ETF Beginners Should Start Here

Are you a novice to exchange traded fund (ETF) investing?

If you would like to build an all-ETF portfolio, there are some things to consider.

We had a conversation with Katy Marquardt for U.S. News & World Report about it.

• Diversification: As a new investor, this is a must-have for a portfolio. Given that we’ve had a decline in the market, it is a good time to get in. We encourage large, mid, small and international ETFs. From a diversification standpoint there is Vanguard Total Stock Market (VTI) which offers quick and easy allocation. The underlying index has a bit of everything.
• Do not over-allocate domestically: Remember that the world’s market-cap is two-thirds that outside the United States. As U.S. investors, we tend to do a vast majority of allocation domestically, because it’s what we know. We should be looking more internationally. Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US (VEU) gives just international stocks in the index.