What is the expense ratio of ITOT vs TLT?

ITOT has an expense ratio of 0.03%, while TLT has an expense ratio of 0.15%.

ITOT vs TLT

iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF vs iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF

Last updated: 2026-04-02

ITOT iShares

iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF (ITOT) is an exchange-traded fund issued by iShares that provides exposure to the total U.S. stock market across all capitalizations. It charges a very low expense ratio of 0.03%. The fund offers a moderate dividend yield of 1.12%. Launched in 2004, the fund has a 22-year track record.

AUM: $77.6B ER: 0.03% Yield: 1.12% Since: Jan 20, 2004

TLT iShares

iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) is an exchange-traded fund issued by iShares that provides exposure to long-duration U.S. Treasury bonds with high interest rate sensitivity. It charges a low expense ratio of 0.15%. The fund offers a high dividend yield of 4.51%. Launched in 2002, the fund has a 24-year track record.

AUM: $41.7B ER: 0.15% Yield: 4.51% Since: Jul 22, 2002

Quick Verdict

ITOT is significantly cheaper at 0.03% vs 0.15% expense ratio, saving you approximately $238 per $10,000 invested over 10 years. Over the past year, ITOT has significantly outperformed with a 17.2% return vs -5.7%. Income investors may prefer TLT for its higher yield (4.5% vs 1.1%).

Key Metrics

Metric	ITOT	TLT
Expense Ratio	0.03%	0.15%
Dividend Yield	1.1%	4.5%
Fund Family	iShares	iShares
Category	US Total Market	US Long-Term Treasury

Performance Chart

Indexed to 100 at start (5-year comparison)

ITOT +52.8%

TLT -37.0%

Performance Comparison

Period	ITOT	TLT	Difference
1 Month	-4.55%	-3.74%	-0.81%
3 Months	-3.83%	-0.88%	-2.95%
6 Months	-2.08%	-3.49%	+1.41%
YTD	-3.83%	-0.88%	-2.95%
1 Year	+17.17%	-5.72%	+22.89%
3 Years	+57.97%	-19.08%	+77.05%
5 Years	+52.82%	-37.00%	+89.82%

Fee Impact Over Time

Estimated fee cost difference assuming 8% annual returns

Investment	Period	ITOT Fees	TLT Fees	You Save
$10.000	10 years	$60	$298	$238
$10.000	20 years	$258	$1.278	$1.020
$10.000	30 years	$835	$4.109	$3.274
$50.000	10 years	$299	$1.490	$1.190
$50.000	30 years	$4.176	$20.547	$16.371
$100.000	30 years	$8.352	$41.094	$32.742

Risk Metrics

Based on 5 years of daily returns

Metric	ITOT	TLT
Annualized Volatility	17.4%	15.9%
Max Drawdown	-26.2%	-46.4%
Sharpe Ratio	0.32	-0.79

Dividend Comparison

Metric	ITOT	TLT
Annual Dividend (per share)	$1.61	$3.89
Dividend Yield	1.13%	4.51%
Distribution Frequency	Quarterly	Monthly

Top Holdings

ITOT Top Holdings

Name	Weight
NVIDIA CorporationNVDA	6.59%
Apple Inc.AAPL	5.91%
Microsoft CorporationMSFT	4.29%
Amazon.com, Inc.AMZN	3.15%
Broadcom Inc.AVGO	2.31%
Alphabet Inc.GOOG	2.07%
Meta Platforms, Inc.META	1.86%
Tesla, Inc.TSLA	1.65%
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.BRK.B	1.39%

Which One Should You Choose?

Choose ITOT if...

you want the lowest fees and plan to buy and hold long-term. Over decades, the expense ratio difference compounds significantly.

Choose ITOT if...

recent performance momentum matters to your strategy. Note that past performance doesn't guarantee future results.

Choose TLT if...

you prioritize dividend income and want higher regular distributions from your portfolio.

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