If You’d Invested $5,000 in the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) a Decade Ago, Here’s What You’d Have Today

THE POWER OF TIME: How Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) Performs Over One Decade

Key Points

It’s not the best way to invest, but many people accumulate funds in various funds and forget to monitor their performance. Since we invest heavily in the S&P 500 index of America’s largest publicly traded companies, here’s a review of the past performance of one of the leading exchange‑traded funds (ETFs) that tracks the index, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO):

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Average Annual Gain

Past 3 years

22.2%

Past 5 years

12.9%

Past 10 years

15.4%

Part 15 years

15.4%

Source: Morningstar.com as of Aug. 27.

But hold on. The S&P 500 has averaged annual returns close to 10% (ignoring inflation) over many decades, not 22% or 15%. So if you’re wondering how quickly your dollars will grow going forward, don’t have overly rosy expectations. Indeed, with the stock market having soared so much in recent years, a stock market correction or crash in the coming year isn’t far‑fetched.

Image source: Getty Images.

Over the long run, though, the S&P 500 has always recovered from downturns and gone on to set new highs. So if you expect to be a long‑term investor – leaving your money invested for at least five, if not ten, years – then don’t fret too much about market pullbacks.

To give you an idea of what you’ll own in the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, here are its top holdings:

Stock

Percent of ETF

Nvidia

7.55%

Apple

7.04%

Alphabet (Classes A and C)

5.86%

Microsoft

5.36%

Amazon.com

4.13%

Source: Vanguard.com, as of July 31, 2026.

Pretty good, right? If you’re bullish on the growth prospects of these companies, take a closer look at an S&P 500 index fund.

Should you buy stock in Vanguard S&P 500 ETF right now?

Before you buy, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team has identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF wasn’t included in that list. The ten companies that made the cut could deliver monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004… if you invested $1,000 at the time, you’d have $440,710!* Or when Nvidia made the list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at that moment, you’d have $1,335,252!*

It is worth noting that Stock Advisor’s total average return is 978% – a market‑crusher outperformance compared to 213% for the S&P 500.
Don’t miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of September 1, 2026.
Selena Maranjian has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool also holds these stocks and recommends them. Both the Motley Fool and the investments have a disclosure policy.*

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