SCHB vs VT

SCHBASchwab U.S. Broad Market ETF

VTAVanguard Total World Stock ETF

In short

SCHB Schwab's one-ticket slice of nearly the whole US market: roughly 2,400 stocks for 0.03% a year, half the typical fee among total-market rivals. Running since 2009, with one of the tightest index-tracking records in its peer group.

VT One ticker, the whole investable stock market: roughly 9,800 stocks across developed and emerging markets, weighted by what the market says they're worth. There is no US-versus-international call left for you to make.

Stated mandate

SCHB The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of the Dow Jones U.S. Broad Stock Market Index.

VT The fund seeks to passively track the FTSE Global All Cap Index, which represents large-, mid-, and small-capitalization stocks of companies in developed and emerging markets worldwide.

Why people hold it

• SCHB 0.03% a year, half the 0.06% median for its total-market cohort. Three dollars a year per $10,000 invested.
• Tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Broad Stock Market Index tightly, among the closest index replication in its peer group.schwabassetmanagement.com
• A multi-billion-dollar fund and one of the most actively traded in its category, which usually means narrow bid-ask spreads for buyers and sellers.
• Live since 2009, with a quarterly dividend cadence and roughly 2,400 holdings behind it.

• VT 0.06% a year, against a 0.45% median for the index wrappers it competes with. Worldwide coverage for a rounding error.
• Its benchmark comes from the FTSE Global Equity Index Series, which covers 98% of the world's investable market cap: large, mid and small caps, developed and emerging alike.vanguard.com
• Passively run with index sampling and kept fully invested. Tracking of the index has been about as tight as this cohort gets, and it trades actively enough to keep spreads thin.vanguard.com
• Live since 2008 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund, it ranks among the strongest implementations in its peer group. Pays quarterly.

Worth knowing

• SCHB Not the cheapest ticket in the cohort: BBUS charges 0.02%. At these levels the gap is pennies, but it exists.
• Broad, not exhaustive. Roughly 2,400 stocks covers the bulk of the US market rather than every listed company.
• Pure equity exposure with no hedge or buffer, so it moves with the full US market in both directions.

• VT Market-cap weighting hands the steering wheel to the market. The biggest countries and companies dominate, and those weights drift with prices, never tilting back.vanguard.comvanguard.com
• All equity, all the time: emerging markets and unhedged foreign currency come with the package, and there is no bond sleeve to cushion a selloff.
• Single-market index funds shave the fee further (SCHK at 0.03%, SPYV at 0.04%). Global reach costs a couple of basis points more.

Full SCHB profile⁠

Full VT profile⁠