Unsuccessful companies receive smaller weightings. For VTSAX, it’s 0.04%. Investors looking to buy fractional shares can invest in Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares (VFIAX) which is the equivalent index fund.Take a look at the historical chart below. I personally use Vanguard so I’ll cover their two choices available to investors:As you can see, both funds have the exact same expense ratio ofHowever, there are a few differences between the two funds.The first difference between the two funds is that VTSAX requires a minimum investment of $3,000 while the minimum investment for VTI is simply the current price of one share (at the time of this writing that would be $147).The good news for investors with less than $3,000 is that they can simply invest in VTI until their balance crosses the threshold of $3,000 and then automatically convert their VTI shares tax-free into VTSAX shares if they wish to do so.One other subtle difference between the two funds is that VTI provides real-time pricing since it’s an exchange traded fund, which means you can see its price change throughout the trading day.

They hold the exact same collection of stocks (every individual publicly traded stock in the U.S.), they have the exact same dividend yield, and they earn the exact same annual returns. VTSAX. In addition, Vanguard allows automatic reinvestment of dividends for both funds.If you want maximum diversification among U.S. stocks, it doesn’t matter if you invest in VTI or VTSAX. Historically, this type of investment strategy has offered high annual returns, but also high volatility relative to other portfolios.I looked at the annual returns and volatility of 18 different portfolios since 1970:It turns out that the total stock market portfolio delivered the highest annual return, although it had the highest volatility:A simple plot of the average annual return relative to the average standard deviation shows that a total stock market portfolio is simply in a league of its own:For investors who are willing to embrace high volatility, an investment in a total stock market index fund is likely to deliver the highest annual returns relative to any other portfolio over the long haul.It’s important to note, though, that bonds and international stocks offer some diversification to a portfolio for investors who aren’t comfortable with a 100% U.S. stock-based portfolio.If you’re interested in investing in bonds and/or international stocks, I recommend reading the following two posts:– An analysis of a Meb Faber tweetstorm in which he argues that U.S. investors A summary of a wonderful little investment book written by Taylor Larimore on how to build an entire investment portfolio using only three funds.No matter which funds you decided to invest in, I recommend usingto track your investments with their free Investment Checkup tool and Retirement Planner.

But it is, nevertheless, a difference. VTSAX has a more total world diversification. On the contrary, ETFs have to be bought one full share at a time.

They both have a similar return on investment and have rock bottom expense ratios. “Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund is designed to provide investors with exposure to the entire U.S. equity market”.
They hold the exact same collection of stocks (every individual publicly traded stock in the U.S.), they have the exact same dividend yield, and they earn the exact same annual returns. Since VTSAX is an admiral share fund, it offers very low expense ratios and the ability to purchase fractional shares. Depending on your views, this can be a good or bad thing. However, they are very similar in their performance returns over 10 years.Here is how their performance compares over the last 10 years:As you can see from the chart, they perform almost identically, with VOO outperforming slightly.VOO vs VTSAX primarily differ in that VOO is an exchange-traded fund tracking only the S&P 500.

And if they’re awful enough, they’re removed from the index entirely to make room for growing companies.This is why it’s generally a good idea for most investors to invest in index funds as opposed to individual stocks.Once you’ve been convinced that index funds are the most efficient way to invest, the only decision you need to make is For most investors, the way to gain maximum diversification for minimum cost is to invest in a total stock market index fund.

If you have these tendencies then an index fund might be a better option for you.Lastly, if you prefer to have every penny invested then you will like that Index funds offer fractional share buying. It’s a completely free platform and it’s the only one I personally use on a monthly basis. A better strategy would have been to invest in an index fund.

They have different fund numbers and track a different index.

Vanguard has an ETF version of VTSAX with is the.