From VSMGX to VBIAX?

[Rural]

Should I make the switch to get into Admiral funds? I'd lose the international exposure, which is the only real international we have. We have a little over the 10k for Admiral funds in there, and it's basically our only taxable investment - most everything is in retirements funds, plus too much in checking, so we might roll in another $8k or so to the taxable. Expense ratios aren't that different: .14 vs .08 - is that enough to matter?

[MustacheAndaHalf]

There's a lot of incomplete information here.  You use the short symbols for funds, but not the fund names.  You mention losing international exposure, but don't present your overall percentage of international equities.  You mention too much in checking and $8k maybe going to buy funds.

I'd suggest laying out your retirement and taxable portfolio in a list.  It's easier to read, and reveals less information about you, if you use percentages.  That will also allow people to answer overall questions you might be neglecting.  For example, maybe you're worried about 0% vs 5% international exposure, when in fact both of those are far too little international to provide diversification.

[nereo]

What does your IPS say about what your Asset Allocation should be?  Follow that. 
If you want the lower fees of the admiral shares but need more international exposure, add one of the international funds until you meet your AA.

.14 vs .08 - is that enough to matter?

For $10,000 it's pretty small potatoes: a difference of $6 per year.  EVen with compounding it won't amount to very much over the next decade. As your balance gets much larger it'll start to matter more.

[Rural]

Thanks, both of you. I think it's mostly just that I think it would be cool to have admiral shares –  not a good enough reason to make a change, really. We don't have much international exposure at all, and that might be something for us to look at it in more depth.