Should I keep my money in ETFs?
If you have a small portfolio, then fewer ETFs may be enough since they will provide greater diversification across several asset classes while still allowing you to benefit from potentially higher returns.
You expose your portfolio to much higher risk with sector ETFs, so you should use them sparingly, but investing 5% to 10% of your total portfolio assets may be appropriate. If you want to be highly conservative, don't use these at all.
ETFs make a great pick for many investors who are starting out as well as for those who simply don't want to do all the legwork required to own individual stocks. Though it's possible to find the big winners among individual stocks, you have strong odds of doing well consistently with ETFs.
Holding too many ETFs in your portfolio introduces inefficiencies that in the long term will have a detrimental impact on the risk/reward profile of your portfolio. For most personal investors, an optimal number of ETFs to hold would be 5 to 10 across asset classes, geographies, and other characteristics.
“And they are incredibly cheap.” However, there are disadvantages of ETFs. They come with fees, can stray from the value of their underlying asset, and (like any investment) come with risks. So it's important for any investor to understand the downside of ETFs.
Mutual funds, ETFs and stocks are more volatile than savings accounts, but they yield far better long-term returns. Take the S&P 500; the index has seen an average annual return of over 12% in the last decade — far better than even the highest high-yield savings APYs in a year full of inordinate savings rates.
Stock-picking offers an advantage over exchange-traded funds (ETFs) when there is a wide dispersion of returns from the mean. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) offer advantages over stocks when the return from stocks in the sector has a narrow dispersion around the mean.
There are many ways an ETF can stray from its intended index. That tracking error can be a cost to investors. Indexes do not hold cash but ETFs do, so a certain amount of tracking error in an ETF is expected. Fund managers generally hold some cash in a fund to pay administrative expenses and management fees.
For most standard, unleveraged ETFs that track an index, the maximum you can theoretically lose is the amount you invested, driving your investment value to zero. However, it's rare for broad-market ETFs to go to zero unless the entire market or sector it tracks collapses entirely.
Putting your money into S&P 500 ETFs only might limit your returns to some degree. But in exchange, you'll have a lot less work on your hands. You won't have to research individual stocks for your portfolio and keep tabs on their performance quarter after quarter.
What is the 4% rule for ETF?
The 4% rule is the basis of retirement plans across the world, heralded as a 'safe' withdrawal rate from your portfolio. A few simple calculations and the 4% withdrawal rate leads to the magic number that is the lump sum you need in retirement. Voila.
Key Takeaways. ETFs are less risky than individual stocks because they are diversified funds. Their investors also benefit from very low fees. Still, there are unique risks to some ETFs, including a lack of diversification and tax exposure.
How many ETFs are enough? The answer depends on several factors when deciding how many ETFs you should own. Generally speaking, fewer than 10 ETFs are likely enough to diversify your portfolio, but this will vary depending on your financial goals, ranging from retirement savings to income generation.
The single biggest risk in ETFs is market risk. Like a mutual fund or a closed-end fund, ETFs are only an investment vehicle—a wrapper for their underlying investment. So if you buy an S&P 500 ETF and the S&P 500 goes down 50%, nothing about how cheap, tax efficient, or transparent an ETF is will help you.
Interest rate changes are the primary culprit when bond exchange-traded funds (ETFs) lose value. As interest rates rise, the prices of existing bonds fall, which impacts the value of the ETFs holding these assets.
As we covered earlier, infrequently traded ETFs could have wide bid/ask spreads, meaning the cost of trading shares of the ETF could be high. Mutual funds, by contrast, always trade without any bid-ask spreads.
In order to withdraw from an exchange traded fund, you need to give your online broker or ETF platform an instruction to sell. ETFs offer guaranteed liquidity – you don't have to wait for a buyer or a seller.
For savings, aim to keep three to six months' worth of expenses in a high-yield savings account, but note that any amount can be beneficial in a financial emergency.
While it's generally considered ideal to save three to six months' worth of living expenses before investing, what's more important is developing the consistent habit of saving. At minimum, Jacobs recommends setting aside at least one month's worth of living expenses before diving into most investing. (Want more info?
Hold ETFs throughout your working life. Hold ETFs as long as you can, give compound interest time to work for you. Sell ETFs to fund your retirement. Don't sell ETFs during a market crash.
How long should you hold on to ETFs?
How long should you keep ETFs? It depends on your investment goals and how long you want to stay invested in ETFs. While a long-term ETF holding for more than three years can get you better returns, short-term returns can also be more for some ETFs.
| Exchange-traded fund (ticker) | Assets under management | Yield |
|---|---|---|
| Vanguard 500 Index ETF (VOO) | $406.2 billion | 1.4% |
| Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG) | $75.6 billion | 1.9% |
| Vanguard U.S. Quality Factor ETF (VFQY) | $298.0 million | 1.4% |
| SPDR Gold MiniShares (GLDM) | $6.1 billion | 0.0% |
The securities that underlie the funds are held by a custodian, not by Vanguard. Vanguard is paid by the funds to provide administration and other services. If Vanguard ever did go bankrupt, the funds would not be affected and would simply hire another firm to provide these services.
| Symbol | Name | 5-Year Return |
|---|---|---|
| PSI | Invesco Semiconductors ETF | 25.72% |
| XLK | Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund | 25.12% |
| IYW | iShares U.S. Technology ETF | 24.37% |
| FTXL | First Trust Nasdaq Semiconductor ETF | 23.79% |
The majority of individual investors should, however, seek to hold 5 to 10 ETFs that are diverse in terms of asset classes, regions, and other factors. Investors can diversify their investment portfolio across several industries and asset classes while maintaining simplicity by buying 5 to 10 ETFs.
