S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Have a question about your personal investments? No matter how simple or complex, you can ask it here.
Post Reply
Topic Author
killshot_96
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2021 7:26 am

S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by killshot_96 »

Hello Bogleheads,

I am planning to invest in index funds. Which is better for the long term? S&P 500 or the Total Stock Market Index Fund? And why?

Thank you for your time.
User avatar
abuss368
Posts: 27850
Joined: Mon Aug 03, 2009 2:33 pm
Location: Where the water is warm, the drinks are cold, and I don't know the names of the players!
Contact:

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by abuss368 »

killshot_96 wrote: Wed Mar 10, 2021 7:16 pm Hello Bogleheads,

I am planning to invest in index funds. Which is better for the long term? S&P 500 or the Total Stock Market Index Fund? And why?

Thank you for your time.
Vanguard recommends Total Stock which includes the entire US market. Either is fine however and the difference is a rounding error. Why? At least 80% of the market is the S&P 500.

I have used both. I have Total Stock but had a lousy employer plan where a low cost S&P 500 fund was the only option. I simply used that one fund.

Tony
John C. Bogle: “Simplicity is the master key to financial success."
GrowthSeeker
Posts: 1071
Joined: Tue May 15, 2018 10:14 pm

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by GrowthSeeker »

I would say TSM since it is more diversified, but not by much. If one already has a lot of S&P500, just stick with that and optionally add some “completion fund” such as VEXAX/VXF
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're NOT out to get you.
User avatar
colodane
Posts: 152
Joined: Tue Oct 23, 2018 11:32 pm

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by colodane »

I've had both and been happy with them. Right now, I have SP500 due to some Tax Loss Harvesting. All else being equal, I'd suggest the Total Market Index to get a broader exposure to market segments.
UpperNwGuy
Posts: 9475
Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2017 7:16 pm

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by UpperNwGuy »

The S&P 500 funds were beating the Total Stock funds from 2017 through mid-2020. For the last 6-8 months, however, Total Stock has been winning by a significant margin. What does the future hold? Nobody knows. You're better off holding Total Stock because it includes everything in the S&P 500 plus a whole lot more.
User avatar
JoMoney
Posts: 16260
Joined: Tue Jul 23, 2013 5:31 am

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by JoMoney »

They're both fine choices, have the same objective to track the U.S. stock market, and are .99 correlated to each other.
When you ask "Which is better?" you might need to be more specific at what objective it's supposed to be "better" at ? ... but regardless, they're practically the same thing, so comparing them is a bit like trying to answer absurdities like "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?"
That said, it is a pretty popular question on this board.
I have a preference for the S&P 500 index, it's the most frequently quoted of the broad-market indices with lots of data and coverage on it. It's also more widely available in some workplace retirement plans. When you say "Total Market Index" what index are you talking about, the Russell 3000? Wilshire 5000? CRSP US Total Market? MSCI or FTSE US indices, some other broad U.S. index?
They are all pretty much the same, but when I'm comparing my "index fund" to the index it's supposed to track I like have the data and other relevant portfolio characteristics, and the S&P index data is just more widely available.
Every investable index has a methodology and requirements for how it's formulated. I have a preference for the S&P 500 methodology that requires some seasoning of new issues (no IPOs) and a record of positive earnings before being eligible for the index. The S&P 500 also has a larger minimum capitalization which winds up excluding most smaller stocks. Some people like have the exposure of smaller stocks for more 'completeness' , some believe they'll have higher returns, or that it's better "diversification". I don't believe that's the case, the difference is slight, it does vary over different time periods, but over most time periods the stocks not in the S&P 500 as a group have had lower 'risk adjusted' return, and as combined in the 'total market' have made no difference in the absolute return.

Morningstar Chart Link

PV Link
Vanguard Total Stock Market: Sharpe Ratio (Risk Adjusted Return) 0.56
Vanguard 500 Index: Sharpe Ratio (Risk Adjusted Return) 0.57
Vanguard Extended Market Index: Sharpe Ratio (Risk Adjusted Return) 0.52
"To achieve satisfactory investment results is easier than most people realize; to achieve superior results is harder than it looks." - Benjamin Graham
User avatar
nisiprius
Advisory Board
Posts: 52211
Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:33 am
Location: The terrestrial, globular, planetary hunk of matter, flattened at the poles, is my abode.--O. Henry

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by nisiprius »

There's practically no difference in past performance, and no reason to expect much difference in future performance. Stocks are stocks. The S&P 500 is 80% of the stock market in terms of dollar value (capitalization), and the other 20% is similar enough in behavior that adding it to the S&P 500 doesn't make much difference. Whether the tiny difference is an improvement or the opposite is something that people can and do argue over endlessly. But the people who believe most firmly in the importance of small-cap value stocks--found in a total market fund but not an S&P 500 fund--would also say that the amount that is included in a total market fund is nowhere near enough. If you want a meaningful amount of small-cap value, you don't get it by investing in a total market fund, you get it by adding an extra small-cap value fund.

My idea when I first bought the Vanguard 500 index fund circa 1998 was that a) I don't know how to pick stocks, and b) wanted to own the whole market. I used an S&P 500 fund because it was famous and because I thought of it as "the market." At the time, the total market fund was only six years old and not terribly well-known; also, the expense ratio was a bit lower for S&P 500 fund but I'm not sure whether I was aware of that or cared about it.

Around 2004 I exchanged it for the Total Market fund, not exactly because I thought Total Market was better, but simply because it was a more faithful execution of my goal of "owning the whole market."

Probably the best reason I know for preferring the total market fund is that last year there was an amazing amount of ink spilled about the addition of Tesla to the S&P 500. It checked and anyone in the Total Market fund had owned Tesla since 2010 and didn't need to think about or worry about the addition of Tesla. Similarly, a lot of people attack the idea of passive investing and indexing by nit-picking various details of how the S&P 500 index works, and making them out to be much more important than they are. None of them matter, but even if you think they do, you can avoid all of them simply by using a total market index fund.
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness; Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.
student
Posts: 10761
Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2015 6:58 am

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by student »

To me, they will give similar return in the long run. So either one is fine. I also view them as good TLH partners.
Peaceful
Posts: 471
Joined: Sun Feb 28, 2021 10:44 am

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by Peaceful »

killshot_96 wrote: Wed Mar 10, 2021 7:16 pm Hello Bogleheads,

I am planning to invest in index funds. Which is better for the long term? S&P 500 or the Total Stock Market Index Fund? And why?

Thank you for your time.
Total Stock Market. S&P 500 index was established at a time when the cost for Vanguard to include more stocks in the index made it impractical. Theoretically TSM is a more complete representation of the U.S. equities market. There is a completion index for the S&P 500 precisely because it is theoretically incomplete. For historical and inertia reasons, many people have retirement plans where they have a lot of money invested in the 500 because TSM wasn't available years ago but the 500 was. So if available they should use a proportional amount of the completion index to simulate TSM.

There's no serious question that if TSM is available and your objective is to track the U.S. stock market index, you should pick TSM. Vanguard's life strategy and target date funds use TSM, not the 500.
"Be fearful when others are greedy, be even MORE fearful when others are fearful."
User avatar
bertilak
Posts: 10725
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 5:23 pm
Location: East of the Pecos, West of the Mississippi

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by bertilak »

colodane wrote: Wed Mar 10, 2021 7:46 pm I've had both and been happy with them. Right now, I have SP500 due to some Tax Loss Harvesting. All else being equal, I'd suggest the Total Market Index to get a broader exposure to market segments.
Same here. TLH go me from TSM to S&P500.

Happy to stay there. Mostly. TSM is still calling me. I keep looking at historical comparisons to convince me all is well. Here's a thought: S&P500 is a "curated" TSM where only the good stuff is included! Don't tell me that's silly as I already know that.
May neither drought nor rain nor blizzard disturb the joy juice in your gizzard. -- Squire Omar Barker (aka S.O.B.), the Cowboy Poet
WarAdmiral
Posts: 405
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2020 6:09 pm
Location: Raleigh

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by WarAdmiral »

killshot_96 wrote: Wed Mar 10, 2021 7:16 pm Hello Bogleheads,

I am planning to invest in index funds. Which is better for the long term? S&P 500 or the Total Stock Market Index Fund? And why?

Thank you for your time.
Its like choosing between a Pepsi and a Coke. Which is better ? Depends on your taste.
dukeblue219
Posts: 4074
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2016 11:40 am

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by dukeblue219 »

The good news is there isn't a wrong answer. One might beat the other over the next 40 years but it won't drastically different.
JAD
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2018 9:36 pm

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by JAD »

Honestly, just split the difference and put half your money in S&P500 and the other half in Total Stock. That's what I do. That way you get the average of the averages. No need to stress over which one will do better.
User avatar
ruralavalon
Posts: 26351
Joined: Sat Feb 02, 2008 9:29 am
Location: Illinois

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by ruralavalon »

killshot_96 wrote: Wed Mar 10, 2021 7:16 pm Hello Bogleheads,

I am planning to invest in index funds. Which is better for the long term? S&P 500 or the Total Stock Market Index Fund? And why?

Thank you for your time.
My general preference is for a total U.S. stock market index fund if available, because a little more diversified. Either is an excellent choice for investing in U.S. stocks.

A S&P 500 index fund covers over 80% of the U.S. stock market investing in stocks of selected large-cap and mid-cap U.S. companies. In the 29 years since the creation of the first total stock market index fund the performance of the two types of funds has been almost identical. Portfolio Visualizer, 1993-2021. So it seems that adding a little in mid/small cap stocks trying to mimic the holdings of a total stock market fund has historically made little difference in performance.

For more comprehensive advice, instead of starting a new thread with each new question, you could use post your details like this: Asking Portfolio Questions.

You could add this information to your original post in one the threads you have already started. Just use the edit button (the pencil icon near the upper right corner of your post), it helps a lot if all of your information is in one place.
"Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler." - Albert Einstein | Wiki article link: Bogleheads® investment philosophy
Aelron
Posts: 71
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2020 6:49 pm

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by Aelron »

They are nearly identical in performance and risk. I prefer S&P 500 in taxable for slightly higher qualified dividend percentage and total stock market in tax-advantaged for slightly better diversification. Even those tweaks, though, really don't matter much.
User avatar
abuss368
Posts: 27850
Joined: Mon Aug 03, 2009 2:33 pm
Location: Where the water is warm, the drinks are cold, and I don't know the names of the players!
Contact:

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by abuss368 »

Jack Bogle often talked about the history of Vanguard and the creation of the first index fund - S&P 500 (which had a different name at that time).

Years later Mr. Bogle created the Extended Market Index fund that tracked the remaining market (not included within the S&P 500).

Sometime thereafter, Mr. Bogle created Total Stock Market Index fund.

Tony
John C. Bogle: “Simplicity is the master key to financial success."
MotoTrojan
Posts: 11259
Joined: Wed Feb 01, 2017 7:39 pm

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by MotoTrojan »

TSM held Tesla for it's entire meteoric rise. S&P500 bought it when it was well into the top-10 largest US companies. Which of those options do you prefer?

In reality it really doesn't matter much long-term though.
User avatar
bertilak
Posts: 10725
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 5:23 pm
Location: East of the Pecos, West of the Mississippi

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by bertilak »

MotoTrojan wrote: Fri Mar 12, 2021 2:50 pm TSM held Tesla for it's entire meteoric rise. S&P500 bought it when it was well into the top-10 largest US companies. Which of those options do you prefer?

In reality it really doesn't matter much long-term though.
Some would prefer not taking the risk of early Tesla. Me, I don't care one way or the other.
May neither drought nor rain nor blizzard disturb the joy juice in your gizzard. -- Squire Omar Barker (aka S.O.B.), the Cowboy Poet
MotoTrojan
Posts: 11259
Joined: Wed Feb 01, 2017 7:39 pm

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by MotoTrojan »

bertilak wrote: Fri Mar 12, 2021 5:32 pm
MotoTrojan wrote: Fri Mar 12, 2021 2:50 pm TSM held Tesla for it's entire meteoric rise. S&P500 bought it when it was well into the top-10 largest US companies. Which of those options do you prefer?

In reality it really doesn't matter much long-term though.
Some would prefer not taking the risk of early Tesla. Me, I don't care one way or the other.
The risk of early Tesla is so small you wouldn't notice if it went to $0 overnight. The risk of Tesla gaining inclusion after a 1000% 1-year run that brings it to top-10 largest S&P500 holding is not insignificant.

To be fair though, holding Total Stock Market is NOT the only way to alleviate this risk. If you hold a truly rules-based large-cap fund like VLCAX you will cut out the small/mid-cap firms (riskier in your words) by holding the largest ~750 stocks, but while you won't hold early-early Tesla, you'll get it at a MUCH smaller market-cap (as it passes the smallest 20% of firms) and have far less inclusion-timing risk exposure.
User avatar
bertilak
Posts: 10725
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 5:23 pm
Location: East of the Pecos, West of the Mississippi

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by bertilak »

MotoTrojan wrote: Fri Mar 12, 2021 6:16 pm The risk of early Tesla is so small you wouldn't notice if it went to $0 overnight.
Is this generally rue of penny stocks? Should we load up or should we go with the Will Rogers approach: Buy a good stock. When it goes up, sell it. If it don't go up don't buy it.
May neither drought nor rain nor blizzard disturb the joy juice in your gizzard. -- Squire Omar Barker (aka S.O.B.), the Cowboy Poet
MotoTrojan
Posts: 11259
Joined: Wed Feb 01, 2017 7:39 pm

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by MotoTrojan »

bertilak wrote: Fri Mar 12, 2021 6:36 pm
MotoTrojan wrote: Fri Mar 12, 2021 6:16 pm The risk of early Tesla is so small you wouldn't notice if it went to $0 overnight.
Is this generally rue of penny stocks? Should we load up or should we go with the Will Rogers approach: Buy a good stock. When it goes up, sell it. If it don't go up don't buy it.
My point isn't about the risk of the stock itself, but the allocation to it. When Tesla came onto the scene it was a tiny holding in Total Stock Market. In early 2020 it was what, 0.1%? That was my point; you wouldn't notice if it went to $0 overnight and your fund dropped 0.05%. Now that it is over 1% of the market you may notice a little more.

So it is less risky for a passive investor to hold a fund that rides irrational waves up AND down (net-zero event), rather than buy high and sell after the irrational wave crashes. Total Stock Market is the best way to do this, but even a rules based Large Cap index like Russell 1000 or CRSP Large-cap will do this well enough. The S&P500 is unique in that it requires 4 quarters of earnings, PLUS the committee to say "yes", which is why Tesla was added so late (and at such a large market-cap/%-of-holdings).
User avatar
JoMoney
Posts: 16260
Joined: Tue Jul 23, 2013 5:31 am

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by JoMoney »

bertilak wrote: Fri Mar 12, 2021 6:36 pm
MotoTrojan wrote: Fri Mar 12, 2021 6:16 pm The risk of early Tesla is so small you wouldn't notice if it went to $0 overnight.
Is this generally rue of penny stocks? Should we load up or should we go with the Will Rogers approach: Buy a good stock. When it goes up, sell it. If it don't go up don't buy it.
I don't think Tesla was ever a 'penny stock'.
In general, the history of buying IPOs (especially a business with no earnings history) isn't good. Private business owners, and the investment banks they go through, don't tend to take a business public unless they expect to earn a hefty premium on it going that route. There are other options for raising capital if they think they'll get a better deal getting funding some other route.

To TSM's credit though, I did see a 'study' put out awhile back (although it was from a source with some bias in selling IPOs) that suggested buying/holding IPO's in a market-cap weighted fashion had returns similar to broader market indices (although with more volatility... and the paper went on to suggest 'secret sauce' for picking just the good IPOs.)
"To achieve satisfactory investment results is easier than most people realize; to achieve superior results is harder than it looks." - Benjamin Graham
User avatar
bertilak
Posts: 10725
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 5:23 pm
Location: East of the Pecos, West of the Mississippi

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by bertilak »

JoMoney wrote: Fri Mar 12, 2021 6:41 pm
bertilak wrote: Fri Mar 12, 2021 6:36 pm
MotoTrojan wrote: Fri Mar 12, 2021 6:16 pm The risk of early Tesla is so small you wouldn't notice if it went to $0 overnight.
Is this generally rue of penny stocks? Should we load up or should we go with the Will Rogers approach: Buy a good stock. When it goes up, sell it. If it don't go up don't buy it.
I don't think Tesla was ever a 'penny stock'.
OK then, whatever you call a stock that if it goes to zero it is doesn't matter.
May neither drought nor rain nor blizzard disturb the joy juice in your gizzard. -- Squire Omar Barker (aka S.O.B.), the Cowboy Poet
User avatar
bertilak
Posts: 10725
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 5:23 pm
Location: East of the Pecos, West of the Mississippi

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by bertilak »

MotoTrojan wrote: Fri Mar 12, 2021 6:40 pm
bertilak wrote: Fri Mar 12, 2021 6:36 pm
MotoTrojan wrote: Fri Mar 12, 2021 6:16 pm The risk of early Tesla is so small you wouldn't notice if it went to $0 overnight.
Is this generally rue of penny stocks? Should we load up or should we go with the Will Rogers approach: Buy a good stock. When it goes up, sell it. If it don't go up don't buy it.
My point isn't about the risk of the stock itself, but the allocation to it. When Tesla came onto the scene it was a tiny holding in Total Stock Market. In early 2020 it was what, 0.1%? That was my point; you wouldn't notice if it went to $0 overnight and your fund dropped 0.05%. Now that it is over 1% of the market you may notice a little more.

So it is less risky for a passive investor to hold a fund that rides irrational waves up AND down (net-zero event), rather than buy high and sell after the irrational wave crashes. Total Stock Market is the best way to do this, but even a rules based Large Cap index like Russell 1000 or CRSP Large-cap will do this well enough. The S&P500 is unique in that it requires 4 quarters of earnings, PLUS the committee to say "yes", which is why Tesla was added so late (and at such a large market-cap/%-of-holdings).
Agree. That's an advantage of cap weighting.

And yes, theoretically, as far as diversity is concerned, TSM is better than S&P500 but history shows that TSM and S&P500 track each other close enough that TSM's occasional "catch" of a TESLA has not really mattered.
May neither drought nor rain nor blizzard disturb the joy juice in your gizzard. -- Squire Omar Barker (aka S.O.B.), the Cowboy Poet
Triple digit golfer
Posts: 10433
Joined: Mon May 18, 2009 5:57 pm

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by Triple digit golfer »

bertilak wrote: Fri Mar 12, 2021 7:13 pm
MotoTrojan wrote: Fri Mar 12, 2021 6:40 pm
bertilak wrote: Fri Mar 12, 2021 6:36 pm
MotoTrojan wrote: Fri Mar 12, 2021 6:16 pm The risk of early Tesla is so small you wouldn't notice if it went to $0 overnight.
Is this generally rue of penny stocks? Should we load up or should we go with the Will Rogers approach: Buy a good stock. When it goes up, sell it. If it don't go up don't buy it.
My point isn't about the risk of the stock itself, but the allocation to it. When Tesla came onto the scene it was a tiny holding in Total Stock Market. In early 2020 it was what, 0.1%? That was my point; you wouldn't notice if it went to $0 overnight and your fund dropped 0.05%. Now that it is over 1% of the market you may notice a little more.

So it is less risky for a passive investor to hold a fund that rides irrational waves up AND down (net-zero event), rather than buy high and sell after the irrational wave crashes. Total Stock Market is the best way to do this, but even a rules based Large Cap index like Russell 1000 or CRSP Large-cap will do this well enough. The S&P500 is unique in that it requires 4 quarters of earnings, PLUS the committee to say "yes", which is why Tesla was added so late (and at such a large market-cap/%-of-holdings).
Agree. That's an advantage of cap weighting.

And yes, theoretically, as far as diversity is concerned, TSM is better than S&P500 but history shows that TSM and S&P500 track each other close enough that TSM's occasional "catch" of a TESLA has not really mattered.
Yep, it works both ways. TSM also catches all the losers that never make it big.
40 Years' Gatherin's
Posts: 203
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2020 7:39 am

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by 40 Years' Gatherin's »

The long term returns of both funds are nearly identical, however the S&P 500 has slightly lower volatility since it excludes the more volatile small cap stocks. I would just stick with Large Caps, therefore my vote is for the S&P 500 Index fund.
stan1
Posts: 14246
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 4:35 pm

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by stan1 »

Must be a slow Sunday, time to dig up a 5 month old thread to debate S&P 500 vs Total Stock Market.

Now let's do an international thread too.
User avatar
burritoLover
Posts: 4097
Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2020 12:13 pm

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by burritoLover »

Both are highly concentrated in large caps which is why they have very similar returns. I'd add a healthy dose of small cap value to either for more diversification.
40 Years' Gatherin's
Posts: 203
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2020 7:39 am

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by 40 Years' Gatherin's »

stan1 wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 9:34 am Must be a slow Sunday, time to dig up a 5 month old thread to debate S&P 500 vs Total Stock Market.

Now let's do an international thread too.
Neither Bogle or Buffett recommend International. I stick with US only.
Triple digit golfer
Posts: 10433
Joined: Mon May 18, 2009 5:57 pm

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by Triple digit golfer »

40 Years' Gatherin's wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 9:38 am
stan1 wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 9:34 am Must be a slow Sunday, time to dig up a 5 month old thread to debate S&P 500 vs Total Stock Market.

Now let's do an international thread too.
Neither Bogle or Buffett recommend International. I stick with US only.
Good job! I think you may have placed us in the early stages of this turning into a U.S. vs. international thread. It doesn't take much to do so.
40 Years' Gatherin's
Posts: 203
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2020 7:39 am

Re: S&P 500 Index Funds v/s Total Stock Market Index

Post by 40 Years' Gatherin's »

Triple digit golfer wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 9:52 am
40 Years' Gatherin's wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 9:38 am
stan1 wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 9:34 am Must be a slow Sunday, time to dig up a 5 month old thread to debate S&P 500 vs Total Stock Market.

Now let's do an international thread too.
Neither Bogle or Buffett recommend International. I stick with US only.
Good job! I think you may have placed us in the early stages of this turning into a U.S. vs. international thread. It doesn't take much to do so.
I'm like an arsonist: I light the match, and then observe at a safe distance as the whole place burns down :D
Post Reply