What is the best total market fund? (2024)

What is the best total market fund?

Both funds are excellent, low-fee options for your portfolio. The fund compositions and returns are similar. The main difference between funds is the number of holdings. VTSAX includes small, mid, and large-cap stocks.

Both funds are excellent, low-fee options for your portfolio. The fund compositions and returns are similar. The main difference between funds is the number of holdings. VTSAX includes small, mid, and large-cap stocks.

The Dow Jones U.S. Total Stock Market Index, a member of the Dow Jones Total Stock Market Indices family, is designed to measure all U.S. equity issues with readily available prices.

If you want to actively trade within your accounts, Fidelity might be the better option. However, if you want to focus more on index investing, or you want to use a robo-advisor, Vanguard has a slight edge.

Expense ratios: VTI has a lower expense ratio than VTSAX. For example, as of April 30, 2023, VTI has an expense ratio of 0.03%, while VTSAX has an expense ratio of 0.04%.

Fund management

Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund seeks to track the investment performance of the CRSP US Total Market Index, which represents approximately 100% of the investable U.S. stock market and includes large-, mid-, small-, and micro-cap stocks regularly traded on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.

VOO - Performance Comparison. In the year-to-date period, VTSAX achieves a 7.03% return, which is significantly lower than VOO's 8.28% return. Over the past 10 years, VTSAX has underperformed VOO with an annualized return of 12.04%, while VOO has yielded a comparatively higher 12.78% annualized return.

VTSAX is quite a bit more diversified than VFIAX as it maintains exposure to the total US stock market, whereas VFIAX only holds large-cap stocks that make up the S&P 500. Therefore, choosing between VTSAX and VFIAX depends on personal preference and investment goals.

What is the safest investment with the highest return?

Citadel, which ranked second in 2023, made $8.1 billion in profits after bringing in a record-breaking $16 billion in 2022. Its $74 billion in gains since inception rank it as the most successful hedge fund in history.

I put my personal 401(k) and a lot of my mutual fund investing in four types of mutual funds: growth, growth and income, aggressive growth, and international. I personally spread mine in 25% of those four.

The most widely followed indexes in the U.S. are the Standard & Poor's 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Nasdaq Composite. The Wilshire 5000 includes all stocks listed on the U.S. stock market. Indexes are commonly identified by capitalization and sector segregation.

The three most popular stock indexes for tracking the performance of the U.S. market are the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), S&P 500 Index, and Nasdaq Composite Index.

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI)

Overview: Vanguard also offers a fund that effectively covers the entire universe of publicly traded stocks in the U.S., known as the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF.

Performance and Cost. As the innovator of index funds, Vanguard offers an impressive range of index funds today with low expense ratios. Fidelity has a comparable selection of funds, but its fees generally aren't as competitive as Vanguard's.

It does not have a smart order routing technology, you cannot backtest or automate a trading strategy, and you will not be able to route your own orders. Although its approach to routing is basic, Vanguard will score some points with investors because it does not accept payment for order flow on equity and ETF orders.

thumb_down_off_alt Cons

Though Fidelity largely avoids nuisance fees such as charges for transferring an account out, its margin rates and options fees are higher than brokers that cater to active traders. Its desktop trading platform, Fidelity Active Trader Pro, could use an overhaul.

Why is VTSAX a good investment?

In terms of fees, VTSAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.04% compared to the category average of 0.80%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, VTSAX is actually cheaper than its peers.