What makes a good ER for a fund? For domestic stock funds in the US, an ER below 0.1% is great, below 0.25% is good, below 0.5% is fair, and below 1% is sometimes the best you can manage in an expensive plan.
A good expense ratio, from the investor's viewpoint, is around 0.5% to 0.75% for an actively managed portfolio. An expense ratio greater than 1.5% is considered high.
For instance, a passively managed fund with an expense ratio of 0.9% wouldn't be ideal as it is almost five times higher than the average. However, an actively managed fund with the same expense ratio of 0.9% would be considered good.
Passive? 0.15% and below. The 0.15% is acceptable for harder to trade markets. Anything very liquid should be borderline free.
Ratios above 1.5% are considered high. In this article, we explore the meaning of the expense ratio, its formula, how it works, and its impact on returns with relevant examples.
Most passively managed ETFs have lower expense ratios than actively managed mutual funds, but not all ETFs are friendly when it comes to fees. While the lowest-cost ETFs tend to have expense ratios less than 0.10%, the highest cost ETFs have expense ratios exceeding 10%. That's a difference of 100x.
SPY is more expensive with a Total Expense Ratio (TER) of 0.0945%, versus 0.03% for VOO. SPY is up 28.31% year-to-date (YTD) with +$7.13B in YTD flows. VOO performs better with 28.36% YTD performance, and +$103.99B in YTD flows.
An expense ratio of 0.2%, for example, means that for every $1,000 you invest in a fund, you'll be paying $2 annually in operating expenses. These funds are taken out of your expenses over time, so you won't be able to avoid paying them.
50% of your net income should go towards living expenses and essentials (Needs), 20% of your net income should go towards debt reduction and savings (Debt Reduction and Savings), and 30% of your net income should go towards discretionary spending (Wants).
Is 0.8 expense ratio high? For an actively managed fund, a 0.8% TER is considered relatively low. However, always compare TERs within similar fund categories. An index fund with a 0.8% TER might be considered slightly high compared to others in the same category.
For a typical 401(k) plan, the expense ratio should be no higher than 2% and more likely in the 1.0% to 1.5% range. The lower the expense ratio the better, with higher fees eating into profits.
The expense ratio is measured as a percent of your investment in the fund. For example, a fund may charge 0.30 percent. That means you'll pay $30 per year for every $10,000 you have invested in that fund. You'll pay this on an annual basis if you own the fund for the year.
For most individual investors, ETFs represent an ideal type of asset with which to build a diversified portfolio. In addition, ETFs tend to have much lower expense ratios compared to actively managed funds, can be more tax-efficient, and offer the option to immediately reinvest dividends.
Low expense ratio: VOO has an expense ratio of 0.03%, one of the lowest among S&P 500 ETFs. This is cost-effective as the value of the investment grows over time.
With an expense ratio of just 0.03%, it's among the least costly ETFs available, allowing investors to keep more of their returns. This cost-efficiency, combined with its broad market exposure, has made VOO a favorite among both novice and experienced investors alike.
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.
Gross expense ratio, as reported in a fund's prospectus, is the percentage of fund assets expected to be paid over a year for operating expenses, management fees, and interest and dividend expenses. Net expense ratio takes the gross and removes any contractual fee waivers and reimbursements.
What is the 2% rule? The 2% rule states that the expected monthly rental income should equal or exceed 2% of the purchase price. Using the same example, a $200,000 rental property should generate a monthly rental income of at least $4,000.
Berkshire Hathaway owns two exchange-traded funds (ETF), The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEMKT: SPY) and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO). Both of these ETFs track the S&P 500.
Average Return
In the past year, QQQ returned a total of 25.74%, which is slightly higher than VOO's 24.33% return. Over the past 10 years, QQQ has had annualized average returns of 18.26% , compared to 13.04% for VOO. These numbers are adjusted for stock splits and include dividends.
For example, you might buy SPY if you want to trade actively, or even venture into day trading, because of its high volume. You might consider buying VOO to hold over the long term because of its lower expenses.
The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF has had a total return of 257% over the past decade. Another huge benefit of this particular ETF is that it has a very low expense-ratio fee of just 0.03%. That means if you invest $1,000, you'll pay just $0.30 in fees, and $10,000 invested in the fund will cost you only $3.
Invesco QQQ's total expense ratio is 0.20%. Investment returns and principal value will fluctuate, and shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be higher or lower than performance quoted.