\nAt Vanguard, we believe our funds\u2019 impressive long-term performance owes much to their low costs. For the 10 years ended December 31, 2024, 84% of our funds outpaced the average results of competing funds. The performance of our actively managed fixed income funds has been especially strong: 91% of our active bond funds and 100% of our money market funds have outpaced their peers\u2019 average results.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
In fact, I worry that they focus on low costs too much<\/em>. Cuts are nice, but these expense ratio cuts mean probably 0.01% for the average investor, or $1 a year per $10,000 invested. I\u2019d much rather Vanguard keep the 0.01% and spend it on maintaining a highly-trained, long-tenured staff. There is a palpable difference when talking with a typical Fidelity employee vs. Vanguard employee. The Fidelity employee tend to be self-assured and knowledgeable. The Vanguard employee tends to be new and often doesn\u2019t know the answer to basic questions.<\/p>\nHere are the largest funds and ETFs with expense ratio drops:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.mymoneyblog.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/vg_feecut2402.gif\")
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I would point out that the ETF version of some of the mutual funds are still slightly cheaper. For example, BND is at 0.03% while VBTLX went from 0.05% to 0.04%. Again, small margins, but you can hold Vanguard ETFs easily at any brokerage and I like that optionality.<\/p>\n
Here are a limited sample of funds that I have held in the past that were affected:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.mymoneyblog.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/vanguard600.gif\")
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