I sometimes see "preserving share count" mentioned as a priority for some investors. It's struck me as odd because I've never focused on share count. I want to contribute $500 to my Roth IRA, I buy $500. I want to sell $2500 from my taxable brokerage, I sell $2500. What's the share count? Don't know, don't care. Share price is arbitrary, and my rent is paid in dollars.
So I did some reading and one of the big factors seems to be that I've always been in mutual funds whereas fractional shares came to ETFs much later. I've been investing since 2009, always with Vanguard, and always transacted in dollars.
Is that really the whole difference? ETFs vs mutual funds?
Is it still normal nowadays to make stock transactions in whole shares? Or has the industry reached a point where dollar-based investing is accessible and ubiquitous?