The Healthcare Stock Play That Could Make Millennials Rich
Key Points
This investment has averaged annual gains of close to 13% over the past 15 years.
It encompasses many healthcare stocks -- including superperformer Eli Lilly.
It's a promising investment if you're bullish on the healthcare sector.
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If a millennial were to ask me what healthcare stock they might buy in order to get rich, I could think of several to name. But as with most stocks, I couldn't be confident that they'd still be performing at a high level a decade or two hence.
So I think my best answer would be to consider investing in a healthcare-focused exchange-traded fund (ETF). An ETF is a fund that trades like a stock, and there are plenty that are full of healthcare stocks. A particularly promising one is the Vanguard Health Care ETF (NYSEMKT: VHT).
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The table below shows how it has performed lately, along with the performance of a low-fee S&P 500 ETF for comparison:
|
ETF |
5-Year Avg. Annual Return |
10-Year Avg. Annual Return |
15-Year Avg. Annual Return |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Vanguard Health Care ETF |
7.06% |
9.58% |
12.85% |
|
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) |
16.38% |
15.27% |
14.60% |
Data source: Morningstar.com, as of Oct. 1, 2025.
You'll see that it hasn't quite kept up with the S&P 500 index, but then that index is full of monster tech stocks such as Nvidia and Broadcom.
Here's what's in the healthcare ETF -- its top 10 holdings out of 400 -- as of Aug. 31:
|
Stock |
Weight in ETF |
|---|---|
|
Eli Lilly |
10.16% |
|
AbbVie |
5.38% |
|
Johnson & Johnson |
5.07% |
|
UnitedHealth Group |
4.55% |
|
Abbott Laboratories |
3.97% |
|
Merck |
3.64% |
|
Thermo Fisher Scientific |
3.20% |
|
Intuitive Surgical |
2.92% |
|
Boston Scientific |
2.69% |
|
Amgen |
2.66% |
Data source: Vanguard.com.
Eli Lilly is by far the biggest holding, and that's not surprising, given its leadership in the very popular arena of weight loss drugs: It has averaged astounding gains of more than 42% annually over the past five years.
If you're bullish on the future of healthcare businesses, it makes sense to consider this ETF for your portfolio. If you're not sure, consider an S&P 500 index ETF instead -- as it will encompass many healthcare stocks, along with a wide range of others.
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Selena Maranjian has positions in AbbVie, Amgen, Broadcom, Intuitive Surgical, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AbbVie, Abbott Laboratories, Amgen, Intuitive Surgical, Merck, Nvidia, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Vanguard S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom, Johnson & Johnson, and UnitedHealth Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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