VXUS

AYamHah

3-6 month emergency fund in a high yield savings or money market Everything else in a Vanguard brokerage account in VTI or maybe a 70% VTI 30% VXUS split. Then forget about it other than putting any extra money into the account as well, and buying more shares.

RuchNZ

Would pop half of it into a world diversified etf now, that's what I did with some of my profit trimming. VTI/VXUS.

Sperlonga

70% VTI and 30% VXUS if long term (10+ year). However the markets are a bit strange right now so it wouldn’t be abnormal to put however much % you want into SGOV or IGOV or TBIL (nearly risk free).

Bro_Moksha

VTI VXUS and don’t look back. You’re 25 you are fine. Market is rigged. Don’t try and beat it. Save as much as you can and let time / compound interest work https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3998202

Overall-Rush-8853

Domestically, a dollar is a dollar regardless of its valuation against say the Euro. S&P is still up 13%. It impacts foreign investors more. However, if you are investing in something like VXUS and the Euro strengthens against the dollar you get gain from the ETF and the currency conversion. Hopefully I didn’t butcher that too much.

Initial_Savings3034

I had to look up TSP, that should tell you how little I know about investing. I would say the **I fund** should be at part of your portfolio. https://www.tsp.gov/funds-individual/ I keep 40% in VTV, 20% in VXUS (similar to the I fund) and 30% VBLTX. The remainder is older Bond shares that I just let ride. Like you, I'm concerned about overvalued stocks and volatility. I highly recommend Jack Bogle's seminal treatise, it simplified my plan. https://www.thegoodlifejourney.com/home/common-sense-investing-jack-bogle

floatingostrichs

Ya, stop buying individual stocks and start buying VOO and VXUS or VT. You don’t know as much as you think, and you are far more likely to do worse for the rest of your life compared to any other of your brain dead friends that chose to blindly DCA into indexes

Cracked_Tendies

Exactly. We could go on to see another decade of 10% real returns from the SP500. Unlikely, but still possible. What's way more likely now tho is that VXUS greatly outperforms with projected 5-6% real returns over the next decade vs 1-2% real for SP500

ricdota

I’m fairly new to investing, started about 6 months ago. I’m 30, with a low-to-medium risk appetite, and looking to invest with a 15–20 year horizon in mind. After that, I plan to shift to a lower-risk profile as I approach my target retirement age. For context, I’m not based in US. I’ve invested around USD 10k so far, and plan to contribute about USD 1k monthly. My current portfolio allocation is: VOO: 30% QQQM: 20% VXUS: 20% SCHD: 10% DBS/D05: 10% BND: 5% GLDM: 5% I’m wondering if this setup is too safe as I don't have any high volatility or small cap stock? It's mostly large cap ETF and some dividend stocks. I have also received feedback that my portfolio is too risky as my 5% bond allocation and 5% gold will not save me if the AI bubble bursts. I’d love to hear your thoughts or suggestions for improvement. I'm happy to share more details behind my choices if you’re curious!

Historical_Low4458

I agree with them. I would sell some of it and add international like VXUS.

robdenbleyker

VXUS is only international. VT would be the total global market ETF to use. It comprises every traded company on earth, and automatically rebalances between market caps and between the US ex-US markets as time goes on.

One-Teach4106

Like VXUS?

ricdota

I’m fairly new to investing, started about 6 months ago. I’m 30, with a low-to-medium risk appetite, and looking to invest with a 15–20 year horizon in mind. After that, I plan to shift to a lower-risk profile as I approach my target retirement age. For context, I’m not based in US. I’ve invested around USD 10k so far, and plan to contribute about USD 1k monthly. My current portfolio allocation is: VOO: 30% QQQM: 20% VXUS: 20% SCHD: 10% DBS/D05: 10% BND: 5% GLDM: 5% I’m wondering if this setup is too safe as I don't have any high volatility or small cap stock? It's mostly large cap ETF and some dividend stocks. I have also received feedback that my portfolio is too risky as my 5% bond allocation and 5% gold will not save me if the AI bubble bursts. I’d love to hear your thoughts or suggestions for improvement. I'm happy to share more details behind my choices if you’re curious!

FudFomo

You’re fine, just expect some volatility and think about getting some international exposure like VXUS.

Newtothisredditbiz

A quick look at Google finance shows VXUS was $49.33 on Jan. 28, 2011. It’s $74.06 now, for a 50.03% gain. $49.33 in 2011 dollars is equivalent to $71.23 in 2025. Congratulations, you’ve made *a total* of $2.83 or 3.8% since inception, once you’ve accounted for inflation.

I_work_too_much

Already got a butt load of VOO and some VXUS in the "I actually want to retire someday" port, I'm looking for some stuff I can get into cheaply soon that will double over the next 6-12 months. Sat on the sidelines for some stuff folks told me would rip earlier this year (IREN comes to mind) and regretting it.

HobbitFeet_23

And you would have had a lot more if you had put it all in QQQ, even better if you had put it all in SMH, even better if you had put it all in NVDA and still even better if you had just hold BTC, but that doesn’t mean that putting it all in either of those would have been a good (ex ante) decision. My point is that it’s arbitrary to blame diversification and stop at the difference between VXUS and VTI (or VOO or whatever US fund you hold). Even within VTI, it’s not like all 3500 stocks did better than VXUS. It was a really small percentage of stocks that had a massive outperformance and carried everything else. Why, instead of just criticizing VXUS, don’t you also criticize the 3300 (or whatever number that is still pretty large) stocks within VTI that didn’t have a comparable performance to the few that did really good. Only when you know what already happened can you (unjustifiably) beat yourself up for having a diversified portfolio. You don’t know what’s going to happen in the future and, just in recent history, the 1990s, 2000s and the 2010s show that it’s usually not the best idea to invest in what did best during the last 10 years. By diversifying you made the right choice, because even if you didn’t have the best outcome possible, you assured that you did good enough to achieve your financial goals. Of course, if you diversify you’re going to do worse than whomever does best, but you also do a lot better than whomever does worst. You’re not or should not be in the get as rich as possible game. You’re or should be in the assure that I get enough to fund my spending goals game. Please stop your FOMO from making good decisions, because you don’t know what’s going to happen in the future.

RockChalk80

No it's not? VXUS started 1/26/2011 and it's up 131% since.

r2k-in-the-vortex

US companies are massively overperforming in valuation. But they are massively underperforming in earnings. PE for VXUS is 17, s&p500 is 30. Last decade of investing in US has been a high gains, high risks gamble. During a bull run such gambles pay off wonderfully, but you better have an exit strategy. You can bet likes of Buffet do have an exit stratey if things are about to go to shit. But you will hear about it only long after the fact

No_Cell6708

VXUS is up 45% in 15 years..

RockChalk80

VXUS has been out performing VTI all year.

milkplantation

There is a lot of misunderstanding to address in your post. **First**, VXUS is hardly comprised of shitty companies. In fact, it's the opposite. [You can see for yourself](https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/fund/vxus/holdings): TSMC, Alibaba, ASML, Samsung, HSBC, Shell, Toyota, Novo, Sony, Mistubishi, Shopify, Siemens, Unilever, LMVH **Second**, innovation has been a recipe for success for the United States market but make no mistake, it's hardly the only recipe for success for a business or investor. Many of the most successful American companies are stable compound earners who just do a couple of things very well: Berkshire Hathaway, Amex, Coca Cola, etc. If you look deeper, China is actually incredibly innovative and will lead the green energy transition. So you have exposure to that market, and you have exposure to a market like Japan that isn't as innovative, but is renowned for quality and craftsmanship. **Third** that Buffet quote is one of the most misunderstood quotes on Reddit. We’re different than his wife. Buffett's advice to his wife to use an S&P 500 fund is a risk-mitigation strategy, not a vote against VXUS (or even Berkshire). He prioritizes her security and simplicity over maximizing returns because she will not be able to actively monitor the company's new management after his death and she lives in the United States so a home country tilt makes a lot of sense. His own actions of keeping his entire fortune in Berkshire stock [and Berkshire investing heavily in Japan ](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/11/berkshires-japanese-stock-positions-top-30-billion.html)should make it clear that they expect other markets to outperform the US in the near term. **Fourth**, US equities vs International [are cyclical](https://www.hartfordfunds.com/practice-management/client-conversations/investing-for-growth/us-and-international-markets-have-moved-in-cycles.html). It's been a historic run for the US but many analysts from renowned firms like [JP Morgan](https://am.jpmorgan.com/us/en/asset-management/adv/insights/market-insights/guide-to-the-markets/portfolio-discussions-international-equities/), Morgan Stanley, and [Goldman Sachs](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/articles/emerging-markets-stocks-and-currencies-are-forecast-to-rally) suggest International markets will outperform the US over the next decade. It's fine if Americans want to believe in American exceptionalism lasting forever, but there's a reason so many international markets are drastically outperforming the US this year and it's because smart money is hedging on the next decade.

OddBottle8064

VXUS has vastly lower valuation than VTI, which historically resulted in superior future returns.

Gildenstern45

You know, I'd really like to wholeheartedly agree with you. The problem is I've made a pisspot full of money off of VXUS this year. Sorry

B00marangTrotter

My index fund VT is 1.23% Tesla, and I'm hedging that with VXUS. I absolutely hate that I have money in Tesla, I fucking cancel rides on Lyft and Uber if they're fucking Tesla. They suck. The ride is so bad it's like winning tickets to the world cup and your seat is inside the fucking soccer ball ⚽. I want nothing but pain and misery for musk, he's a fucking Bond villain.

rice_not_wheat

Instead of taking your advice from random internet people, OP, you should really just read the prospectus yourself. Part of the reason I like VXUS is that is has companies that I like. [It's not like it's a secret](https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/etfs/profile/vxus#portfolio-composition)

mmspider

I would do 20% VXUS 80% VTI. So its not like I would go all in. I just believe we are moving to a world that will see international doing better than before.

Glass-Shelter-699

The good news is that you're 19 and starting a ROTH, plenty of time for growth. You can keep it in VOO/VXUS or look into some other funds like SCHG (growth), QQQM (NASDAQ exposure), or research other funds. I have a Fidelity ROTH and have FXAIX, QQQM, SCHG, VXUS and some growth stock. Just research the funds you're interested in that have low fees and proven track records.

ConcentrateOk523

From 2000-2010 it was early in my investing career and I did not earn big money. I watched my portfolio decline and VXUS did not really help it. Then from July 2016 to today I went from 1.1 million to 3 million and it was not due to VXUS. It was due to VTI. I would have over 4 million if I was 100 percent VTI and that is a fact!

Bannedwith1milKarma

>If this is true then how is VXUS doing so well as of late? US dollar devaluing. International companies moving investment and purchasing out of the US due to risk aversion and tariffs.

giraloco

If you are 100% confident the US will outperform then buy US only. I prefer to diversify with 5-10% in non US stocks. VXUS invests in all countries. I prefer to split developed and emerging countries since they have very different risk profiles. SCHF invests in developed countries only.

bocageezer

But they’re not in VXUS.

Knicks82

Those 61 upvotes are probably people 35 and under who’ve never through the dot com bubble, the Great Recession, let alone things like the Nikkei crash. If you take a longer view of the markets then diversifying makes sense. And it’s good to remember that it’s never about whether the US economy or companies will do “better,” but whether that valuation is already baked in to some degree while international may be undervalued. In 2007/08 people were saying “why invest in the us” and in the 80s Japan’s market was basically voo today. IMHO the correct stance is to say “we don’t really know” and to be agnostic, and therefore have diversification. Do i *think* the US will continue to outperform in the coming decades? Sure, which is why I’m about 80/20 in VT and VXUS. But do I know? I’d have to have pretty severe recency bias and arrogance to think so.

GringottsWizardBank

Tbh I prefer targeted international investments. At any given moment most of VXUS is full of underperforming slop.

ConcentrateOk523

The problem is that I have been told that international investing is a good thing. However in my investing lifetime, 30 years, it has not done well enough compared to US. I have 26 percent of my equity portfolio in VXUS. This year does not make up for 15 yeara of severe underperformance.

audi27tt

HSBC is kind of a shitty company, mediocre at best. So setting aside those handful of exceptions OP is kind of correct. Also compare the top 10 VXUS to VOO, it's no contest...Nestle? I divested my international allocation 10 years ago and haven't looked back. Companies in the S&P now have significant international revenue exposure, I've seen figures estimating as high as 40%.

Thraex_Exile

This year is the strong counter-argument. The reason the U.S. market does so well is in part because we welcome innovative companies, but there’s also far less restrictions to invest in American businesses. It’s why U.S. tech can trade at significantly higher P/E ratios and other value metrics than foreign assets. Eventually, we’ll have a repeat of ‘00 - 09’s “The Lost Decade.” If that time is sooner, rather than later, it’s nice to have an international cushion to reinvest in a depreciated American market and vice versa. There’s also always a chance that American industry becomes the next Roman Empire. It grows so big that it can’t catch up to its own success. If we reach a bottleneck, like semiconductor/rare earth metals shortage, then big tech will be crippled short-term to mid-term. TLDR; you found 61 people who shouldn’t be managing their own investments. Whether it’s VXUS or a different fund/etf is always worth researching.

Poundcake2RedVelvet

VXUS up 26% YTD btw, guess I'll keep investing in the shitty companies.

bocageezer

VXUS holds stocks in 8700 companies so there are bound to dogs in there.

anusbarber

on the other hand rethinking your entire investing strategy because of 61 upvotes on reddit is probably also not a great idea. IMO the US for the next 50 years will PROBABLY outperform cumulatively the US Market. the US is uniquely set up (aka very much more business friendly) than anywhere else in the world to provide a well diversfied insulated porfolios. BUT because I'm not certain, I carve out an allocation for international investing. I don't use VXUS. I used/use DFA/Avantis for this by way of DFIEX/AVDE. They are very index like but run some profitability screens to kind of screen out the "shitty companies"

SirGlass

Its just because foreign has not performed well or as well as USA companies, its recency bias . Back in 2007 when foreign was outperforming USA people were asking the same questions "Why invest in USA at all when foreign out performs" Is TSMC a shitty company ? ASML, Samsung, Sony , Toyota ? The average PE of VXUS is something 16.91 where as VTI is nearing 30 Does that mean anything , well not in a box alone it does not but its is interesting to look at the disparity between the two.

Affectionate-Panic-1

Even internationally shitty companies tend to have lower valuations. Your top companies in VXUS like TSMC, ASML, Samsung, HSBC etc are not "shitty companies". Now you're correct during the past 30 years the US has produced more "unicorn" companies that have caused the US to outperform, companies like Nvidia, Amazon, Google etc. It's not guaranteed that will continue though. The US in recent history has generally had a better risk taking culture and the corporations here have been more willing to make changes, on the other hand places like Japan and Europe have gotten the reputation as having less innovation and risk taking. As a result PE, or price to earnings, are higher in the US indices than internationally. However there's no guarantee that'll continue, and there are periods like the 2000s and the 1970s where international outperformed during poor US markets.

groundhoggirl

If this is true then how is VXUS doing so well as of late? Lots of foreign companies and nations are realizing that they can’t depend on the US and are investing in themselves…that’s going to pay off in free cash flow someday.

eggplanthead123

Do you recommend I sell my VXUS and just do 100% VTI?

TestingLifeThrow1z

Remove SCHD, young people don't need dividends unless there's a large sum of money you can invest in. Dividends are immediate income and not growth focused. VTI and FXAIX are overlapped for the SandP500. 40% VTI, 30% VXUS, 20% QQQM.

TestingLifeThrow1z

I'd like a recommendation for an ETF for a possibly 40-60 year hold, very long term, very tech. I have the usual VOO/ VXUS portfolio and short term bonds portfolio. My preference is towards tech and higher risk (open to losing 50% of it any time). I've cut it down to specifics I'm looking for 1) tech diversified and not focused on mega caps 2) has robotics and hardware 3) has a decent number of holdings, 100+ Which one would be the best out of? I am leaning towards IGM. VGT: Pro: growth Con: 50% is Nvda, Aapl, Msft, Avgo IYW: Pro: Has the robotics and hardware component Con: 45% is Nvda, Aapl, Msft IXN: Pro: Global tech Cons: Assumes the US does not dominate like the others do IGM: Pro: Evenly distributed, more emphasis on all North American Tech, and not top heavy Cons: More volatile XLK: Pro: Heavier on the full SP500 IT companies Cons: Not many, but similar to IYW. FTEC: Same as VGT Cons: Same as VGT

etaoin314

Because the market weighting is an critical function to keep the index profitable. the weighting makes sure you are putting more on better bets in the market. You can certainly overweight your portfolio with something like VXUS if you feel that VT is too bullish on the US.

StatisticalMan

One belief is simply market weight in which case the US is 62% (note 62% not 72%) and thus to avoid trying to beat the market you just do that. However if you felt that was too much you could use an ex-us index fund like VXUS. 50% VTI (us) and 50% VXUS (ex-us).

moosewithamuffin

VXUS calls

Ajk337

I've been leaning more toward VYMI lately. But I've had VXUS for 10+ years and still have a bit. It's really not that bad of a tax drag. Also, the foreign tax credit is incredibly easy to get, even once crossed $200 (tax software has to generate an extra form once that threshold is crossed) I keep a good bit of international as I see more risk than reward in the US market these days. Could be wrong but that's me.

the_snook

VXUS, and other funds holding non-US stocks, receives dividends from foreign countries. A lot of those dividends will have tax withheld by the source country, and the net amount gets passed through to you in the cash distribution. What you're supposed to do is declare the full gross amount of the distribution (net payment + withholding) on your tax return, and then claim the amount withheld as a tax credit.

Beitasitmaybe

I started building up DIVO IDVO QDVO BTCI so that I will just sell my VTI VXUS later on to buy more of all of that. At retirement, i intend to have distributions equalling $20K a month and $5K a quarter. Or maybe I’ll dip out at half that. We’ll see.

Machine8851

I dont invest in VXUS because international funds have a long history of underperforming domestic stocks. Even today with tech down big, VXUS performed worse than VOO and VTI.

occurious

VXUX generates a little more of its return through dividends, which creates a little bit more tax drag. However, in a taxable account it also makes you eligible for the foreign tax credit, although many people don’t bother with that. These are optimizations, though. I hold VXUS in both taxable and tax-advantaged accounts because I need to in order to hit my desired asset allocation.

EducationCultural736

I avoid VXUS in general.

Cracked_Tendies

Because **ALL** of VTI's outperformance vs VXUS can be attributed to revaluation alpha, which is merely a transient event... Meaning will not happen again unless the inverse happens first When you compare what's called 'structural returns' VTI and VXUS have had equal performance. This means that they are both equally likely to outperform each other going forward. Oh and if mean reversion happens, then VXUS is gonna blow VTI out the water

lufisraccoon

>it’s a pain to get the foreign tax credit You get a number on the tax forms from Vanguard, and put that number into the tax return. Yep, you can forget about it - but it's definitely not a pain. >Also why VXUS over the other international funds with much better returns? I think you should reframe this question accurately - what you're really asking is "why VXUS over the other international funds *that have historically had* much better returns?" That might give you an indication why not - you can't buy past performance. The implication of that historical performance being the same forward-looking is that the market is systematically underpricing all USA companies, and systematically overpricing all non-USA companies. I don't think that conclusion makes much sense. If anything, *because of* the past underperformance of non-USA companies, I think it's more likely that USA companies are overpriced, and non-USA companies are underpriced. I don't use that to drive my investment choices though.

etaoin314

vxus has outpaced VTI over certain periods, so Diversification is a good thing here, however I think most people would still choose a US tilt given the propensity to overperform. VXUS is not very tax efficient so keeping it in tax advantaged accounts is probably the way to go. Either way I dont think there is a right or wrong answer. If you think the US will keep outperforming then go that way, if you think there is a good chance that xUS will be safe haven, go that route.

Due_Car_5466

You need to stop picking sectors on past performance. Just buy VT or VTI + VXUS and let the market pick the winners for you. You are young, there is no need to add speculation to a portfolio that will make you rich over 40 years. Good luck!

FrankDrebinOnReddit

100% ETFs. 92.5% equity ETFs. 7.5% physical gold ETF (IAUM). The equity ETFs (as a % of total portfolio): 52.5% S&P 500 market weighted (SPYM). 10% percent S&P 500 quality (QUAL). 10% mid-caps (SPMD). 5% small-caps (IJR). 15% broad internationals (VXUS).

Ev1l_ov3rLoAD

Curious what's wrong with ARKK? I was looking at the past 10 year performance and it beat S and P. I also liked its holding list. Isn't VTI the same as s and p? VXUS had really poor performance compared to s and p

GeneralStudy8636

Thanks man. I appreciate it. May I ask what you hold? Is it just VTI + VXUS or just VT?

GeneralStudy8636

Thank you! What do you think about AVNM? I backtested it and it performed better than VXUS.

Cruian

I'd start with a broad coverage base (VXUS or similar), not targeting factors. Favored factors can spend long periods under performing (15+ years for small cap value in the US at times) and they really require an understanding and dedication. If you're really sure about factor investing, then you can reduce the weight of the broad coverage to them focus on factors.

therealjerseytom

I'd skip the gold, crypto, and ARKK entirely. Keep it simple with just VT, or VTI + VXUS or something The amount you can save and put away will make vastly more difference over your first 5-10 years, than any of this farting around to two decimal places with how much of SCHG or QQQ you do. Side note, QQQ is *not* "tech."

MountainMistCalm

Ah, the classic Reddit Pokemon portfolio: Gotta Catch 'Em All! >20% gold (Safe heaven) Why concern yourself with safety when you are 24yo, focus on capital growth instead. >25% bitcoin + Ethereum  I don't consider these investments, they are highly speculative gambles. Ideally this category would be 0% but if you must allocate to them I would limit my exposure to no more than 10%. >ARKK (Innovation) ->9.98% I can't believe I keep seeing ARKK show up again in these posts. "fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me" If I was in your shoes I would just do VTI and VXUS. This is a global portfolio that includes large caps stocks (like those in the S&P 500), mid and small cap stocks, growth and value stocks, dividend stocks, tech stocks, and international stocks. All that to say you would not need to add any other fund.  When I was younger I wasted a lot of time picking investments and trying to build a complicated portfolio thinking it would help. What I failed to realize sooner was HOW MUCH I INVESTED was more important than WHAT I INVESTED IN. I wish I would have focused my energy in improving my income, rather than focusing too much energy in picking investments. [https://www.getrichslowly.org/building-wealth/](https://www.getrichslowly.org/building-wealth/)

BeastBuilder

Long term investor with a moderate risk profile ? Single stocks aren't even an option in this case. Diversified ETFs is about it. VOO and VXUS, set and forget

MountainMistCalm

Personally if I was in your shoes I would do: 80% VTI and 20% VXUS This is a global portfolio that includes large caps stocks (like those in the S&P 500), mid and small cap stocks, growth and value stocks, dividend stocks, tech stocks, international stocks and bonds. All that to say you would not need to add any other fund.  It is basically a three fund portfolio minus the bond fund, I will allocate to bonds when I am closer to retirement. Money management tips: [https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics/](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics/) When I was younger I wasted a lot of time picking investments and trying to build a complicated portfolio thinking it would help. What I failed to realize sooner was HOW MUCH I INVESTED was more important than WHAT I INVESTED IN. I wish I would have focused my energy in improving my income, rather than focusing too much energy in picking investments. [https://www.getrichslowly.org/building-wealth/](https://www.getrichslowly.org/building-wealth/)

Unable-Asparagus8678

32M and beginning long-term investor here. Assume my high-interest debt is taken care of and I already have an emergency fund. Where should a new investor allocate their first money? Assume I can invest $2,000 per month. I’ve seen VOO mentioned a lot here. But if VOO is the core, what other ETFs pair well with it for diversification (VXUS? BND? QQQ?). What allocation would you recommend for a moderate-risk beginner?

unbalancedcheckbook

VXUS has a PE ratio of 16.7

leaning_on_a_wheel

Unsure why you think QQQ is ex-US, it’s not. Buy VXUS if you want international exposure. And I would indeed ditch SCHD entirely, you’re missing out on growth by having money in a dividend fund like that

aew2019

VTI and VXUS to the fucking moon. Diamond hands, boizzzzz.

GurDry5336

If your investment time horizon is long enough and you’re happy with average market returns then the obvious answer is to buy low cost index funds such as VT VTI/ VXUS or VOO. You just buy and hold through think and thin. The eventual downturns are just opportunities to accumulate more shares at lower prices. Now “average market returns” aren’t really average at all for most individual investors because they don’t do what I just said. They generally panic sell and drive down their average returns by several percent. Or think they can time the market and destroy their time in the market. It’s a losing game to chase returns. That’s a fact that’s born out in the statistics.

MrSnow702

Hey r/investing! Complete noob here with $1000 burning a hole in my pocket. Never invested before but finally ready to stop being scared and jump in. Been lurking here for weeks and keep seeing that 40/30/10/10/10 split everyone talks about. So I'm thinking: 40% VOO 30% SCHD 10% SGOV 10% VXUS 10% SOFI (yeah I know, single stock is risky but I'm weirdly bullish) After that, planning to DCA $11 daily. Want to eventually work QQQ up to 25% but honestly terrified of being too heavy in tech. Like what if AI hype crashes and burns? Is this totally stupid for a beginner? Should I ditch the SOFI pick and play it safer? Really don't want to mess this up since it took me forever to save this money. Any advice appreciated, thanks!

Cracked_Tendies

By all measures of valuation, VTI has gotten at least 2.5 times more expensive than VXUS since 2011. Not to mention the dollar rally of about 30% since then as well. It's an exciting time to be invested into int'l if you believe a mean reversion is possible. Valuations have been steady relative to each other for the past year. My 401k is 100% VXUS and I sleep fine

StatisticalMan

There is more to "the market" than the S&P500. What is the longest period for recovery of a portfolio of 50% VTI, 30% VXUS, and 20% intermediate treasuries?

enigmastig

I would make the majority of your portfolio in some safer ETFs/stocks. I would say something like VOO/VXUS/VTV should be your biggest bag, maybe like 50%. You are really spread pretty thin across a lot of different meme/penny stocks, some of which have really small value. I would consolidate some, and focus more on some stocks/ETFs that you really like (SOFI/NVDA). Then I would save some play money for the riskier penny stocks/memes.

Machine8851

Ain't no way im buying VXUS lol

Emotional-Power-7242

There's no particularly good reason to have both VOO and QQQ. QQQ has done very well for the last 15 years or so and people have recency bias, that's the main reason people hold it. But past performance is not indicative of future performance. VT is 65% VOO and 35% VXUS in a single fund. Generally you wouldn't hold VOO and VT. You'd hold either VOO and VXUS or just VT by itself for simplicity.

Emotional-Power-7242

I'm roughly 50/50. Half is VOO/VXUS and half is value or small cap value (Avantis funds mostly). I see no reason for growth funds because something like VOO is primarily growth anyway.

occurious

Market cap weight provides optimal risk-adjusted returns, which would be a fund like VTI. Also consider international diversification with something like VXUS.

ConcentrateOk523

I wish I owned it. Wish I owned Nvidia. I am tired of my diversified portfolio with BND, BNDX and VXUS. VXUS has had like 6 months of outperformance this year but VTI comes back strong since April. I could have so much more if I just pulled the trigger and went with this tech AI revolution.

Responsible_Split242

Thank you for this. This may be a stupid question but can I switch your option 3 to 70% VOO/30% VXUS instead? Switching VTI to VOO basically just means Im skipping the small-cap segments in the US right? So it’s slightly less diversified but also slightly more stable. I think i’ll skip on SCHD and QQQM as per your recommendation and just keep it simple with VOO + VXUS.

hymie-the-robot

VOO is S&P 500; VTI is US total market, which essentially subsumes VOO. SCHD + VOO will double you up on companies in SCHD, and similarly for QQQM. you could consider VT to be equivalent to a combo of VTI and VXUS, so you could buy, say 60 VTI, 40 VXUS or 75:25, depending on your preference, instead of VT. note that, unless you need the income, SCHD will tend to give you less total return (dividends plus capital growth) than VT et al., so I recommend folding it into VT. by the way, I was constantly confusing VT and VTI when writing this, so take great care to pick the right one. (I wish Vanguard would rename VT and VTI to lessen this confusion.) I would consider changing your three options to: 1. 60 VTI, 20 SCHD, 20 VXUS (and preferably 80 VTI, 20 VXUS) , noting that this doubles you up on SCHD stocks; 2. 40 VTI, 20 QQQM, 20 SCHD, 20 VXUS, noting that this doubles you up on both SCHD and QQQM, and hence 80 VTI, 20 VXUS is preferable; 3. 70 VTI, 30 VXUS (or simply 100 VT). since you prefer safe growth, consider avoiding QQQM. VTI is already packed to the gills with tech stocks, and it may be a good time to exercise restraint in that realm. good luck.

Nosemyfart

Nah, really resisting because I'm forcing myself to only do VTI + VXUS. But if it dips further I will. The last time I couldn't resist the urge to go shopping for single picks was in April.

Inner-Chemistry2576

67 % Stock 19% Bonds 14% Short Term. We are retired 61 y/o no debt pension. My IRA VWENX wife’s VTI,BND& VXUS. ROTHS VTI & VXUS. Simple stupid like a monkey throwing darts.

kimedar1

It was when you were in your 20s...it is no longer...we will see the true price of precious metals and oil in the next 5 years...the petrodollar is dead...VXUS will outperform VOO going forward...If you disagree, you haven't done your research...

1Rab

Because risk and survivorship bias. Index funds (like VTI, VXUS) capture all winners automatically while protecting against blowups. You’re focusing on the visible success stories — NVDA, AAPL, etc. — but ignoring hundreds of “can’t fail” names that did (e.g., GE, Intel stagnation, IBM decline). Dollar-cost averaging into the total market compounds long-term with less volatility, no single-stock risk, and no need to guess future giants. Indexing isn’t about maximizing returns; it’s about maximizing certainty of long-term growth with minimal failure risk. Big tech could keep winning — or it could flatline like Cisco post-2000. Indexers own them either way.

sailphish

This year is an example of how that might not be true. Year to date VXUS has outperformed VTI by about a 2:1 margin. Sure, international has been slow over the last decade or so, but there have been decades where that wasn’t the case. Zero reason to put all your eggs in one basket, especially with all the turmoil going on in the US right now.

helpwithsong2024

Can't upvote this enough. I like VT but I do it as VOO/VXUS in a 70/30 split.

im2lazy789

Lots of suggestions of sticking as much as you can in a Roth IRA over two years and letting it grow until retirement, and if you want this money to grow to the maximum possible, that's the way to go. But, I'm gonna suggest you open a taxable brokerage so you can let this money grow for a bit and then access earlier for a large purchase like a home in 10+ years. You can do this with Fidelity, Vanguard, Robinhood, or Schwabb. Depending on your risk tolerance you could put 70% into a domestic stock fund like VOO/FXAIX for SP500 or VTI for total stock market. 20% foreign stock fund like FENI/VXUS/VYMI. 10% put into a bond fund like SGOV, or pick a municipal bond fund for your state so you don't have to pay federal or state income tax on the dividends. The 90/10 portfolio has worked out pretty well for Warren Buffet. Right now there's no capital gains tax if your taxable income is under 48k (gross income under ~64k) for a single filer. Time will tell if this is still true in 10+ years.

champ4666

Bro all you need to do is just VTI and VXUS, join the club. Slow rebuild.

kimedar1

Get out of US stocks…the dollar is being inflated away dollars will be converted to local currencies…IF you want a broad index to invest in that will do better than VOO…VXUS….you have to preserve your wealth because we will go through a currency crisis very soon with the death of the petrodollar…

bigfeetsmallpp

The result was VTI QQQ VBR VXUS AGG And I made sure to ask it that there's little to no overlapping

ucbcawt

100k VTI, 20k VXUS, 20k QQQM, 10k JAAA

blackrozeinc

what was your prompt? did you specify your investment strategy? what are your goals? did you mention what country you are from (impt for tax reason)? From the looks of it, the portfolio it recommended is basically investing in whole world etf (vti: US large, med, small caps and VXUS: international develop and EM large, med, small cap) with overweight in the S&P100 (qqq) to capture growth from the top 100 US stocks. a somewhat balanced portfolio which can capture growth from the tech industry (which most of them are part of qqq).

Majestic-Judgment-92

Alright guys I spent it all. This is what I did. VOO - 35% QQQM - 20% VGT - 10% SMH - 10% VXUS - 10% O - 5% EPD - 5% Play money - 5%

joe-re

I started going stronger on VXUS this year. Big caps not US. I was a big too late, but it's running better than VOO and I am more confident about it. It is not completely isolated from crazyness of orange guy, but not as affected as US stuff.

spicystreetmeat

The optimal answer is 100% VT. You can split between VOO and VXUS if you prefer controlling US vs international split. Basically every other option is proven to have lower returns, although you are free to gamble

aew2019

VTI and VXUS to the fucking moon! (and VOO, QQQM to lesser degrees please)