B. (Market cap numbers from Yahoo Finance, rank in VT based on VTWAX, which is internally identical). So O would need a huge amount of growth (roughly 8x without any changes to the bottom of the top 20) before you'd have seen it by looking at just the top 20.
Keep it simple. 100% VT or VTWAX.
VTWAX/VT, VTSAX/VTI, or VFIAX/VOO. Depending on personal preference of asset allocation.
>How about vtwax, stocks of nearly 10k companies worldwide? Hard to get more diverse than that Just to note: that would be if it were to replace, the S&P 500 fund, as roughly 50% of VTWAX is the entirety of S&P 500 already. That other 50% is basically 40% VTIAX, 10% VEXAX (if sticking with Vanguard mutual funds).
If you want to keep up on the news and financials of the companies and sectors you're invested in, and you think they're still good buys - stay the course. As far as the market is concerned, they have as much potential to make money as any other equity so as long as they're small positions, it's fine. VTWAX or other broad fund would be lower stress for me.
>and I haven't seen a growth in my 401k, YDT this year is 2%. The market hasn't been great this year. Other years out is much better, and some years far worse. I'm seeing VTWAX at +6.28% YTD, which is decent. Bonds are negative, but only -2.47%. Be aware that your 401K might be using your return, which means additional contributions reduce your % gain, since they add some dollar amount at +/- $0 (or 0%).
I have got about $70k cash in my checking account that I don’t need in the short term. Prior to 2022 I would have just dumped it all into VTWAX in my brokerage account. I am wondering now if I should keep doing that, or buy some bonds or T-Bills or something. I am totally unfamiliar with investing in anything other than index funds. Right now I am 32 with roughly $700k in VTWAX, VTIAX, and VTI balanced by market cap.
Bear markets are the best time to buy. Buy a whole world index fund (like VT/VTWAX). I wouldn’t focus on dividends.
>Any foreign exposure you may have is rarely direct What are you talking about? You can easily have direct foreign exposure. E.g., [VT](https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/etfs/profile/vt#), VTWAX, VXUS, etc. >they are using an ETF that proxies I wouldn't call them "proxies". They hold the underlying equities directly. > vulnerable to overall stock market trends. This doesn't mean anything. "Trends" are not an *investment factor*. >he USA goes the way of Japan, you're not going to be like "oh good thing I have money in emerging markets" It doesn't matter what happens to any particular basket. You can easily and cheaply hold the entire world.
VIGAX with a dash of VTWAX and VSMAX
I think international is useless. If you look at Vanguard's total world fund for example, (VTWAX), 63.5% of the fund is in North America. 60% of that is the US alone. If you look at global caps by country, Japan is second at a staggering lower 6% of the pie and you've got all of Europe at 15% or so. That's 81% of the world. When you consider how utterly interconnected the democratic world is (Japan/SK/Aus - USA/CAN/Mex - Europe), all of those companies are pulling in the same direction anyway. Any turbulence at this point will be felt by all, as was clearly showcased during the pandemic. So if 80% basically follows the highs and lows of the world's only hegemony, and the bullshit pit of lies that is China makes up most of the rest of the other 20%, how much actual benefit could there possibly be in diversifying further? People cite inversion correlations between US/Non-US stocks in the past, but fail to grasp just how recent of a phenomenon our level of globalization is. I don't think it's necessarily stupid to add that extra level of diversity, I just think it's unnecessary and am happy to put my money where my mouth is.
VTWAX and relax (not my strategy its just fun to say)
I wish I had the same thought at your age! Since you asked a wonderfully intelligent question, there are a few options that mostly depend on whether or not you have earned income. If you do and your employer offers a 401K (assuming you are in the USA...), you should contribute up to the match at minimum. I believe annual contribution limits are currently $22,500. If they don't offer a 401K, you can open an IRA (a lot of people like Roth IRA's combined with traditional 401Ks, great if you can do both, but you are still very young. Annual contribution limits are $6,500 this year. If you don't work but have other sources of income, you will have to open a taxable brokerage, which is still fine. You're only taxed on the money you make, but you're making money still. Vanguard, Fidelity and Schwab are all popular. I started with Vanguard and now also use Fidelity for a brokerage account. It doesn't matter. You should start off with something like a total world index fund or etf (VT/VTWAX) and although you're young and don't need bonds, most people are more risk averse then they realize. Adding something like BND/VBTLX for 10-40% of your portfolio will help stabilize downturns (and upturns). 40% bonds would be VERY conservative, but some people are into that. 100% equities makes your numbers swing broader, but you don't lose money if you don't sell (don't sell low!). With index funds, your average returns can be about 7% annually, adjusted for inflation. I'm trying to learn how to do business valuations in order to intelligently own individual companies. I gather that when most people do this, they have lower returns than if they had just used a broad market index fund or ETF. But if you do it right, you can do really well, you just have to put more effort in. Index investing is more passive. Happy investing!
>I have my 401k with fidelity in a FID FRDM IN. 2045 T account that I max out each year Is that "IN" short for index or institutional? What's the expense ratio? If "index" and 0.12% or lower, that's a great fund, though 2045 seems a bit early for someone your age (maybe a 2055 or 2060 would be more appropriate). >I then do about $500 a week or $25,000 a year in VFIFX fund. The question I have is I put money in here instead of like a savings account so if I need it for something like a vacation or something like that I can take from it. Is that the right choice for something like that? For tax reasons, target date funds should typically only be held inside tax advantaged accounts. Something like VTWAX would be more volatile (no bonds), but more tax efficient (and even more tax efficient than that would be VTSAX + VTIAX). >My wife does 401k that gets about 10k a year in it. If you can afford more, I'd take advantage of more of that.
and the Lord said, "Go forth, buy VTWAX & multiply."
I would go with VTSAX or VTI (total US index); or VTWAX or VT (total world index) personally. Of the two choices listed, definitely S&P 500 every time.
Why not VTWAX when it's cheaper per share?
You have a bunch of different funds. But many of them actually do not provide any diversification, since their contents are already covered by at least 1 other fund you hold. You're only buying the same companies over and over. VTWAX provides all the diversification you'd need (within stocks). You portfolio adds complexity with seemingly no thought behind the moves. ​ Draw a big circle, that'll be VTWAX. Draw a circle a little over half the size, with most of it inside the other, that is VTSAX. Draw a circle fully inside VTSAX but only mostly inside VTWAX, that's VGSLX. Another circle fully inside VTSAX and VTWAX for VFIAX/VOO. The only diversification beyond VTWAX is those little parts that aren't inside the VTWAX ring but are inside one of the others. ​ Dividends themselves are not account value growth, as the share price drops by the distribution amount. This is also likely fully inside VTSAX and probably mostly within VTWAX. Plus being actively managed should be expected to under perform broad coverage indexing. ​ VPMCX being actively managed should be expected to under perform broad coverage indexing.
>I currently have: >VDIGX, VGSLX ,VPMCX (obtained from FedEx Express), VTSAX, VTWAX VTWAX is all you need: it either fully or almost fully contains everything else there. >I'm thinking of getting rid of VDIGX and converting it to either VFIAX or VOO. I'm curious if this is a good move No, because that's already fully inside (at minimum) both VTSAX and VTWAX.
>I always wonder who are these people that “sell assets” that net $3,000,000 but don’t know how to earn monthly income or how to invest in VTWAX for long term, There's way more people like this than you'd think. waaaay.
This post is likely OP cosplaying being rich. I always wonder who are these people that “sell assets” that net $3,000,000 but don’t know how to earn monthly income or how to invest in VTWAX for long term, especially if they’ve made it to this sub.
> Can you elaborate how “surpassing the market” works. It means getting a higher return than the broad market without greater risk (volatility of returns). >What are the options of investing in the total market if there are any? You can just buy VTI or ITOT or VTSAX for the total US market or VT or VTWAX for the global market. These funds hold thousands of stocks in proportion to their market capitalization with low fees. >And is the only way to profit more than the total market investors is by surpassing the market? You can also take on more risk by using leverage (futures, options, leveraged funds, margin). Theoretically you can also outperform the stock market with a multi-asset diversified portfolio with leverage. >Lastly; with all due respect, isn’t total market investing a bit slow and not very rewarding? Historically the US returned ~7% real per year, which doubles your investment every ten years. Up to you how to characterize that speed.
No reason to change it. A Roth is for retirement, and you outsmarting international markets over the next 10-40 years is very low. I think your portfolio is perfect as is. I'm too lazy to manually balance US and non-US investments, so I just use VTWAX (mutual fund version of VT)
Simplicity /r/boglehead in me says sell all but VTWAX, use profits to buy VTWAX tomorrow, unless you will have major tax implications from doing so
Currently 19 years old and have held all of these ETFs for a year except for VTWAX. Currently at a gain for all them. I know there is a lot of overlap and I am trying to fix my diversification. Need help on what to do VFIAX (VOO ETF), VTWAX (VT ETF), QQQ, VTI
Currently 19 years old and have held all of these ETFs for a year except for VTWAX. Currently at a gain for all them. I know there is a lot of overlap and I am trying to fix my diversification. Any help on what I should do? VFIAX (VOO ETF), VTWAX (VT ETF), QQQ, VTI
VT and VTWAX are the same under the hood. VT will have a buy/ask spread and trade during the day. VTWAX has a higher expense ratio. Fidelity will not allow automatic ETF investment. I just use FSKAX and FTIHX in mine at Fidelity.
>but I've read about these having some tax issues (specifically in reference to Vanguard index funds). That was almost certainly about their target date funds, not regular index funds. Broad coverage index funds (like VTSAX, VTIAX. VTWAX, and similar) are often very tax efficient, especially if they use the special design that several of Vanguard's do (which uses an ETF share class to help reduce the chances of capital gains distributions). >If I wanted to maintain that same investment path (general market index funds), what would be a suitable choice to use for non-Roth/401k investments? The ones listed here can be great: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund_portfolio
Makes sense. Invested in VTWAX. Thanks
VTWAX is there, adds international to VTSAX. Otherwise you’re stuck piecing together small, mid, and large cap in a similar proportion to what’s in VTSAX (which you can research).
If you plan to use mutual funds you want to stick to those offered by your broker (to avoid the transaction fees). Vanguard has structured their ETFs to be share classes of their Mutual Funds, and has been offering fractional share purchases through their own brokerage for a while now. I guess Fidelity has been brought on board for that program now too? Biggest difference now is VT is traded during market hours and VTWAX is bought/sold after market close.
Dumb. Is Ferrari and Hermes going to be around in 30 years? Sure. Does that mean their business is going to grow and outperform a VTI, VOO, or hell even VTWAX-like low-cost index fund? I mean, you're taking on substantial risk, and you'd need to have data to back up that risk to justify call a future purchase an investment; now, if you wanted to say you feel like gambling on LVMH today, then roll your dice.
I'd stick with VTWAX or VT, not VTI, if using only 1 fund.
Yeah I just said VTWAX as an example because it's the broadest of broad-based index funds. I always forget that people on Reddit take everything super literally.
VTWAX has an initial minimum of $3,000, so that'd leave OP with about $2k for single company picks by the sounds of it.
It's an excellent idea. You can ask the nephews what products or services they think are good. Then, find those companies or better competitors to introduce the basics of investment research. Keep it as a pony race. So, $1000 in VTWAX then a total of a thousand for your 5 stock portfolio. Morningstar or yahoo even has a pretty broad and free info on both funds and stocks, which can introduce the concept of research.
We all know that broad based index funds are the best and individual stock pickings is a fool's errand. But they are kinda boring. If I was trying to introduce my nephews to investing, I might buy shares of a few companies that they like and then something like VTWAX so they can compare the volatility of individual stocks vs. total world index funds. I just think it would make it a little more interesting for them. I think everyone goes through an individual stock picking phase early in their investing career.
>a lot of people on this sub talking about only investing into VOO or VTI I'm not a fan of this approach. To me, either would need to be paired with VXUS or equivalent, which in the right ratio brings you to having Vanguard Global All Cap. As mentioned, VT (2 letters)/VTWAX is essentially the same thing for US investors, combining US and ex-US (at market cap weights) into one.
>the US market has out performed global indexes by a huge margin. Not really. My links above show that. Also see: * https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2023/05/the-case-for-international-diversification >It’s also true that much of the outperformance has taken place during the latest cycle. From 1970-2012, the annual returns were basically dead even: >U.S. stocks +9.7% >International stocks +9.6% That's 42 years coming out to essentially the same. As the Boglehead wiki links show, just a few years before that ended with ex-US ending up on top of the US. >but for now short to medium term it doesn’t appear to be the case. Ex-US outperformance predicted: * https://advisors.vanguard.com/insights/article/areinternationalequitiespoisedtotakecenterstage or the archived link if that doesn't work: https://web.archive.org/web/20210104201135/https://advisors.vanguard.com/insights/article/areinternationalequitiespoisedtotakecenterstage * https://www.morningstar.com/articles/1018261/experts-forecast-stock-and-bond-returns-2021-edition (can see mention of it even before the paywall) or the 2023 version: https://www.morningstar.com/articles/1132887/experts-forecast-stock-and-bond-returns-2023-edition >Way more money parks itself in US stocks than intl Currently about 60% in US, 40% ex-US (VTWAX link). 20%, but also only 10% each way from being a coin flip (also see the Tweedy link).
Some terminology: Mutual Fund (simple terms): A collection of money that people pool together and give to someone to manage. ETF: Similar to a mutual fund (there are some differences, like how they trade and taxes) Index Fund: A mutual fund/ETF that tracks an index (like the S&P 500). Not all mutual funds/ETFs are index funds. You want to invest in a total market index fund (like VTI/VTSAX, VT/VTWAX, VOO/VFIAX, etc) for most of you investments.
I moved from Vanguard to Fidelity due to better UX, more features (fractional trading, fidfolios), and smaller minimums for mutual funds. Also my work HSA/401k is part of Fidelity so its nice to have it all there. Having said that, if you are just DCA'ing into index funds over a long period of time I dont think Vanguard vs Fidelity really matters unless there are some Vanguard specific funds you like (ex: life strategy or total world VTWAX). I find Fidelity's allocation funds are seriously lacking compared to Vanguard, if that's your thing. But if you want separate total domestic, international & bond funds, Fidelity is fine.
I wouldn't, consider building a nice nest egg instead. Real estate from another state can be a pain in the rear, from another country there is no way I would do that. [https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/windfall/](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/windfall/) Simple money management tips: [https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics/](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics/) Do you have any high interest debt to pay off? Do you have a fully funded emergency fund? If I had the above taken care of I would simply open a taxable brokerage account with Vanguard for the rest of the money and invest in VTWAX. https://investor.vanguard.com/accounts-plans/individual-joint-brokerage [https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/profile/vtwax](https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/profile/vtwax)
What are the pros and cons of Vanguard's Index funds vs their ETF counterpart? Hopefully I am getting the terminology correct; but like Vanguard has an Index fund, example VTWAX (the Total World Stock Index Admiral Shares) and its ETF counterpart VT (Total World Stock ETF). They both follow the same index. However the VTWAX requires (as with all other of their index funds) a minimum $3,000 whereas the ETF doesn't. Also usually the ETF seems to be slightly higher priced; VTWAX currently at $34.26 while the VT is at $96.70. Is it just a matter of personal preference or are there any other caveats I should know about between them? Thank you
Get a cash emergency fund in a HYSA first. Then prioritize tax- advantaged amounts like IRA and 401k before investing in a taxable brokerage. VOO *is* a diversified portfolio. If you want even more diversification, get VTI. For *international* diversification, get VT. Or VTSAX/VTWAX if you want mutual funds rather than ETFs.
Mutual funds or ETFs is basically a wash. If your broker does not allow fractional shares, do mutual funds. Otherwise, it's a coin toss IMO. The three funds you mentioned are all ETFs btw. VTI mutual fund equivalent is VTSAX, VXUS is VFWAX, VOO is VFIAX. For the purpose of my description of the pros/cons of these funds, the ETFs vs Mutual Funds are interchangeable. VOO vs VTI/VXUS is very clear cut however. VOO is the s&p 500, which is the 500 biggest US companies. However there are thousands of US companies which are not included. VTI is the total is stock market, which includes the thousands of companies within it weighted by market cap. IMO, you want VTI over VOO because it captures all the small/mid gap movement that VOO does not. VXUS is all non-US stocks weighted by market cap. International exposure is a huge debate in the boglehead world. On the one hand, US has outperformed ex-US in recent decades. On the other hand, that is not always the case, and there are a bunch of major companies like Samsung that you are not exposed to by just US exposure. IMO the US economy seems poised to outperform the rest of the world again in the near future, but that may also be priced in already to the market which would make ex-US stocks have more room to move up than US stocks do. That's a long-winded way of saying there are endless arguments pro and against international exposure. I personally have my stock portfolio split 80/20 US vs ex-US. I know I'm overweight US, it's my own bias. Btw, if you don't care about any of this and want "perfect" diversification, you can just buy the global market (ETF is VT, mutual fund is VTWAX).
VTWAX is probably more commonly recommended in that subreddit.
If you only have 6.5k I'd go with VTWAX. If you insist on these 5 funds, then split VTSAX and VTIAX as the person I'm replying to suggested.
VTWAX and chill; but do take 10% or so to enjoy. Good job!
Do we just post on here? Hi All- Looking for some sage advice/perspective on my current investment strategy: Right now, I have three different investment vehicles: 1) Employer 401k, Traditional 457(b), Roth 457(b): All 3 are invested 70% S&P 500 Index and 30% in Total Stock Market International. These are to remain untouched for the next 15-20 years. (For reference, I’m 30) My tentative plan is to introduce the Bond Index when I turn 35yrs/old at 5%, but eventually work up to a final allocation at retirement of 45% US/ 30% International/ 25% Bonds. This will be primary money source for early retirement should I choose to separate from service earlier (at 45-50 years old). 2) Vanguard Roth IRA I recently sold 100% VTSAX (which grew to $20k after the past 4 years) and currently have it set up like this: 78% VTWAX (Total World Market Index) 22% VTIAX (Total International Market Index) After accounting for future contributions, my goal is to eventually have the allocation be finalized at 85% VTWAX, 15% VTIAX. My thinking for this account was to bet on the global market, and have it grow for as long as humanly possible - possibly take withdrawals at 64 or later. 3) Fidelity Taxable Brokerage: …. This is what I need help with. The only goal I have in the short/immediate term is that I want to start saving for a House. My Roth IRA is betting on the Global Market, while my Job’s Retirement is overweight on the US stock market (obviously home bias, but it’s the best I can do w/ funds allowed), but now I’m at a loss for how I should invest in my Fidelity Taxable Brokerage. Can anyone offer any insight? I’ve read people do VTI + VXUS in taxable, or will just focus on one ETF, but I’m not so sure. Very open to everyone’s thoughts.