The Smartest S&P 500 Play for August 2025—Don’t Miss This Bull Run

Wall Street’s favorite index is flashing green—but are you investing like a pro or just riding the hype?

Forget dollar-cost averaging. The real alpha? Timing your entry when institutions are quietly loading up.

Why ETFs won’t save you this cycle. The hidden fees and rebalance lag could cost you 2-3% annually—chump change until you compound a decade of gains.

Bonus jab: Meanwhile, your financial advisor still thinks Bitcoin’s a ‘fad’ while pushing 1.5% expense ratio mutual funds.

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A look at this popular ETF

One of the best ways to invest in the S&P 500 index is to add the(VOO 0.75%) to your portfolio. This exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracks the performance of the S&P 500, which consists of 500 large and profitable companies that trade on U.S. exchanges. This investment product is offered by Vanguard, a reputable firm in the industry with a five-decade history that manages trillions of dollars in assets.

It's important for investors in this ETF to understand what exactly they own. Yes, there are 500 different stocks. However, some of the biggest businesses have a higher weighting.

For instance,,,,, andare the top five positions. Consequently, the information technology sector has a 33.1% weighting. So, investors in the ETF should probably be bullish on key themes shaping the economy, like artificial intelligence or cloud computing.

But all 11 of the stock market's sectors are represented in the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF. This is essentially an easy method to obtain instant equity diversification in your portfolio. Investors don't need to be successful at trying to pick individual winners. They benefit from the ongoing innovation and durable growth of the American economy.

Beating the pros

Following the gains of the S&P 500, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF has produced a total return of 260% in the past decade. This means that a $10,000 investment made a decade ago WOULD be worth $36,000 today. This fantastic result translates to an annualized gain of 13.7%.

What's noteworthy is that this return undoubtedly outperforms the vast majority of professional money managers. These so-called experts have a terrible track record that sees them generate performance well below the benchmark.

Even better, investors who buy the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF pay an extremely low expense ratio of 0.03%. Of that hypothetical $10,000 investment, just $3 goes to Vanguard on a yearly basis. That's exactly the type of low-cost setup you should want when it comes to your investments.

Buying near record highs

As of Aug. 5, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF trades just 1% below its peak. The market has held up well in 2025, an encouraging trend given the extreme level of macro uncertainty there has been with President Donald Trump's changing trade policies. Investors have largely brushed off any new tariff announcements, with Optimism being present.

Astute investors will rightfully wonder if now is still a good time to put money to work. Wouldn't it be better to wait for a meaningful pullback to take advantage of more attractive valuations? While this line of thinking always sounds accurate in theory, timing the market correctly is impossible to do. Investors are better off buying early and often, letting compounding work its magic over several years and decades.

Despite the vote of confidence, it's still best to temper expectations. I believe the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF will continue to perform well over the long haul. However, I wouldn't be surprised if the annualized gain reverted back toward the 10% long-term average. This still makes the ETF a smart investment choice.