What do you guys think ? VTSAX ER is 0.04% and VTSMX is 0.14%…
I am just so bummed that I don’t have VTSAX in my TDIF.
Are the performances more or less the same? Any comments or suggestions?
I would jump into a 3 fund portfolio but I am afraid of rebalancing and afraid I might tinker/be stressed out looking at my portfolio in order to manage it more…
Any thoughts/ suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
VTSMX and VTSAX are identical funds, they only differ in the “share class”. Their performance will be identical other than the slightly higher expense ratio.
For some context on that expense ratio, let’s say you invest $500/month for 30 years and VTSAX returns 10% so VTSMX returns 9.9%, this would be the net result:
$500/month for 30 years @ 10% return: $1,031,422
$500/month for 30 years @ 9.9% return: $1,011,664
So after 30 years the TOTAL difference is about 1.9%… not much different than a slightly volatile DAY of the stock market. I also like target date index funds because they help protect against emotional decisions or human error. That could easily make up WAY more than 1.9% over 30 years.
BUT, if you want to be hyper focused on optimizing the expense ratio, that’s ok too! You could totally do a three fund portfolio and even mirror the asset allocation after the Vanguard TDIFs. This article explains how you would do that:
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Thank you again Jeremy! I didnt think you would answer as you get so many daily questions. I feel better about my tdif having vtsmx. Have a good day!