VTI: A Slow and Steady Sort of Fortune

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Now, I’ve been watchin’ folks chase fortunes in the market for a good many years, and it strikes me that most of ’em are lookin’ for a quick sprint when a steady walk is what’ll truly get ’em to the promised land. They get all riled up over whatever’s been shootin’ the moon lately, forgettin’ that even the moon has its phases. If a fund’s had a good run, why, everybody piles on, expectin’ it to sprout wings and fly forever. And if it stumbles? They’re quicker to ditch it than a hot potato, even if it’s got good prospects down the road. Seems a body’d think they were bettin’ on horses, not buildin’ a future.

The truth of it is, a lot of investors don’t rightly understand what they’re buyin’. They reckon it’s all about gettin’ the biggest bang for their buck, immediate-like. But diversification, see, that’s a bit like spreadin’ your eggs amongst a whole coop of hens. It don’t guarantee you’ll get the biggest, fanciest egg, but it does lessen the chance of all your eggs gettin’ broken by a single rascal of a rooster. A single stock might make you rich quick, but it can just as easily leave you holdin’ an empty bag.

Now, the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI 0.49%) has become mighty popular for givin’ folks a slice of just about every company in the U.S. of A. But some of its shareholders are lookin’ a bit glum, seein’ as how it ain’t been keepin’ pace with some of those flashier funds. This here’s the second part of a three-part look at this VTI for the Voyager Portfolio, and we’ll be diggin’ into why it’s been a bit under the weather, and why a long-term investor shouldn’t be so quick to write it off.

Numbers Don’t Lie – But They Ain’t Tellin’ the Whole Story, Either

I’ve been presentin’ VTI as if it were a downright poor performer, but that’s a bit of a fib. The fund’s actually done quite well, thank you very much. Over the last five years, it’s averaged a return of 12.12%. Ten years? A respectable 14.37% a year. And goin’ back a full fifteen years, it’s posted an average of 13.05% annually. Compound that over time, and you’ve got a heap of wealth accumulatin’. It’s a slow and steady sort of fortune, mind you, not one of those overnight sensations.

The rub is, other funds have done even better. Those two I’ve been lookin’ at in this March Voyager Portfolio series have outpaced it. The Invesco QQQ ETF (QQQ +0.02%), for instance, has been clockin’ returns approachin’ 20% a year for a decade, and nearly 18% over fifteen years. Even the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY 0.36%), which mostly invests in the big boys, has managed to do a bit better, postin’ 14.76% since 2016 and 13.45% since 2011. And while those differences might seem small, a penny saved is a penny earned, and those pennies add up when you let ’em compound over time.

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Appreciate Mid-Caps and Small-Caps, Even When the Market Don’t

Countless smart fellas on Wall Street have been bemoanin’ the fact that small companies ain’t been keepin’ up with the big ones. That’s peculiar, see, because ordinarily, the market rewards folks for takin’ on extra risk. You’d think investors would demand a premium for puttin’ their money in young, unproven companies. But as you can see from the numbers, that ain’t been the case lately.

Nevertheless, a wise investor looks forward, not back. So even if folks investin’ in VTI feel like they could’ve done better elsewhere, it’s worth considerin’ whether things might turn around. And that’s exactly what we’ll be addressin’ in the third and final part of this series for the Voyager Portfolio.

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2026-03-09 19:12