Do you buy VG MF or ETF ?

[jIMOh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewToEverything Do you buy VG MF or ETF ? Other than the obvious differences (such as lower ER and no minimium for ETF) what else do you look at when deciding between the two ?

I use the sector ETFs from Vanguard- lower minimums and helps me execute the strategy I prefer.

[jIMOh]

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Originally Posted by FreeBear Do ETF's allow automatic and free dividend reinvestment (DRIP)?? Is this still true if, for example, you hold a Vanguard ETF in a Fido or whatever account? I'm in all in mutual funds mainly due to free and automatic dividend reinvestment. Also, I don't "trade", just sell very occasionally to replenish cash reserves for living expenses.

I use etrade, I have to check an extra box for this with my ETFs.

[jIMOh]

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Originally Posted by Cobra9777 We own a mix of Vanguard and iShares ETFs, all housed at Fidelity. Reinvestments are commission-free. iShares ETFs trade free at Fidelity, while Vanguard is $4.95 per trade. We only make 2 or 3 trades per year with a 50/50 chance it will incur a $4.95 commission. Vanguard MFs would be quite costly to trade at Fidelity and we have no interest in housing our accounts at Vanguard. We only own ETFs, primarily to avoid year-end capital gain distributions and because ERs are generally lower compared to an equivalent MF.

+1 with etrade
I have NTF ETFs from Vanguard and have not paid a commission yet.

[OldShooter]

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Originally Posted by RunningBum Come on, if you don't want people to find your posts confusing, don't obscure things like this. The fee percentage directly translates into dollars that get taken out of your investment. They amount to the same thing. The math between 0.04% and 0.03% is really simple. On $1M, that 0.01% is $100/yr. It's up to the investor whether that fund that takes $100 more out is providing something useful in return.

I apologize for confusing you.

[grasshopper]

I use ETF because I can take capital gains when I want not when the mutual funds decides. Index ETFS rarely have capital gains on unsold shares and MF do.

[NewToEverything]

Thanks OldShooter and RB about the calculations and the Dinkytown calculators. Now I understand how to get an idea about the impact of the ER in the next few years as we save more to invest.

OK grasshopper thanks for the confirmation - sounds like ETF is just like what the article says that they figured out a way to avoid CG.