Best Mutual Funds Now

This is the first article of a series of articles on Best Mutual Funds Now.  This series will review the best Vanguard mutual funds.  This article provides a review of the Vanguard Total Market Index Mutual Fund.

The Vanguard Total Market Index mutual fund is an index mutual fund with the goal of investing in the entire United States stock market.  This Vanguard mutual fund managers invest in all of the stocks that make up the United States stock market so this index fund return mirrors that of the entire U.S. stock market.

Wikipedia defines an index fund as follows,

An index fund or index tracker is a collective investment scheme (usually a  mutual fund or exchange-trade fund) that aims to replicate the movements of an index of a specific financial market, or a set of rules of ownership that are held constant, regardless of market conditions.  Tracking can be achieved by trying to hold all of the securities in the index, in the same proportions as the index.

As suggested by this definition of an index fund, the Vanguarg total market index fund will try to replicate the movements of the entire United States stock market.  If your goal is to diversify your investments, this mutual fund is a great way to do it.  If the United States stock market goes up, this Vanguard index fund will go up by the same percentage.  This is a great way to invest in the entire U.S. market.

What types of investments does the Vanguard Total Market Index Fund Invest In?

The answer to this question is simple.  This Vanguard index mutual fund is comprised solely of shares of stock in U.S. market companies.  If you are looking to invest in bonds or exchange-trade funds, ths is not the index fund for you.  This index fund invests 100% in stock.

What fees does this Vanguard Index fund charge?

This mutual fund is a Vanguard no-load mutual fund.  You can buy into this mutual fund directly from Vanguard and you do not have to pay any commissions to a broker.  We here at Best Mutual Funds Now love no-load mutual funds and there are no better no-load funds than Vanguard no-load mutual funds.  In addition to not having to pay commissions there are no 12b-1 fees or fees to purchase or sell this Vanguard fund.  However, if you are not purchasing this index fund through your 401(k) plan and you are buying less than $3,000, you will be charged a $15 annual account service fee.

What companies make up the largest holding for the Vanguard Total Market Index Mutual Fund?

• ExxonMobil Corp.
• General Electric Co.
• Microsoft Corp.
• AT&T
• The Procter & Gamble Co.
• Chevron Corp.
• Johnson & Johnson
• Bank of America Corp.
• IBM
• Cisco Systems, Inc.

I hope that you found this Vanguard Total Market Index Mutual Fund review helpful.  If you have any questions about this Vanguard index fund or any other Vanguard mutual funds, please leave them in the comments below.