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CD's or Vanguard ETF's
January 22, 2026 at
08:21 AM
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Finance
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Last Edited by slicbrat January 22, 2026 at 10:38 AM
For recurring investments, I'm evaluating whether CDs or ETFs (Vanguard or similar) make more sense. I plan to invest on a weekly or monthly basis and prefer not to pick individual stocks. With CD rates currently around 4.5% and trending downward, I'm looking for tax-efficient, long-term, moderately aggressive investment options that carry some risk and have the potential to deliver approximately 6–7% annual returns. What are some options out there and how should I go about it?
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https://www.multpl.com/shiller-pe
Trends can take awhile to break, even when all logical sense says it shouldn't, so it could just keep going and going. That stuff aside, just putting money an ETF tracking the S&P 500 gives you a simple and diversified setup. SPY, IVV and VOO do this.
On SPY, IVV & VOO ETF's would I be taxed for gains when reinvesting occurs? I am not planning on doing any withdrawals for the foreseeable future, 5+ years or more!
https://www.multpl.com/shiller-pe
Trends can take awhile to break, even when all logical sense says it shouldn't, so it could just keep going and going. That stuff aside, just putting money an ETF tracking the S&P 500 gives you a simple and diversified setup. SPY, IVV and VOO do this.
On SPY, IVV & VOO ETF's would I be taxed for gains when reinvesting occurs? I am not planning on doing any withdrawals for the foreseeable future, 5+ years or more!
SPYM has the the lowest expense ratio.
**Open a Roth every year no matter what**
ALL investment gains are tax free.
On SPY, IVV & VOO ETF's would I be taxed for gains when reinvesting occurs? I am not planning on doing any withdrawals for the foreseeable future, 5+ years or more!
With regards to ETFs (and stocks), you only get taxed when you sell. Long term holds (at least one year) like what you want to do are taxed at a lower rate.
SPYM has the the lowest expense ratio.
**Open a Roth every year no matter what**
ALL investment gains are tax free.
With regards to ETFs (and stocks), you only get taxed when you sell. Long term holds (at least one year) like what you want to do are taxed at a lower rate.
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By the way, I forgot to mention your broker should give you the choice to choose which lots you're selling when you do decide to sell. If you bought say 100 shares of XYZ and then another 100 shares later, if you later decide to sell half you can tell them exactly which shares you're selling. So you'd have some older shares and shares with different gain amounts. Long term holds (1yr or longer) are taxed at a lower rate. So you have some control over what you're later going to have to pay a tax on when you sell. The option should be something like "specifiy lots" to choose which shares you're selling. By default it usually is FIFO (first in first out) aka your oldest shares get sold first -- which may not be what you want.
By the way, I forgot to mention your broker should give you the choice to choose which lots you're selling when you do decide to sell. If you bought say 100 shares of XYZ and then another 100 shares later, if you later decide to sell half you can tell them exactly which shares you're selling. So you'd have some older shares and shares with different gain amounts. Long term holds (1yr or longer) are taxed at a lower rate. So you have some control over what you're later going to have to pay a tax on when you sell. The option should be something like "specifiy lots" to choose which shares you're selling. By default it usually is FIFO (first in first out) aka your oldest shares get sold first -- which may not be what you want.