Spread It on Thick

Last month, we opened our history books. Well, in this month's issue, we take out our calculators. As we have many times before, we talk tax efficiency across Vanguard's funds and compare it to the story the low-cost fund tells about how to manage your investments (they're missing the big picture, which is that all that matters is your after-tax returns). We also review the many different prices Vanguard reports for the same ETF on the same day—not just the NAV and the market price, but the different prices that go on your statement and out to pricing services like Yahoo! Finance. In an industry where the conversation is often over basis points of under- or outperformance, these differences matter. We'll also show you some data that puts the lie to the recent myth that ESG (environmental, social, governance) funds outperform, run the numbers on Vanguard's Partnership Plan and mark the 35th anniversary of International Value. Read More »