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ETF fees and minimums

If you're more interested in getting money out of your investments than paying too much money for them, you're in good company.

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Fees you won't pay at Vanguard

Commissions

Enjoy commission-free trades when you buy or sell ETFs (exchange-traded funds) online.

Review our complete commission & fee schedules for details

Account service fees

A fee that's deducted from your account to cover the cost of maintaining the account.

At Vanguard, these annual fees range from $15 to $25 depending on the type of account you own.

Find out how you can avoid these fees

Account service fee

A fee that's deducted from your account to cover the cost of maintaining the account.

At Vanguard, these annual fees range from $15 to $25 depending on the type of account you own.

Find out how you can avoid these fees

Electronic delivery (e-delivery)

Instead of waiting for your account documents to arrive in the mail, you can elect to receive an email from us whenever those documents become available for instant access on our secure website.

Learn more about e-delivery

Minimums & account balances

No minimum initial investment requirement
You don't need thousands of dollars to start investing in an ETF. You can buy a Vanguard ETF for as little as $1.

No minimum account balance
You only need enough money in your settlement fund to cover the cost of the ETFs you want to buy.

Settlement fund

The holding place where you keep the money you need to pay for the ETF shares you want to buy and where we'll place the proceeds when you sell ETF shares.

Learn more about settlement funds & time frames

Other costs associated with ETFs

Bid-ask spreads
The bid-ask spread is the difference between the bid price (the highest price a buyer is willing to pay for a specific ETF) and the ask price (the lowest price a seller is willing accept) at a specific time.

Spreads vary based on the ETF's supply and demand. For Vanguard ETFs®, spreads generally range from $0.01 to $0.25, although spreads may be wider in volatile markets.

Expense ratios
Every ETF has an expense ratio, but Vanguard's average is 77% less than the industry average.*

Bid, ask & the bid-ask spread

The "bid" price is the highest price a buyer is willing to pay for a specific ETF. This is generally the price a seller receives when placing a market order—although the price could be higher or lower based on the size of the order or any price improvement provided (see "What is 'price improvement'?" below).

The "ask" price is the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for a specific ETF. This is generally the price a buyer pays when placing a market order—although the price could be higher or lower based on the size of the order or any price improvement provided.

The "bid-ask spread" is the difference between the current bid and ask prices for a specific ETF at a specific time.

How wide is the spread?

Spreads vary based on the ETF's supply and demand, otherwise known as its "liquidity." For Vanguard ETFs®, spreads generally range from $0.01 to $0.25, although they may be wider in volatile markets.

What is "price improvement"?

Price improvement occurs when your trade is executed at a price that's better than the quoted market price at the time you enter your order.

Vanguard has processes in place to get you the best price possible every time you buy and sell any Vanguard ETF®.

Expense ratio

A reflection of how much a mutual fund or an ETF pays for portfolio management, administration, marketing, and distribution, among other expenses. You'll almost always see it expressed as a percentage of the fund's average net assets.

Understand what expense ratios are & how they work

Vanguard's low fees can help you save * -

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Average investment firm -

*As of December 31, 2023, Vanguard's average mutual fund and ETF expense ratio is 0.08%. Industry average mutual fund and ETF expense ratio: 0.44%. All averages are asset-weighted. Industry averages exclude Vanguard. Sources: Vanguard and Morningstar, Inc., as of December 31, 2023. This is a hypothetical calculation that does not represent any particular investment and does not account for inflation. Results shown are not guaranteed. There may be other material differences between investment products that must be considered prior to investing.

Commission-free ETFs

Pay $0 commission to trade ETFs & stocks online

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Have ETFs somewhere else?

Learn how to transfer an account to Vanguard

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*Vanguard average ETF expense ratio: 0.05%. Industry average ETF expense ratio: 0.22%. All averages are asset-weighted. Industry averages exclude Vanguard. Sources: Vanguard and Morningstar, Inc., as of December 31, 2023.
 

You must buy and sell Vanguard ETF Shares through Vanguard Brokerage Services (we offer them commission-free online) or through another broker (who may charge commissions). See the Vanguard Brokerage Services Commission and Fee Schedules for limits. Vanguard ETF Shares are not redeemable directly with the issuing Fund other than in very large aggregations worth millions of dollars. ETFs are subject to market volatility. When buying or selling an ETF, you will pay or receive the current market price, which may be more or less than net asset value.

All investing is subject to risk, including the possible loss of the money you invest.