Can you become a millionaire by investing in ETFs?
Data source: Author's calculations via investor.gov. To reach $1 million, you'll need to invest consistently for 35 years while earning 12% average annual returns. Or if this ETF manages to earn 15% average annual returns over the long term, you may be able to get there within 30 years.
You can absolutely build a million-dollar portfolio from a diversified portfolio of Vanguard ETFs. Here are five that should speak to investors in some form or another. Bonus: They all carry an expense ratio of 0.12% or less, meaning the fees for holding each is, at most, $0.12 per $100 invested.
Invest like the rich.
While working on Wall Street, Tu observed certain patterns in how wealthy clients invested their money. A common misconception is that rich people pick stocks themselves, when in fact, wealthy investors are often putting their cash in index funds, ETFs, and mutual funds, Tu told MarketWatch Picks.
ETFs are considered to be low-risk investments because they are low-cost and hold a basket of stocks or other securities, increasing diversification. For most individual investors, ETFs represent an ideal type of asset with which to build a diversified portfolio.
You can make money from ETFs by trading them. And some ETFs pay out the money the ETF makes to investors. These payments are called distributions.
Symbol | Name | Dividend Yield |
---|---|---|
TSL | GraniteShares 1.25x Long Tesla Daily ETF | 97.18% |
KLIP | KraneShares China Internet and Covered Call Strategy ETF | 60.60% |
NVD | GraniteShares 2x Short NVDA Daily ETF | 60.22% |
TSLY | YieldMax TSLA Option Income Strategy ETF | 54.64% |
Symbol | Name | 5-Year Return |
---|---|---|
XMHQ | Invesco S&P MidCap Quality ETF | 17.62% |
VUG | Vanguard Growth ETF | 17.48% |
QTEC | First Trust NASDAQ-100 Technology Sector Index Fund | 17.46% |
COPX | Global X Copper Miners ETF | 17.33% |
Buffett's favorite ETF is the Vanguard 500 Index Fund ETF. Another ETF -- BlackRock's iShares Core S&P 500 ETF -- owns the same stocks and has the same expense ratio. Investing regularly over a long period in either of these ETFs has the potential to make you a millionaire.
Warren Buffett has long recommended the S&P 500 index fund and ETF, and through his holding company Berkshire Hathaway, he also owns two of these types of investments: the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEMKT: SPY).
Rank | Asset | Average Proportion of Total Wealth |
---|---|---|
1 | Primary and Secondary Homes | 32% |
2 | Equities | 18% |
3 | Commercial Property | 14% |
4 | Bonds | 12% |
What is the downside to an ETF?
For instance, some ETFs may come with fees, others might stray from the value of the underlying asset, ETFs are not always optimized for taxes, and of course — like any investment — ETFs also come with risk.
Key Takeaways
ETFs can be safe investments if used correctly, offering diversification and flexibility. Indexed ETFs, tracking specific indexes like the S&P 500, are generally safe and tend to gain value over time. Leveraged ETFs can be used to amplify returns, but they can be riskier due to increased volatility.
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.
Dividend exchange-traded funds are the ultimate in passive income. You do the work upfront to evaluate the fund's strategy, then monitor results and count the money that's flowing in. And since the payout drops to your account monthly, it's almost like earning a paycheck—without the boss, meetings or timecard.
Holding an ETF for longer than a year may get you a more favorable capital gains tax rate when you sell your investment.
Traders and investors can make money from an ETF by selling it at a higher price than what they bought it for. Investors could also receive dividends if they own an ETF that tracks dividend stocks.
Over the past 10 years, QQQ has earned an average rate of return of 17.39% per year. Compare that to a broad-market ETF such as, say, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO), which has earned an average return of 11.77% per year in that timeframe. Source: Author's calculations via investor.gov.
An exchange-traded fund (ETF) includes a basket of securities and trades on an exchange. If the stocks owned by the fund pay dividends, the money is passed along to the investor. Most ETFs pay these dividends quarterly on a pro-rata basis, where payments are based on the number of shares the investor owns.
That's why many income-seeking investors prefer an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that targets dividend stocks. You can achieve passive income and wide diversification with just one purchase.
ETF | Assets Under Management | Expense Ratio |
---|---|---|
Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) | $70 billion | 0.10% |
VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) | $16.3 billion | 0.35% |
Invesco S&P MidCap Momentum ETF (XMMO) | $1.6 billion | 0.34% |
SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB) | $1.8 billion | 0.35% |
Are ETFs more profitable than stocks?
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.
Symbol | ETF Name | 10y Chg 4-2-24 |
---|---|---|
PSI | Invesco Semiconductors ETF | 786% |
META | Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF | 717% |
XSD | SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF | 617% |
XLK | SPDR Technology Sector ETF | 558% |
Buffett's favorite fund
Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway owns only two index funds. The conglomerate holds positions in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO). These two index funds share a couple of things in common.
- Vanguard has more than $2 trillion in ETF assets under management (AUM). ...
- Among the 50 largest ETFs, BlackRock offers 18, Vanguard sponsors 20, and State Street issues seven. ...
- According to Morningstar, passively managed funds ended 2023 with more assets than active ones.
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