What is the lowest fee on the S&P 500 ETF?
Expense ratios. VOO and IVV boast the lowest management fee at 0.03%, about one-third of the SPY ETF. While the difference between a 0.03%, and 0.0945% expense ratio may seem trivial, such fees can really add up. For every $10,000 invested, these respective fees equal $3 and $9.45 annually.
Buying an S&P 500 Fund or ETF. If you want an inexpensive way to invest in S&P 500 ETFs, you can gain exposure through discount brokers. These financial professionals offer commission-free trading on all passive ETF products. But keep in mind that some brokers may impose minimum investment requirements.
If your index fund has an expense ratio, you'll be charged that as a fee. An expense ratio is an annual fee expressed as a percentage of your investment. For example, if you invest $100, and your fund has an expense ratio of 0.04%, you'll pay an annual fee of $0.04.
What is the minimum investment for the S&P 500? For an S&P 500 index fund, many come with no minimum investment. For an S&P 500 ETF, you might need to pay the full price of a single share, which is generally upwards of $100—but some robo-advisors like Stash offer fractional shares for as little as $5.
If the S&P 500 outperforms its historical average and generates, say, a 12% annual return, you would reach $1 million in 26 years by investing $500 a month.
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.
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, VOO is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Blend segment of the market.
The Bottom Line. Both index mutual funds and ETFs can provide investors with broad, diversified exposure to the stock market, making them good long-term investments suitable for most investors. ETFs may be more accessible and easier to trade for retail investors because they trade like shares of stock on exchanges.
Our recommendation for the best overall S&P 500 index fund is the Fidelity 500 Index Fund. With a 0.015% expense ratio, it's the cheapest on our list. And it doesn't have a minimum initial investment requirement, sales loads or trading fees.
The best way to invest in the S&P 500 is to buy exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or index funds that track the index. There are differences between these two approaches that we'll examine below, but in either case, these funds offer extremely low costs and superior diversification.
What if I invested $1000 in S&P 500 10 years ago?
Over the past decade, you would have done even better, as the S&P 500 posted an average annual return of a whopping 12.68%. Here's how much your account balance would be now if you were invested over the past 10 years: $1,000 would grow to $3,300. $5,000 would grow to $16,498.
In 1980, had you invested a mere $1,000 in what went on to become the top-performing stock of S&P 500, then you would be sitting on a cool $1.2 million today.
Does the S&P 500 Pay Dividends? The S&P 500 is an index, so it does not pay dividends; however, there are mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track the index, which you can invest in. If the companies in these funds pay dividends, you'll receive yours based on how many shares of the funds you hold.
The S&P 500 is all US-domiciled companies that over the last ~40 years have accounted for ~50% of all global stocks. By just owning the S&P 500 you miss out on almost half of the global opportunity set which is another ~10,000 public companies.
Imagine you wish to amass $3000 monthly from your investments, amounting to $36,000 annually. If you park your funds in a savings account offering a 2% annual interest rate, you'd need to inject roughly $1.8 million into the account.
Once you have $1 million in assets, you can look seriously at living entirely off the returns of a portfolio. After all, the S&P 500 alone averages 10% returns per year. Setting aside taxes and down-year investment portfolio management, a $1 million index fund could provide $100,000 annually.
Basic Info. S&P 500 5 Year Return is at 85.38%, compared to 83.02% last month and 55.60% last year. This is higher than the long term average of 45.20%. The S&P 500 5 Year Return is the investment return received for a 5 year period, excluding dividends, when holding the S&P 500 index.
Basic Info. S&P 500 10 Year Return is at 180.6%, compared to 174.1% last month and 161.9% last year. This is higher than the long term average of 114.4%.
The historical average yearly return of the S&P 500 is 9.74% over the last 20 years, as of the end of February 2024. This assumes dividends are reinvested.
ETFs are subject to market fluctuation and the risks of their underlying investments. ETFs are subject to management fees and other expenses. Unlike mutual funds, ETF shares are bought and sold at market price, which may be higher or lower than their NAV, and are not individually redeemed from the fund.
Should I invest in QQQ or VOO?
For conservative-minded investors, VOO's lower expense ratio and higher dividend yield is more appealing but risk-seeking investors may prefer QQQ in spite of its higher volatility.
Or, you could also invest in both, for example, by putting half in VOO and half in VTI. Here's a summary of which one to choose: If you want to own only the biggest and safest stocks, choose VOO. If you want more diversification and exposure to mid-caps and small-caps, choose VTI.
How Does an S&P 500 ETF Differ from an S&P 500 Index Fund? Both an index ETF and an index mutual fund passively track the S&P 500 index in order to duplicate its return. ETFs trade like stocks on exchanges, while mutual funds can only be traded at the end of each trading day.
Before purchasing an ETF there are five factors to take into account 1) performance of the ETF 2) the underlying index of the ETF 3) the ETF's structure 4) when and how to trade the ETF and 5) the total cost of the ETF.
You only need one S&P 500 ETF
You could be tempted to buy all three ETFs, but just one will do the trick. You won't get any additional diversification benefits (meaning the mix of various assets) because all three funds track the same 500 companies.
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