How many ETFs is enough?
Experts agree that for most personal investors, a portfolio comprising 5 to 10 ETFs is perfect in terms of diversification.
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.
Setting a rule of five per cent helps investors avoid owning too many ETFs and essentially sets the limit at 20 ETFs (100/5) if a portfolio consists solely of ETFs. Deciding on the weighting of a position for a stock is very different than deciding on a weighting for an ETF.
You only need one S&P 500 ETF
For others, it's all minutia. All three of the ETFs listed here have lower-than-average expense ratios and offer an easy way to buy a slice of the U.S. stock market. You could be tempted to buy all three ETFs, but just one will do the trick.
One way to think about it is every three months taking whatever excess income you can afford to invest – money that you will never need to touch again – and buy ETFs! Buy ETFs when the market is up. Buy ETFs when the market is down.
For most personal investors, an optimal number of ETFs to hold would be 5 to 10 across asset classes, geographies, and other characteristics. Thereby allowing a certain degree of diversification while keeping things simple.
The investor's goals, risk tolerance, and investing strategy, among other variables, all influence the response to this question. 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.
There is no fixed number of ETFs that can be classified as “too many” as it ultimately depends on an investor's individual goals, risk tolerance, and investment strategy. However, it is generally recommended to avoid overdiversification, as it can lead to lower returns and higher fees.
If you buy substantially identical security within 30 days before or after a sale at a loss, you are subject to the wash sale rule. This prevents you from claiming the loss at this time.
A leveraged ETF uses derivative contracts to magnify the daily gains of an index or benchmark. These funds can offer high returns, but they also come with high risk and expenses. Funds that offer 3x leverage are particularly risky because they require higher leverage to achieve their returns.
What if I invested $1000 in S&P 500 10 years ago?
A $1000 investment made in November 2013 would be worth $5,574.88, or a gain of 457.49%, as of November 16, 2023, according to our calculations. This return excludes dividends but includes price appreciation. Compare this to the S&P 500's rally of 150.41% and gold's return of 46.17% over the same time frame.
Assuming an average annual return rate of about 10% (a typical historical average), a $10,000 investment in the S&P 500 could potentially grow to approximately $25,937 over 10 years.
Think About This: $10,000 invested in the S&P 500 at the beginning of 2000 would have grown to $32,527 over 20 years — an average return of 6.07% per year.
$3,000 X 12 months = $36,000 per year. $36,000 / 6% dividend yield = $600,000. On the other hand, if you're more risk-averse and prefer a portfolio yielding 2%, you'd need to invest $1.8 million to reach the $3,000 per month target: $3,000 X 12 months = $36,000 per year.
There is no reason to buy multiple ETFs targeting the same segment (don't need to buy two different S&P 500 ETFs). However, many people do use multiple ETFs to create the desired factor diversification. For example, someone might have a portfolio with: VTI or FXROX - US Total Stock Market.
A favored measure is tracking difference—a statistic that looks at how far an ETF has lagged its benchmark, on average, over a one-year period. Tracking difference incorporates the effects of an entire range of management decisions, from securities lending to optimization decisions.
ETFs are subject to market fluctuation and the risks of their underlying investments. ETFs are subject to management fees and other expenses.
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.
This investment strategy seeks total return through exposure to a diversified portfolio of primarily equity, and to a lesser extent, fixed income asset classes with a target allocation of 70% equities and 30% fixed income. Target allocations can vary +/-5%.
Specifically, a fund is prohibited from: acquiring more than 3% of a registered investment company's shares (the “3% Limit”); investing more than 5% of its assets in a single registered investment company (the “5% Limit”); or. investing more than 10% of its assets in registered investment companies (the “10% Limit”).
Is it bad to own too many ETFs?
The disadvantages are complexity and trading costs. With so many ETFs in the portfolio, it's important to be able to keep track of what you own at all times. You could easily lose sight of your total allocation to stocks if you hold 13 different stock ETFs instead of one or even five.
VOO has a conensus rating of Moderate Buy which is based on 390 buy ratings, 105 hold ratings and 10 sell ratings.
It's also worth noting that an S&P 500 index fund is fairly diversified. Its investments are spread out among 11 major industries, and no sector has more than 30% of the money invested. Here's a look at the different business sectors that make up the index.
While mutual funds are popular and attractive investments because they provide exposure to a number of stocks in a single investment vehicle, too much of a good thing can be a bad idea. The addition of too many funds simply creates an expensive index fund.
Returns for the 60/40 portfolio — traditionally split between the S&P 500 Index of stocks (60%) and 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds (40%) — will probably be limited.
