If You Invest $100 a Month in VGT Starting Today, Here's What History Says You Could Have in 20 Years

Source The Motley Fool

Key Points

  • The Vanguard Information Technology ETF is one of the very best technology and growth ETFs you can buy.

  • If you invested $5,000 and contributed $100 per month, youʻd amass half a million dollars after 20 years.

  • 10 stocks we like better than Vanguard Information Technology ETF ›

The Vanguard Information Technology ETF (NYSEMKT: VGT) invests in the sector that has driven the market for the past 25 years and may continue to do so over the next 25 years. Its returns over time have stacked up better than most technology ETFs, including the Invesco QQQ (NASDAQ: QQQ).

Over the last 10 years, the VGT has had an average annualized return of about 25% per year, beating the QQQʻs 20.8% average annualized return.

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If you go back 20 years, the Vanguard Information Technology ETF has posted a 21% average annualized return, compared to 19.5% for the QQQ. And due to its low 0.09% expense ratio, compared to the QQQʻs 0.18% fee, investors kept more of that return.

Two people looking at data on a phone, cheering.

Image source: Getty Images.

How about $503,000 after 20 years?

So, if you had invested $5,000 in the VGT back on Aug. 13, 2006, and contributed $100 per month to the fund, youʻd have a pretty good-sized chunk of change right now.

In fact, those investments would have grown to roughly $503,000 over 20 years. That alone could provide enough retirement income for many people, when paired with their Social Security payouts.

It speaks to the power of compound interest, patience, and consistently setting aside money to invest in yourself and your long-term future.

That's not to say that the next 25 years will yield a 21% annualized return for VGT -- it may be less, or it may be more. But even if it was just an annualized 15% return, the investments would have grown to about $213,000 after 20 years.

Should you buy stock in Vanguard Information Technology ETF right now?

Before you buy stock in Vanguard Information Technology ETF, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Vanguard Information Technology ETF wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $421,511!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,381,960!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 981% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 216% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of August 16, 2026.

Dave Kovaleski has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Disclaimer: For information purposes only. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
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