Is the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF a Millionaire-Maker?

Group 1 - The Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) is highly diversified, tracking the CRSP U.S. Total Market Index, which includes 3,508 companies listed on American stock exchanges [1][3] - The ETF's top three holdings are Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple, which together have a combined market value of $12.2 trillion, representing 18.1% of the fund [3][4] - The ETF has delivered a compound annual return of 9.2% since its inception in 2001, with a recent acceleration to 14.6% over the last 10 years, largely driven by tech companies in cloud computing, enterprise software, and AI [7][8] Group 2 - The Vanguard ETF provides exposure to the AI industry but does not rely on its success as heavily as more concentrated index funds like the Nasdaq-100, which has a higher weighting in hypergrowth stocks [5][6] - The ETF's performance may be less volatile, appealing to risk-averse investors, but it has resulted in lower returns during the recent AI boom [5][6] - The ETF could potentially turn a $50,000 investment into $1 million in 22 to 34 years, depending on the annual return rate [8][9] Group 3 - The Vanguard ETF includes smaller companies that may represent emerging growth stories, which are not available in more concentrated indexes [7][10] - Companies like Upstart Holdings, Lemonade, Sprouts Farmers Market, Tenable, and SoundHound AI are examples of growth stories found within the Vanguard ETF [10]