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Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Investor Alley => Topic started by: sabertooth3 on November 10, 2014, 06:49:26 AM

Title: TD Ameritrade Index ETFs?
Post by: sabertooth3 on November 10, 2014, 06:49:26 AM

I have an investment account with TD Ameritrade that is currently made up of individual stocks. After reading MMM and other resources online, I've decided that I want to switch from individual stocks to index funds.

I don't really want to transfer from TD because of the size of the portfolio and other concerns, but I'm not really clear on how to buy index funds through TD. I did see commission-free ETFs (VTI, VEU, VGLT, and VNQ represent the Total Stock Market, Int'l, Long-term Govt. Bonds, and REIT, respectively). Are these the same as the regular Vanguard index funds? Is investing in these just as good as the regular index funds? Can I even invest anything in a regular Vanguard fund through TD?

Thank you all very much.

Title: Re: TD Ameritrade Index ETFs?
Post by: GGNoob on November 10, 2014, 07:06:01 AM

Yes, those ETFs are the same as investing in the equivalent mutual fund. Only difference is you must buy full shares and you can buy/sell them throughout the day.

Here's more from Vanguard: https://investor.vanguard.com/etf/etf-vs-mutual-fund

You can invest in Vanguard mutual funds at TD, but I believe you have to pay a load fee for each trade. Trading the commission free ETFs makes a lot more sense. When trading them, you must hold for 30 days or pay a $20 fee. Shouldn't be a problem if you have a plan and buy to hold for the long term.

I have my work accounts through TD Ameritrade and I buy VTI, VXF, VEU, and VSS. I'm 100% stock for retirement investing with a tilt towards small/mid-cap.


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