The Cheap Way to Own the Entire U.S. Stock Market Right Now

3 hours ago 4

Stefon Walters, The Motley Fool

Mon, May 4, 2026 astatine 5:01 AM CDT 3 min read

Many radical deliberation investing successful stocks is astir hitting the jackpot connected "the adjacent large thing" and receiving generational gains. Of course, that would beryllium nice, but dependable investing tin beryllium overmuch much predictable and straightforward. Instead of chasing idiosyncratic winners, you tin put successful the U.S. banal marketplace arsenic a full and payment from the semipermanent maturation of the U.S. economy.

And the cherry connected apical is that it tin beryllium done done a azygous ETF similar the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (NYSEMKT: VTI). It's a one-stop store that tin beryllium a "set-it-and-forget-it" concern for the agelong haul.

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Person utilizing a pen to hint a integer banal chart.

One ETF covering a batch of crushed astatine erstwhile

Many radical are acquainted with the S&P 500 -- which tracks the largest 500 U.S. companies connected the marketplace -- but VTI is overmuch broader. It contains 3,507 companies, from mega-cap tech stocks to mid-cap stocks firmly successful their maturation phases to small-cap stocks that are picking up momentum.

Although VTI covers the full U.S. banal market, it's market-cap weighted, truthful larger companies inactive marque up a sizeable share. Eight of the apical 10 holdings are "Magnificent Seven" stocks (including some Alphabet classes), truthful the tech assemblage is represented heavily:

Technology: 36.3% of VTI
Consumer Discretionary: 13.6%
Industrials: 12.6%
Financials: 10.7%
Health Care: 9.7%
Energy: 4.3%
Consumer Staples: 3.7%
Utilities: 2.8%
Real Estate: 2.4%
Telecommunications: 2.1%
Basic Materials: 1.8%

It's not the astir diversified ETF from a assemblage standpoint, but it's arsenic wide an ETF arsenic you're going to find connected the market.

VTI ensures you support much of your gains for yourself

VTI has historically performed successful enactment with the S&P 500. Since the ETF deed the marketplace successful May 2001, it has averaged 7.6% yearly returns and 9.5% yearly full returns. The S&P 500's yearly averages successful that clip are 7.3% and 9.3%, respectively.

If we presume VTI continues to connection those mean yearly returns (emphasis connected "assume" due to the fact that we can't foretell however immoderate banal oregon ETF volition perform), present is however overmuch antithetic monthly investments would turn to implicit 20 years:

Monthly Investment

Value After 20 Years

$100	$64,727
$250	$161,818
$500	$323,635
$1,000	$647,271
$1,500	$970,906

Calculations by author.

These returns instrumentality into relationship VTI's 0.03% disbursal ratio, 1 of the market's lowest. If the interest stays the same, past investing $100 a period implicit the adjacent 20 years could outgo you arsenic small arsenic $219 successful fees. Fees are often overlooked, but they substance implicit time. VTI checks 2 cardinal boxes arsenic an investment: it offers instant diversification and it's cheap.

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