Expense ratio is the first thing a look at since the purpose is to hold long term..... 0.20% or less for me
Indeed. Which is why you can't really go wrong with Vanguard's funds for the most part. But I do hold some higher ratio funds as well (the ARKs, QCLN..).
I think a lot of people (including myself) were confused about how or when you pay the fees though. I thought they might take a percentage at the end of the year or something. But the way they actually do it, it seems like you can't really tell anyway unless you do the daily math for the NAV.
I guess the key for the average investor is to pay attention to your overall gains based on how much you put in?