Why does Dave Ramsey say not to invest in ETFs?
One of the biggest reasons Ramsey cautions investors about ETFs is that they are so easy to move in and out of. Unlike traditional mutual funds, which can only be bought or sold once per day, you can buy or sell an ETF on the open market just like an individual stock at any time the market is open.
ETFs are designed to track the market, not to beat it
But many ETFs track a benchmarking index, which means the fund often won't outperform the underlying assets in the index. Investors who are looking to beat the market (potentially a riskier approach) may choose to look at other products and services.
- Invest in the 4 types of mutual funds: growth, growth and income, aggressive growth, and international.
- Find mutual funds with a 10 year or better average annual return better than 10% (12%+ is best).
- Don't invest in anything you don't understand.
Stock-picking offers an advantage over exchange-traded funds (ETFs) when there is a wide dispersion of returns from the mean. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) offer advantages over stocks when the return from stocks in the sector has a narrow dispersion around the mean.
Most of Warren Buffett's portfolio through his holding company Berkshire Hathaway is comprised of individual stocks. He does own two ETFs, though, both of which are S&P 500 ETFs: the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO -0.11%) and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY -0.09%). An S&P 500 ETF tracks the S&P 500 index itself.
But to be clear, Ramsey's all in favor of using ETFs when used properly. For investors who can use ETFs as part of a long-term, buy-and-hold investment program, rather than as trading vehicles, Ramsey has nothing bad to say about them.
In fact, 47% of all such funds have closed down, compared with a closure rate of 28% for nonleveraged, noninverse ETFs. "Leveraged and inverse funds generally aren't meant to be held for longer than a day, and some types of leveraged and inverse ETFs tend to lose the majority of their value over time," Emily says.
Key Takeaways
ETFs are less risky than individual stocks because they are diversified funds. Their investors also benefit from very low fees. Still, there are unique risks to some ETFs, including a lack of diversification and tax exposure.
Liquidation of ETFs is strictly regulated; when an ETF closes, any remaining shareholders will receive a payout based on what they had invested in the ETF.
Ramsey's general recommendation in his Baby Steps has long been to start with having $1,000 saved in a starter emergency fund. If you earn under $20,000 a year, the post on Ramsey Solutions said you may adjust this amount to $500.
What does Dave Ramsey recommend for retirement?
When it comes to saving for retirement, money expert Dave Ramsey knows exactly how much you should be setting aside. Ramsey's recommendation, which he shared on his website Ramsey Solutions, is to invest 15% of your gross income into your 401(k) and IRA every month.
Ramsey is perhaps best known for advocating a “debt snowball method”: People with multiple loans pay off the smallest balances first, regardless of interest rate. As you knock out each loan, he says, the money you have to put toward larger debt snowballs. Seeing small wins motivates people to keep going, he says.
| Symbol | Name | 5-Year Return |
|---|---|---|
| RSPN | Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Industrials ETF | 15.71% |
| LEAD | Siren DIVCON Leaders Dividend ETF | 15.70% |
| VOOG | Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF | 15.67% |
| IWL | iShares Russell Top 200 ETF | 15.66% |
- Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ)
- Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT)
- Invesco AI and Next Gen Software ETF (IGPT)
- MicroSectors FANG+ Index 3X Leveraged ETN (FNGU)
- Vanguard U.S. Quality Factor ETF (VFQY)
- WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund (DXJ)
ETFs can be a great investment for long-term investors and those with shorter-term time horizons. They can be especially valuable to beginning investors. That's because they won't require the time, effort, and experience needed to research individual stocks.
Warren Buffett has long recommended the S&P 500 index fund and ETF, and through his holding company Berkshire Hathaway, he also owns two of these types of investments: the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEMKT: SPY).
Buffett's favorite ETF
There are only two ETFs in Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRK. A) (NYSE: BRK.B) portfolio: the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEMKT: SPY) and the Vanguard 500 Index Fund ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO).
Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street dominate the ETF market with the most offerings.
There are many ways an ETF can stray from its intended index. That tracking error can be a cost to investors. Indexes do not hold cash but ETFs do, so a certain amount of tracking error in an ETF is expected. Fund managers generally hold some cash in a fund to pay administrative expenses and management fees.
Yes, you could realistically become a millionaire by investing in these Vanguard ETFs over the long term. Granted, there's no guarantee that the returns generated by these ETFs in the past will be achieved in the future.
Do ETFs aim to beat the market?
Unlike a managed fund, an ETF does not aim to beat the index, but to match its performance, giving you potentially more predictable returns.
For most standard, unleveraged ETFs that track an index, the maximum you can theoretically lose is the amount you invested, driving your investment value to zero. However, it's rare for broad-market ETFs to go to zero unless the entire market or sector it tracks collapses entirely.
In contrast, the riskiest ETF in the Morningstar database, ProShares Ultra VIX Short-term Futures Fund (UVXY), has a three-year standard deviation of 132.9. The fund, of course, doesn't invest in stocks. It invests in volatility itself, as measured by the so-called Fear Index: The short-term CBOE VIX index.
Yes, you could. The underlying assets owned by the ETF could become worthless. Literally worthless is not likely, but the ETF will change in value as the underlying portfolio. An ETF does not go up in price when bought like a stock.
For most personal investors, an optimal number of ETFs to hold would be 5 to 10 across asset classes, geographies, and other characteristics.
