If I Could Invest $500 in Just 1 ETF in September, Here's What I'd Buy
Key Points
If you worry that the S&P 500 is too expensive, this international stock ETF could prove a better choice.
Investing $500 per month in VXUS for the past three years would have generated about $21,800 today.
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It's easy to get nervous about stock market news headlines. Some investors worry that the S&P 500 index is too expensive due to high valuations of artificial intelligence (AI) stocks.
I'm a long-term investor, so I keep buying stocks in a broadly diversified portfolio of U.S. companies no matter what today's news headlines might say. But as part of that long-term investing approach, I also believe in buying international stocks.
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The Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (NASDAQ: VXUS) is an ultra-low-cost way to buy more than 8,000 global stocks at once. If I had to put an extra $500 to work by buying stocks in September 2026, I would buy this global ETF.
Here's a quick look at why $500 invested in VXUS could deliver strong returns for the future.
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VXUS: 19.8% annualized returns for three years
Buying international stocks, just like any other investment, is not a sure thing. Sometimes other countries deliver lower returns than the U.S. stock market. But in the past year, the Vanguard Total International Stock ETF has delivered an impressive return of about 26%.
In the past three years, this fund's annualized return has been about 19.8% per year. If you had invested $500 per month in VXUS starting three years ago, you'd have about $21,800 today.
There's no guarantee that VXUS will keep delivering such strong returns forever. But recent research from Vanguard forecasts that international stocks will deliver better returns than U.S. stocks for the next 30 years -- perhaps about 1.2% to 2.2% higher returns per year.
I share Vanguard's long-term optimism about international stocks, and VXUS is one of the best international ETFs. That's why I'm going to keep buying VXUS in September 2026, and as often as I can.
Should you buy stock in Vanguard Total International Stock ETF right now?
Before you buy stock in Vanguard Total International Stock ETF, consider this:
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*Stock Advisor returns as of September 8, 2026.
Ben Gran has positions in Vanguard Total International Stock ETF. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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