That includes a Vanguard exchange-traded fund, too, by the way. But, similar to many of the other best Vanguard mutual funds, VFIAX offers a massive scale and a very low cost structure that is hard to match, even when you take into account the generally cheaper cost structure of exchange-traded funds out there. There are tons of other S&P 500 index funds out there, so this offering isn't particularly unique. The names should be familiar to you – blue chip stocks Apple ( AAPL), Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ) and JPMorgan Chase ( JPM) are just a few of the leaders here. As the name implies, this is a low-cost index fund benchmarked to the flagship S&P 500 Index of the largest 500 U.S. The second-largest Vanguard fund strategy with 'only' about $793 billion in total net assets is the Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares ( VFIAX, $383.51).

Expense ratio: 0.04%, or $4 annually for every $10,000 invested.

Assets under management: $290.6 billion.

'A good mix of holdings will include both stocks and bonds, pay adequate attention to small and large companies – foreign and domestic – and be balanced between value-priced shares and growth stocks.'

'Given that most markets – and funds – have declined over the past year, smart investors will carve out time now to review their portfolio and make any necessary adjustments,' writes Nellie Huang, senior associate editor for the investing team at Kiplinger's Personal Finance. The following nine Vanguard mutual funds are representative of the value in this strategy, and span all the major asset classes to provide something for everyone. How to choose the best Vanguard mutual funds With numbers like that, boring old index funds tied to a fixed list of stocks seems to be the way to go. The latest proof comes from Refinitiv Lipper, whose data shows that about 63% of active managers of equities funds did not beat their respective benchmarks in 2022.

There's countless research that shows the perils of so-called 'active' management.

Vanguard 500 index fund