---
title: 'The 3 ETF Numbers to Track Before You Buy'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=RbWgnAZYovg'
video_id: 'RbWgnAZYovg'
date: 2026-08-05
duration_sec: 88
---

# The 3 ETF Numbers to Track Before You Buy

> Source: [The 3 ETF Numbers to Track Before You Buy](https://youtube.com/watch?v=RbWgnAZYovg)

## Summary

This video explains the three key metrics to evaluate before buying an ETF: expense ratio, total assets, and tracking difference. It emphasizes that these factors, not the share price, determine long-term investment success.

### Key Points

- **Expense Ratio** [00:03] — The annual fee charged by the fund. For a broad index fund like VOO, it's 0.03%. Over 30 years on a $100,000 portfolio, the difference between 0.03% and 1% is over $250k in fees.
- **Total Assets** [00:28] — The total net assets of the fund. Beginners often overlook this. A fund with under $100 million in assets can close, forcing you to sell at a bad time and incur a tax bill. Rule: prefer funds with $1 billion or more in assets.
- **Tracking Difference** [00:54] — Compare the fund's return to the index's return. Example: VOO performed 15.03% vs benchmark 15.07%, indicating good tracking. Large tracking differences can cost you money.

### Conclusion

Before buying an ETF, check the expense ratio (cheap), total assets (big), and tracking difference (accurate). These three numbers are crucial for long-term investing success.

## Transcript

that actually matter and none of them are the share price. Number one is the expense ratio. This is what the fund charges you every single year and for a broad index fund like VOO, they charge 0.03%
most people think. On a $100,000 portfolio over 30 years, the difference portfolio over 30 years, the difference between a 0.03% expense ratio and a 1% between a 0.03% expense ratio and a 1% one is over 250k in fees and fees are
can fully control. Number two is total assets. So, beginners never check this, but I would say if you can scroll down and you can see how much in total net assets the fund has, that's going to be a really good thing. 979 billion is a
lot, but some ETFs have under 100 million and those can actually close you might be forced to sell at a really bad time and get hit with a tax bill. So, my rule here is that if it has a billion dollars or more in assets,
number three is something called tracking difference. So, you want to go to the performance table here compare the fund's return to the index's return and you can see that this one performs 15.03%
when the benchmark performs 15.07%. In that case, it's actually tracking the index or the benchmark very well and it's not costing you a lot of money, but there are some ETFs that will have a big tracking difference and that can cost
ratio, you want it to be cheap. For total assets, you want it to be big. And to be accurate. What's your go-to ETF? Let me know in the comments.