VXUS

Valvador

For now the expense ratio seems to favor VTI + VXUS over VT by a small margin. It seems like the 0.03 * .65 + 0.08 * .35 < 0.05.

junger128

ETFs are tax efficient. I’d recommend viewing your entire portfolio as a whole. If you choose VTI + VXUS vs VT you’ll get a foreign tax credit.

the_leviathan711

> Something interesting is that VTI has an expense ratio of 0.03%, VT has 0.05% and VXUS has 0.08%. Yup, they're all super cheap. > The one nice thing about VT is that once you put money into it, it will automatically rebalance your US vs XUS stocks based on global market cap over time. > It looks like if you manually match VT today with a combo of VTI and VXUS's 65-35 split you get slightly cheaper expense ratio, but if you're trying to manually match you're going to have to sell and rebalance yourself at all times. VT doesn't really need to rebalance because it'll capture the market weight changes. If US market weight grows (as it has been), then it's proportion grows in VT and there's no need to rebalance anything. Arguably this is also true if you're always buying VTI and VXUS at whatever the market cap ratio is at the time.

Valvador

Something interesting is that VTI has an expense ratio of 0.03%, VT has 0.05% and VXUS has 0.08%. The one nice thing about VT is that once you put money into it, it will automatically rebalance your US vs XUS stocks based on global market cap over time. It looks like if you manually match VT today with a combo of VTI and VXUS's 65-35 split you get slightly cheaper expense ratio, but if you're trying to manually match you're going to have to sell and rebalance yourself at all times.

gasallbrakesno

Follow through with your plan, and open a Roth IRA and max out the 2024 contribution. 80/20 VOO/VXUS

junger128

VTI and VOO is too much overlap. Pick one. VTI is already 30% tech… do you really want to be weighted so heavily in tech by holding both? 80/20 VOO+VXUS would be good.

Gilgamesh79

Best of breed funds for a tax-advantaged account (e.g. 401k, Roth IRA): VTI, VXUS, VNQ, BND Best of breed funds for a taxable brokerage account: VTI + VXUS VOO is okay, it's just been obsolete since we've had VTI. When you get the chance, switch VOO->VTI and you don't have to worry about adding US mid/small-cap separately with VXF.

sh1ft3d

Why not just do VTI and VXUS instead of VOO+<something else> to cover US stock market?

sirzoop

VOO QQQ IWY if you are trying to make lots of money VOO VXUS BND if you are trying to be diversified and not think about anything

the_leviathan711

The two obvious compliments to VOO are VXF (the rest of the US stock market) and VXUS (the rest of the world’s stock market). If you own all three you more or less own the entire stock market.

andybmcc

If you wanted to overweight large cap US, I guess. If you just want a US bias, you're better off with something like VTI and VXUS.

helpwithsong2024

Why bother with Robo advisors? If you want a rebalancing all in one portfolio just do a target date index fund. Cheaper fees and basically accomplishes the same thing. Or heck do it yourself with a simple 3 fund portfolio like VTI/VXUS/BND.

clinjetz

Comments like this are why I strongly believe $VXUS is a great investment.

SteveAM1

>“VXUS is about wealth preservation, I want growth instead, I may buy some VXUS when I’m older” Help me understand this logic I see more often of late. I don't see that. Why wouldn't you ask the people you're seeing that are saying that.

skilliard7

> Their PEs aren’t that different to the US counterparts, we just have far more growth in our aggregate. VTI P/E: 25.1x, 13.9% earnings growth rate P/B of 4.1 VXUS P/E: 15X, 12.8% earnings growth rate, P/B 1.8 US is only growing 1% faster, and yet it's priced 60% higher than VXUS relative to earnings, and more than twice as expensive relative to book

Micliqd

You're being smart about your long-term investment strategy. VXUS ETF is a solid choice for diversification, especially if you're wary of the dollar's performance. For the remaining €200, since you're open to a bit more risk, you might want to explore sectors like tech, renewable energy, or even cryptocurrency. For individual stocks, you could look into companies like Tesla, or perhaps Microsoft for its strong growth potential in the tech sector. By the way, I've personally seen a 70% profit from cryptocurrency alone in the last 2 months, so it's definitely worth considering for potential growth in your portfolio.

Cruian

Volkswagon group, Stallantis (Fiat). Nestle. Unilever. But why pay so much more just because it is a US brand? VTI has a P/E of 25.1x where VXUS is only 15.0x. But then being widely known isn't necessarily part of the recipe for out performance, as the best returns long term tend to be small cap value. I can only name 3 companies in the top 20 of a US small cap value fund (AVUV), and I'm in that country.

skilliard7

You'll be surprised by the next 10 years when VXUS outperforms VOO

the_leviathan711

Right, so I think we are in agreement then. The reason to invest in VXUS is to make money, not to "preserve wealth."

BigSteve414

VTI/VOO has outperformed VXUS/foreign for \*more\* than a "few years." A lot of money has been lost by investors for 2 decades, who bought into one or more of these 3 narratives: 1. You need them for "diversification" 2. Their valuations are better than US stocks ("they're cheap!") 3. They are due to outperform any time now (just because...) Emerging markets have varying degrees of political risk, currency risk, and lack of invention/innovation. Developed markets, which mostly means Europe, is faced with declining birthrates of the innovative native peoples, large numbers of unskilled and unemployed immigrants, very high taxation, less hours worked per week than in America, and absurd, anti-business regulations by the EU. So someone tell me the upside, in near or distant future, of investing in foreign. The US will remain the best game in town for investors.

NYVines

I wouldn’t have changed in those periods. And didn’t. That would be chasing performance. There was nothing fundamental about those times that would indicate the US market was going to fail or fall behind. So recovery happened as expected and US continued to outperform. Fluctuations are part of the market. You’re trying to say a shift where the US stocks are going to underperform for an extended period would be unnoticeable. It would take a fundamental shift to make me favor VXUS which by your account has outperformed S&P for a few short periods of time over the past 20 years. Being on the wrong side for 17+ years out of 20 should make this an easy decision.

NYVines

Which of the 8600 VXUS is going to carry the load. One could go up 1000% but it’s so watered down you’ll never get results from it. But if that starts to happen that ALL ex-US stocks start beating S&P then you will have days weeks and months to evaluate that. It’s not chasing performance to see massive market changes like that. It kind of sounds like you’re parroting some BS someone else fed you. I’m not taking it.

Cruian

>The idea that "I'll buy VXUS when it becomes better than VTI/VOO" is basically the same thing as timing the market, but timing a different degree in the market. Performance chasing.

Cruian

You're proposing performance chasing, which is often a better way to end up behind, not ahead. By not investing in VXUS (or similar) now, you're missing out on the ability to buy when it is low.

Equivalent-Pin-7146

echo the comment below. You're making this way harder than it has to be. Just put it all in one US total market index and some portion in a total international index. Something like ITOT/VXUS 70/30 ratio split. Do not meet with EJ and do not take their sales pitch. And yeah, no CDs unless you need the money for something specific on the very near term horizon.

NYVines

Over the last 13 years VOO is up 300% compared to 20% for VXUS. Past performance doesn’t guarantee future results , but at some point it’s hard to bet against. Of course over that same period QQQ is up over 800%. I’ll buy VXUS when it shows signs of life.

cornphone

They're assuming that international performs worse than domestic as a matter of fact (performance chasing/recency bias). As a result, they basically view VXUS as being similar to bonds - worse returns but at least somewhat uncorrelated; thus, "wealth preservation." The assumptions leading to that conclusion don't seem particularly reasonable to me. Right now the US/ex-US equity weight is like ~62/38. If the US continues to outperform ex-US at the same rate as it did over the previous 10 years, then that will shift to ~76/24 by 2034, ~87/13 by 2044, and ~93/7 by 2054. Is anyone actually taking the position that the US market will be 93%+ of the global market 30 years from now? If not, then it seems reasonable to assume that the US market's outperformance over the next 30 years will at least not be as pronounced as it has been over the previous decade.

Valvador

This is an attitude you hear from new investors who think they have shit figured out but are still very green and highly over-estimate their capabilities. [See this thread.](https://www.reddit.com/r/investing/comments/1cjk6y9/excess_diversification_could_not_beat_voo/) The idea that "I'll buy VXUS when it becomes better than VTI/VOO" is basically the same thing as timing the market, but timing a different degree in the market.

the_leviathan711

Right, that's someone who *doesn't* invest in VXUS. He also doesn't understand the purpose of VXUS. Why would you ask someone who doesn't invest in VXUS what it's for?

the_leviathan711

I have no idea why *anyone* would think VXUS is about "wealth preservation." It's not. There's no logic to that position. Investing in VXUS is about the same thing as investing in any other equity: to make money.

Vonnanstine

Sell microsoft, apple, google, and nvda. Take the sale and put into VOOG and VUG and also VXUS for some international exposure. This keeps it pretty simple. I don't recommend doing day trading or swing trading at all.

Putrid_Pollution3455

Total market indexes. Boglehead strategy. 33/33/33 VTI/VXUS/BND Or buffet’s 90/10 VOO/USFR Dividends are an illusion; if a 100 dollar stock pays 3% dividend, the net return in one year is you’ll have a 97 stock and 3 dollars cash interest yield is actual compounding but rates just aren’t very high right now. Growth etfs don’t necessarily mean they will outperform a basic index. It’s confusing but you’re doing great to actually get started

Gilgamesh79

This is the way. I’d push it all into VTI + VXUS and then relax with a cold beverage.

Equivalent-Pin-7146

you got your tickers mixed up. That said, choose VTI (or VT if you want global exposure). Or combine VTI with VXUS and you can customize your global exposure to your liking, and it will be a little bit cheaper overall. Simple as that.

greatwhitenorth2022

Same here, #1 holding is VTI and #2 holding is VXUS. The only individual stock I own now is BRK.B at 5.2% of my portfolio (5.9% if I include the BRK that is 1.46% of VTI.)

QOats

Is there anything special about investing to leave to heirs? I see it as a long term investment so is there any reason not to do 90/10 stocks/bonds or even 100% stocks with VTI/VXUS?

manuvns

Vti/ schb/ itot and veu/VXUS

junger128

Short term - MMKT, HYSA, CD Long term - VTI or VOO, VT, VTI+VXUS. Take your pick.

the_leviathan711

As others have said, VTI+VXUS is just fine for your equities portion. For bonds, I'd replace BND with GOVT. US treasuries are better are better than corporate bonds as a hedge (BND is I believe 1/3 corporate bonds).

Cruian

No. VTI is S&P 500 + US extended, as it is a US total market style fund. It wouldn't touch ex-US at all. Think of VTI as essentially VOO + VXF at US market cap weights. Ex-US is "excluding US" (international). Your VEA + VWO. VXUS should effectively be VEA + VWO combined into one at market cap weight (which last I knew was about 75% developed, 25% emerging give or take). Compared to VXUS weights, you hold more emerging which could be fine if that's done knowingly and intentionally.

mrufotofu

So like a 70/30 VTI/VXUS?

brianmcg321

Get rid of VWO and BND. Just use VTI and VXUS. No need to parse it out so much. And 5% isn’t going to move the needle much at all so you may as well not even have it.

SavingsGullible90

Same junkies always said after 2008 2011 2018 2020 2022 and now.As always said 75 80 percent into Voo ,20 to 25 into VXUS,sit back and relaxx.

HotFoxedbuns

Plus VXUS

AbrocomaHumble301

I did this 3 years ago. VOO, VXUS,VTI. Most went to voo and picked up some VTEB in late 2023.

MxEverett

Although it is extremely short term VXUS has outperformed VTI this quarter and going back 50 years there have been several multi year periods when international stocks have outperformed US stocks.

AzraelKipling

In my retirement, I have all VOO. In my brokerage taxable account, I have VTI and VXUS split. Honestly, you might not even need the VXUS. If you want diversification at the cost of yearly gains then go for VT and it covers the entire world. If you want to put your eggs in the American basket and you trust that America will stay on top then put it all into VTI and don’t check anything anymore.

the_leviathan711

> Why not simplify your funds into say VTI and VXUS? I could, but I don't want the tax hits. Yeah, this was definitely my question. It's kind of a mess. If you ever find yourself in a year where you're unemployed for a short period of time, that would be a great time to simplify it all. > BND + BNDX This is fine, but in my opinion US Treasuries are superior to a total bond market index because corporate bonds are too closely correlated with the stock market. Also if you've got a long term horizon, long term treasuries are the best choice. So if it were me, I would replace BND and BNDX with VGLT or EDV. As you get closer to retirement you can start adding in VGIT for more stability.

Cruian

VXUS would be a natural compliment to VOO. It would mean the elimination of the uncompensated single country risk your VOO + AVUV has. >I think technology is gonna be outperforming in my investing span of the next 40 years Why is that? Tech revolutions: * https://www.pwlcapital.com/investing-technological-revolutions/ * https://rationalreminder.ca/podcast/123 * https://rationalreminder.ca/podcast/156 (climate change, clean energy related especially) * https://rationalreminder.ca/podcast/183 * https://rationalreminder.ca/podcast/185 (Thematic ETFs) >but I also think that a large cap growth index can be beneficial too In factor investing, long term actually tends to favor the exact opposite corner of the style box: small and value. 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)

AzraelKipling

I am in a similar position as you are. I read up on Boglehead philosophy and decided to put all my money in VTI and VXUS. 90% to 10%. I do much more VTI because I have more faith in the USA.

TruckLongjumping6129

VXUS isn't the US market. Also if you think the usd will stop being the global reserve currency then I have a bridge to sell you, for several decades countries have been trying to over take it and it's much harder than you think. If anyone could do it it's probably China with their massive gold stockpile and being the largest exporter if they switch export currency just like Russia did with exporting energy other people would be forced to follow unlike the ineffectiveness of when Russia did it.

FxHorizonTrading

VTI = total US stock market VOO = S&P500 So in short, VTI is VOO and some more Both are fine really for low cost index exposure to US markets - get some international complimentary fund too, e.g. VXUS, maybe 20% of total allocation.. Apple is fine, but dont do single stock picking with more than 10% of your overall stock allocation..

Embarrassed_Time_146

Ok but if you invest 15k each year in the Vanguard Target Date Fund it’s not like you invested 100k ten years ago and only got 20k for it. If you see it like that, of course it seems like nothing. Also, if you’re investing 100k over 10 years, you didn’t start investing 15k every year. You started with less because otherwise you would have invested something like 150k by now. You’re seeing it all from a wrong perspective. Again, evidently investing 100k over 10 years won’t give you the same returns as if you had invested 100k ten years ago. Probably you’re only going to start seeing “exciting” returns moving forward (taking into account that the market could go up or down). You’re not going to do much better than what you’re doing now. Maybe instead of investing in private equity (which can be kind of a gamble) you should have also allocated that to something similar to the target date fund. In your circumstances I would invest it all in a three fund portfolio (VTI/VXUS/BND), but I’d do some research about investing before. Maybe read The Boglehead’s Guide to Investing, so you can understand what you’re doing and also manage your expectations.

Hancock02

You'll want to keep VTI for the mid/small cap exposure. I would pick either qqqm or vgt. Schd is ok to hold but I would rather have that money in VTI. If these were my choices I'd go 50% VTI 20% QQQM 20%VXUS 10% Appl. NFA

Substantial-North136

Pick one of each: VGT-QQQM; VTI/VOO Then have VXUS & SCHD.

dard12

I would avoid target date funds because the expense ratios(fees) are too high and are way too conservative for a 21 year time horizon, in my opinion. Look at a blend of SP500 funds, small caps, and international. You can add bonds, but I wouldn't recommend it for another 10+ years. **Example:** VOO/VTI (US index) - 60-70% VB (Small caps) - 5-15% VXUS (International) - 5-15% VGT/VUG (Tech/Growth) - 5-15% This is financial advice.

Valvador

> VOO has outperformed VTI since inception. So the last 14 years? If you're diversifying you're probably not doing it to optimize for current market conditions and instead are hedging for other market conditions. It's similar to saying "you don't need VXUS because it hasn't kept up with US Markets for the last 15 years". It seems like 5 Billion is the lowest market cap of companies in the S&P 500. AI is a very data-heavy boom, so smaller companies can't compete as much... but that doesn't mean that there won't be tech advancements that make lower market cap companies suddenly more lean for competition and could potentially start bursting. Overall though, the differences don't matter to much for the average reader here...

Ornery_Gene7682

You have some good ones in there with VOO, Apple,VTI, and Schwab. Those I would definitely recommend keeping and keep adding to them. As for the others QQQM is kinda hard to tell since it’s been around since 2020 and is more of a trade-fund Trust which I don’t know much about and as for VXUS that’s more international markets.

SavingsGullible90

75 80 percent into Voo ,20 to 25 into VXUS,sit back and relaxx.

Specialist-Elk-5737

Enough man. The 1970s were 50 years ago. Basically your childhood. Glad to see you walk back your bond recommendation. SCHD is well loved for its selection criteria. Which is why it’s hated by cult members who advocate for VXUS. You cult members have corrupted enough minds. I am laying down my foot.

Cruian

It wasn't long ago that the US saw a decade that had an actual negative 10 year CAGR. That's worse than VXUS. What happened after that? One of the best US favoring runs ever. You cannot extrapolate a short time period into the future thinking it will be that way forever.

Specialist-Elk-5737

It’s wealth preservation because VXUS is used by people in their 60s to reduce volatility. Not growth. And the 1970s was 50 years ago. Your messiah owned zero international stocks. Enough. Ban bogle members from corrupting young minds.

Cruian

VXUS is just as much about potential returns as VTI or VOO. Historically, the US and ex-US have taken turns outperforming each other. Any extra returns the US has had since 1950 are solely from the most recent US favoring part of the cycle. No country outperforms forever. Going global can both help increase returns and reduce volatility compared to 100% US, even after decades. Bonds can be minimal or left out, but no matter what a person's age or timeline, not everyone can actually stomach 100% stock. We see it in the various investing subreddits every time there's even a moderate drop: people that over estimated their risk tolerance and are either considering bailing out, or for the less fortunate, ones that already have. >SCHD is straight 🔥growth with dividends A $100 share price with a $2 dividend upcoming becomes a $98 share price + $2 dividend. The same $100 account value as had there not been a dividend at all.

Specialist-Elk-5737

No buying with common sense you cult member. He can get gains elsewhere and lose 3% with VXUS when it improves. And it won’t.

Specialist-Elk-5737

God the cult is here. Ban these people from investing so they populate their safe space. He is 21 not 60 like you. He doesn’t need bonds and VXUS. SCHD is straight 🔥growth with dividends He’ll performance chase himself to a $1M while you still wait for VXUS to go up.

Cruian

Start with global market cap weights (just VT, or pair something like VTI with VXUS using approximately a 62/38 ratio). Then look into 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) And if you go this route, you'd reduce the weight of the region that the factor tilt is coming from (so AVUV would reduce VTI only, AVDV would reduce VXUS only for example).

Cruian

>What's the best ETF to pair with VOO? VXF, VXUS, and a bond fund. >3 of the Golden 5 ETF's. What are the "Golden 5"? I've only recently started seeing this and am afraid it is the newest thing being spread by influencers that do little more than performance chase the last few years. >Am I too young to have SCHD since I'm younger and have more risk to take? Dividends aren't free money: they stop the share price by the distribution amount. So best case scenario, they're a neutral event. >Since I have higher risk should I have a large cap growth like SCHG? Small value, not large growth, tends to have the best long term returns. >The 4 others I am considering to buy are SCHD SCHG SOXQ and QQQM (do not plan to hold VXUS) That definitely sounds like performance chasing.

ImTooOldForSchool

I’d probably do a split allocation between VTI and VXUS instead, that way you can re-balance your weight between total US and total International markets as needed. Pump it to 40% international like VT if those markets start taking off, or knock it down to 30% to take better advantage of US markets greater returns.

SavingsGullible90

75 80 percent into Voo ,20 to 25 into VXUS,sit back and relaxx.

AlternativeOwn3387

Hi why not VXUS

BooxOD

Thank you, I just realized I mistyped VXUS haha, but this seems to mostly align with my current plan. How much is recommended to allocate short term?

junger128

Short term - HYSA, MMKT or CDs Long term - 20-40% VXUS and put the rest in VTI or VOO. I don’t know your age so didn’t mention bonds.

Puzzleheaded_Cap_275

It was my first investment. I did it after covid and it’s done pretty well. I just had no idea what to put it in… I haven’t contributed at all since then until 2023(max) which is when I bought VOO. should I sell it for VOO OR VXUS?

Cruian

VXUS or similar could be useful, as there's often times when favor is outside the US. Why VOOG?

Ok_Assignment4100

So, in this case, if I have $50k to invest and want to invest into VTI (70%) and VXUS (30%), it’s basically $35k invested into VTI and $15k invested into VXUS, correct? When would it be a good time to consider total bonds? 5-10 years until you retire and rebalance asset allocation from that point between VTI, VXUS, and BND? And what would a typical asset allocation be?

AncientKey1976

Yeah thats a good point with ELI and the growth there. Appreciate it I will review it with another kind soul who posted about EKG which seems interesting. yeah I don't like VXUS so this could be a good option I appreciate the insights and value here. I would never of found this on google

LegitosaurusRex

If you know the basics, why pay them instead of just buying VTI/VXUS and maybe some bonds?

Rabbyte808

0.07% to 0.08%? Wow, devastating, that's an extra $100 on a $1,000,000 VXUS portfolio.

enterdoki

they did raise some fees on ETFs, VXUS: 0.07% to 0.08%.

Different_Bee435

Hello! I am a 25M from Switzerland. I actually started investing about a year ago after reading about FIRE and such. But I recently discovered the Bogleheads sub, and reading through, I have some second thoughts about my portfolio, so I would really appreciate some feedback: * 50% VOO * 35% VXUS * 15% Cash in CHF (Swiss Francs) My rationale at the time was: 1. The only decent Swiss bond funds have had negative returns for a long time, and Swiss bonds in general have very poor returns; I'm better off holding the "safe part" of my portfolio as cash in a savings account and get at least \~1% interest. 2. I chose VOO over VTI because companies in VOO have more income from ex-US markets than the smaller US companies, which reduces my exposure to USD (and thus the currency risk, i.e., my portfolio returns are less tied to the USD valuation). I thought this was important because CHF is a strong currency and typically appreciates compared to USD, and I didn't want to have such a significant part of my portfolio to rely on a single currency I'm not even using in my day to day life. However, I've seen that VTI is preferred over VOO for it's greater diversification, and now I'm wondering if I made a mistake by using VOO for my US equities component. My questions: 1. Is there really a significant difference between VTI and VOO, considering they have such similar returns? 2. Is the VTI recommendation geared more towards US investors, for whom the additional reliance on USD is not an issue? 3. Am I fine just holding the course, or should I sell all my VOO and buy VTI instead? 4. If I should sell the VOO, should I do it all in one transaction, or multiple ones over time? I'm afraid that if I sell, there might be market fluctuations in the 2 days until the transaction settles, and I might have to buy VTI back with a disadvantage. 5. I've read in some comments that VTI is technically riskier than VOO because of the small caps, but it is a compensated risk, because they have higher returns over extremely long periods of time. What if I actually prefer lower risk / less volatility, would VOO be better suited for me in this case? Also, recently, I've been a bit concerned about the high tech concentration of VOO, and a potential AI bubble (I think a lot of the AI noise is just hype), and was wondering if I should diversify away more from that, and how. VTI is only slightly better than VOO in this regard. Extra questions: 1. Should I overweight VXUS more? 2. Would moving from VOO to VTI be sufficient for this purpose? Although it would defeat the purpose of not depending so much on the USD... 3. Maybe add a small-cap value fund, like AVUV (I've read a bit about factor investing, but I'm not sure I would like the extra risk, even if it's compensated), so that I'd have something like 35% VOO + 15% AVUV? Again, it would defeat the purpose of reducing dependency on the USD... Note: I don't invest with a home country bias, because all the Swiss equity funds are concentrated 50-70% in 3-5 companies, which have < 5% earnings from Switzerland, so it wouldn't actually provide any meaningful domestic exposure, or any additional exposure to the CHF. Thanks in advance! x-posted from r/Bogleheads

TheHiveMindSpeaketh

Chart FTIHX and it's a dead match with VXUS, not VTI, because it's an international fund. They don't move similarly. Don't give 'advice' to someone when you're not even going to google the tickers they're asking about, you're currently the top comment and being dead wrong is worse than not commenting.

andybmcc

There are no tax consequences to buying/selling within your IRA. I think VTI and VXUS or FSKAX and FTIHX would both be good combos as a base. I'm assuming you're at Fidelity, given the FTIHX. FSKAX is Fidelity's total US market mutual fund. I'm not sure why you'd buy the US as an ETF and international as a mutual fund. I'd just go one way or the other. The Fidelity mutual funds have negligibly lower ER and you won't have those weird pennies left over in cash when you auto-invest.

wholemilksupreme

What are your thoughts of going with IHDG or HFXI instead of VXUS?

FeedbackTypical

Yep honestly I only hold it because most people say you need some international. I only have 5% VXUS so it isnt much and it helps me knowing im a bit more diversified.

AncientKey1976

He claims to challenge conventional wisdom since for the past five years, citing the remarkable performance of the stock market. Despite this, the international index VXUS experienced a 5% decline. Given that international indexs are typically deemed riskier, yet yielding no returns, he suggests opting for a growth ETF instead with way more potential and same risk. Also saying bonds suppose be mitigating risk and last 5 year losing and enough is enough to get out bonds until your 10 years from retirement

AP9384629344432

I personally just buy AVUV + AVDV for small cap value, and plain old VXUS for ex-US. AVDV has pretty large weights into the UK and Japan (and importantly to me, no emerging). But I try not to micromanage things very much. I just picked funds I think have a good track record /accomplish my goals. Dimensional (which I dont invest in), Avantis satisfy that imo. They use systematic filters to pick stocks, similar to SCHD but much more diversified and of course small/value instead. I don't tilt emerging markets though because I am unconvinced it is necessary (and ex US developed + small + value seems diversified enough). Plus I don't like the massive tilts such funds have to China. You can look up AQR's value spread charts to see what percentile of cheapness value stocks are globally relative to growth. (Or check out their other research on the website). AlphaArchitect also makes posts in this spirit. Similarly, you can look up ex US valuation ratios relative to US, usually Bank of America releases charts like this. On Twitter I like to follow graphs and data from Ben Felix, Eric Servo, HMLCompounder, Ben Carlson, (and their mutuals). I don't apply much of this logic to individual stocks. My thesis on an asset class does not imply much about individual equities which can have huge dispersion in returns and idiosyncratic risks. So I don't try and pick ex US stocks myself.

BigSteve414

Minus VXUS.

Alarmed_Reporter_642

On the advice of everyone I have decided to concentrate these 13 ETFs into 1: VXUS. The goal is to gain from concentration but also diversify overall. Perhaps VXUS has potential. But VXUS is concentrated wouldn’t I benefit from regional etf’s like one for exclusive emerging markets?

FeedbackTypical

VOO, VXUS, AVUV. You can throw in some QQQM or VGT if you would like.

Alarmed_Reporter_642

I wish both of our opinions were the majority on Reddit. The vast majority of people here believe in diversifying with garbage like VXUS based on past historical returns from 40 years ago. You can always diversify if trends look promising and get moderate gains while also getting great gains in the short term. Winning both ways. I made a post on diversifying last night. Not a single upvote but 100 comments lol.

Vonnanstine

Check out some ETFs of specific countries. I'm heavy into India, Japan, Argentina, Mexico to name a few and they have been performing well in the past two years. I hold VXUS as well and plan to hold for long time, but yea it has been lack luster past two years I have held.

AutomaticGrab8359

The US market could fall 50% and still have a better return than VXUS over the last 5 years.

SwordofDamocles_

I'm personally 100% VXUS but whatever floats your boat

RandolphE6

VXUS for international is the way to diversify outside of US. Otherwise another option is AVUV if you want small cap value for factor investing in US.

opaqueambiguity

SPY/SPLG/VOO VTI QQQ VXUS Thats all you need, brother.

Cruian

>Vsucks is garbage because it’s underperformed for decades VXUS is less than 15 years old. We know it would have beat the US in the 00s. >I’m actually buying a mix of underperforming (meta/tsla) Tesla has a P/E of over 80 (https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/TSLA/tesla/pe-ratio), that's insanely high. Meta is about 25 (https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/META/meta-platforms/pe-ratio), about equal to VTI (https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/etfs/profile/vti#price). >and over performing (Nvidia) Is around 71 (https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/NVDA/nvidia/pe-ratio), which is very high, but still less than Tesla. >In a way you are right in buying high sometimes but selling low unproductive. You're trying to predict the future off of recent returns continuing as they have been, history shows over and over and over that it is a very poor assumption to make.

Vonnanstine

Well I wouldn’t say smartest lol but I’m willing to take a risk in my Roth IRA with those ETFs and few others. I do watch it more than I should as it is a retirement account. I would still stick with VOO and VXUS though long term though.

the_leviathan711

But that’s your exact logic for why you think VXUS is garbage. You think an entire class of assets isn’t worth investing in because it’s underperformed in the last decade. You’re buying expensive stocks and doing it by selling cheap ones. It’s “buying high” and “selling low.”

Vonnanstine

There quite a bit of ETFs that cover specific countries and even a few ETFs that cover different sectors within certain countries. I hold VXUS but I’m pretty heavy into India, Japan, Argentina, and Columbia and Poland ETFs for over a year now.

the_leviathan711

10 years is an extremely short window. If it was 2010 would you say: “I’m out of equities! Only bonds from now on!” Because equities performed worse in the 2000s than VXUS has for the last 10.