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The Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF<\/strong> (NYSEMKT: VTI)<\/span> provides investors with access to a much larger pool of U.S. stocks than the broader S&P 500<\/strong> index. While the S&P 500 tracks roughly 500 large-cap U.S. stocks across sectors, the VTI exchange-traded fund (ETF) holds a basket of 3,500 stocks, representing a majority of U.S. publicly traded companies.<\/p>\n VTI, which is passively managed, consists of large-, mid-, and small-cap stocks across sectors and categories, including growth and value.<\/p>\n Will AI create the world’s first trillionaire?<\/strong>\u00a0Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an “Indispensable Monopoly” providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need.\u00a0Continue \u00bb<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Like the S&P 500<\/a>, VTI holds some of the world’s largest companies by market cap, including Nvidia<\/strong>, Apple<\/strong>, and Microsoft<\/strong>. VTI is also a market-weighted index, meaning its largest sector is technology, which accounts for roughly 36% of the ETF. It also means large stocks in the S&P 500 make up a disproportionate amount of the ETF.<\/p>\n For instance, Nvidia comprises over 6% of the ETF, Apple nearly 5.9%, and Microsoft roughly 4.4%. Is this the smartest way to buy the entire U.S. stock market right now?<\/p>\n The market-weighted component of VTI means the ETF is still overweight tech stocks right now.<\/p>\n To be fair, large U.S. tech and artificial intelligence stocks<\/a> look pretty attractive after struggles to find their footing this year. While the group has sold off, Wall Street analysts have largely raised their earnings estimates, compressing their valuation multiples. For instance, Nvidia now trades at a forward earnings multiple of 21.4. That’s not bad for a company growing earnings and revenue as much as they are.<\/p>\n AI concerns, such as circular financing and a potential future slowdown in AI capital expenditures, remain prevalent, but it’s hard to say the risk-reward proposition hasn’t improved.<\/p>\n That said, buying indexes like the S&P 500 and VTI still places too much reliance on big tech, so investors really need to think about what they want. VTI is fine to buy if you want exposure to the market, as it is currently structured, where big tech makes up a disproportionate amount. However, in doing so, investors are still living and dying on a dozen or so names and their performance.<\/p>\n If investors simply want exposure to a diverse basket of names in the stock market with no market-weight component applied, then they are likely better off purchasing the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n This ETF will be less volatile, meaning it will experience less of a sell-off in bear markets but also less upside in bull markets. It really depends on the investor’s current position in life and overall strategy to determine which is the best way to gain exposure to the entire U.S. stock market right now.<\/p>\n Before you buy stock in Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF, consider this:<\/p>\n The Motley Fool Stock Advisor<\/em> analyst team just identified what they believe are the\u00a010 best stocks<\/a><\/strong> for investors to buy now\u2026 and Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF wasn\u2019t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.<\/p>\n Consider when Netflix<\/strong> made this list on December 17, 2004… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation,\u00a0you\u2019d have $532,066<\/strong>!* Or when Nvidia<\/strong> made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you\u2019d have $1,087,496<\/strong>!*<\/p>\n Now, it\u2019s worth noting\u00a0Stock Advisor\u2019s<\/em> total average return is 926% \u2014 a market-crushing outperformance compared to 185% for the S&P 500.\u00a0Don’t miss the latest top 10 list, available with\u00a0Stock Advisor<\/em>, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n See the 10 stocks \u00bb<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n *Stock Advisor returns as of April 5, 2026. <\/em><\/p>\n Bram Berkowitz<\/a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF and is short shares of Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n