Why I stopped chasing fractional shares and went back to whole ETF buys

Back in 2021 I was all about buying fractional shares of Amazon and Google through my brokerage every week. Felt like I was getting a piece of the big names without the full price tag. But after about 6 months I realized I was nickel and diming myself with tiny buy fees and the mental math was driving me nuts. So last March I switched to buying whole shares of a single index ETF each month instead. Now I just set one recurring buy for VTI and forget about it. Anyone else ditch the fractional share strategy for something simpler?

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lisa_hill235mo ago

Your mileage may vary but the dividend reinvestment thing is spot on. I had a friend who bought fractional shares of a REIT and the quarterly dividend was literally $0.37 or something, not even enough to buy a coffee. He was so proud of himself for being 'in the market' but the reality was he was just wasting time checking the app every day. I've gone the other way - I bought a full share of SCHD and just let it ride, zero stress.

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vera6685mo ago

And honestly I think people miss the point that fractional shares can mess with your dividend reinvestment too. When you own tiny slices of a stock, the dividends are so small they barely buy anything on their own. With a whole ETF share you get a meaningful dividend payment that can actually buy another whole share faster. Plus with fractional shares you're constantly checking prices and feeling like you need to time the market. With a whole ETF you just buy and move on with your life.

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