Thanks for the explanation. For me I need to control my income closely because ACA subsidies are pretty sensitive to one's MAGI.
Thus VTSAX is better in this regard.
Yes, that is something I took into consideration as well and am content to keep that fund's share count constant for now instead of re-investing and continually adding shares. Everyone including Vanguard admits it is a WAG for how much gains will show up. Last year they sold off a bunch of Johnson&Johnson due to the asbestos talc situation and $7+ per share ended up getting popped in to my brokerage account (surprise! hello tax bomb on top of my W-2 earnings!). If not careful, that sort of event could mess with me since it only shows up in December after a year of cash flow activity. But without W-2 earnings it is very manageable as the main source of income and I am now set up to have the luxury to check that total first before selling anything and getting myself into a higher tax bracket. Vanguard does provide a "to date" $ per share gains note for this fund on their distributions page and I can monitor it along the way to help prepare at least a little bit.
So, my plan is to fund my life for the following year each December after the gains hit. I will receive much smaller QDivs and interest all year from the rest of my portfolio, and by the following December when the next pile of gains show up I can decide if I have room on my taxes to sell any stock to make up the needed funding for the following year. This fund will be the one that I slowly sell chunks of first as I begin to eat my nest egg because it is huge and I will keep my precious AAPL and VTSAX as long as I can and hopefully pass those on to my lucky heirs. I also have a bunch of this fund in my 401K rollover which I will let cook to produce a rich gravy and keep accumulating shares until I can tap it in another 9 years.
This was my first sign up on the ACA and so I guessed high on my income. All that tax stuff, including wondering if I have to file quarterly estimates from dividends and how to reconcile the ACA credits -- all the good knowledge that can help me stay out of trouble while having a great time in life is my new money hobby since moving from the accumulation to consumption phase. Drawdown is scary but I have to admit I am enjoying the challenge.
I also appreciate this forum so much because smart people come up with good ideas and I can test my plans and ask dumb questions as I go.