VPN: Password Reference

I noticed that I need not set the NEVPNProtocolIKEv2's passwordReference if I supplied the userName and password via the options argument in startVPNTunnel.

Supply password using passwordReference (requires use of Keychain):

func connect(userName: String, password: String, serverAddress: String) async throws {
    saveToKeychain(key: "VPN_Password", value: password)
    let passwordReference = keychainReference(key: "VPN_Password")

    let vpn = NEVPNManager.shared()
    try await vpn.loadFromPreferences()
    let pc = NEVPNProtocolIKEv2()
    pc.serverAddress = serverAddress
    pc.authenticationMethod = .none
    pc.username = userName
    pc.passwordReference = passwordReference
    pc.useExtendedAuthentication = true
    vpn.protocolConfiguration = pc
    vpn.isEnabled = true
    try await vpn.saveToPreferences()
    try await vpn.loadFromPreferences()
    try vpn.connection.startVPNTunnel()
}

Supply password using options parameter in startVPNTunnel:

func connect(userName: String, password: String, serverAddress: String) async throws {
    let vpn = NEVPNManager.shared()
    try await vpn.loadFromPreferences()
    let pc = NEVPNProtocolIKEv2()
    pc.serverAddress = serverAddress
    pc.authenticationMethod = .none
    pc.useExtendedAuthentication = true
    vpn.protocolConfiguration = pc
    vpn.isEnabled = true
    try await vpn.saveToPreferences()
    try await vpn.loadFromPreferences()
    try vpn.connection.startVPNTunnel(options: [NEVPNConnectionStartOptionUsername: userName, NEVPNConnectionStartOptionPassword: password])
}

Is one preferred over the other? I'm inclined to use the second one as it doesn't require the (additional) use of the Keychain. Are there any drawbacks in doing do?