Learning, Sharing, and Teaching > Investor Alley
Is there any significant difference between VTIAX and VXUS?
Threshkin:
I am looking at putting some taxable money into an international fund. This is FIRE money that I don't anticipate touching for 10 years or longer.
I am looking at two candidates, VTIAX and VXUS. The former is a mutual fund, the latter is an ETF. Both have the same expense ratio (0.14) and appear to have the same mix of stocks.
VTIAX was recommended here but I am not sure why VXUS is not just as good. VTIAX has a $10,000 minimum initial purchase and is priced once a day. VXUS trades like a stock, the "minimum purchase" is one share ~$55 and the price fluctuates continuously. These are the differences I see, but they are of little or no impact to me. (The $10K minimum may be important to others though.)
Am I missing something? Is there an advantage in buying one of these funds that I did not notice?
tarheeldan:
You can buy partial shares of VTIAX so you can set up an automatic transfer plan where exactly $X/period of VTIAX are purchased.
Threshkin:
Thanks Tarheeldan. That is a good consideration.
In my case that is unimportant because I plan to make a lump sum investment but i can see how a payment plan option would benefit others.
TheLazyMan:
They are the same underlying fund.
Here are some considerations about which one to choose. http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/ETFs_vs_mutual_funds
Threshkin:
Thanks everyone. I bought VXUS.
I was concerned about the tax consequences but LazyMan's link cleared that up.
For Vanguard ETFs there is no difference. Other ETFs may be better than their equivalent fund from a tax perspective.
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