Financial Planning Roundup: The Index Fund Turns 50 Today

Fifty years ago today (August 31, 1976), Jack Bogle and Vanguard launched the first index mutual fund: First Index Investment Trust, which tracked the S&P 500 index (and which is now known as the Vanguard 500 Index Fund).

It’s hard to overstate the significance of that event, in terms of its impact on individual investors. Today, using low-cost, index-tracking funds is largely the default way to invest. The success of Vanguard’s index-tracking funds — and the fact that they operated the funds at-cost — revolutionized the entire industry.

• The Index Fund Turns 50: How Jack Bogle Changed Investing Forever from Allan Roth

Other Recommended Reading

• Why I Object to ‘Hitting a Number’ for Retirement from Christine Benz
• Do AIs Make Good Traders, and Do They Make Good Traders Better? from Jerry Bell, Victor Haghani and James White
• Vanguard to Acquire Altruist Advisor Custody Platform (Vanguard press release)
• Now THIS is a Bull Market from Ben Carlson
• Getting Ahead Has Never Been Easy from Ben Carlson
• The Value of Naming a Trusted Contact (And How They Differ from POAs) from William Anderson
• Roth Employer Contributions Come With a 1099-R Surprise from Denise Appleby

Thanks for reading!