This broad-market index gives investors a taste of everything -- even more than the S&P 500.

Even Warren Buffett , the greatest stock picker of all time, endorses low-cost, broad-market index funds and exchange-traded funds for most retail investors. This is because most investors don't have the time to deeply research individual stocks, while broader-market indexes tend to win over time, with 8% to 10% long-term returns on average.

While large banks were the first to create index funds for their institutional clients, Vanguard was the first to offer diversified index funds to the public in 1976. Today, Vanguard is one of just a few major asset managers offering accessible, extremely low-cost index funds, costing investors just a handful of basis points in fees .

After the market'

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