VUG calculator
Historical growth of Vanguard Growth ETF using CRSP US Large Growth (proxied by S&P 500) return series. Dividends reinvested at year-end; expense ratio drag negligible at 0.04%.
$10,000 invested in VUG at inception (2004) with dividends reinvested through end of 2024 would be worth approximately $77,869 nominal ($45,670 in 2004 dollars). Annualized nominal: 10.27%; real: 7.50%.
Uses annual S&P 500 total return (with dividends reinvested) and CPI-U inflation, 1928–2024. Source: Damodaran (NYU Stern) + Shiller CAPE + BLS. Excludes fees, taxes, and bid/ask. Real return = nominal ÷ cumulative CPI.
VUG at a glance
| Full name | Vanguard Growth ETF |
| Provider | Vanguard |
| Expense ratio | 0.04% |
| Inception | 2004 |
| Assets under management | $200B |
| Dividend yield | 0.50% |
| Return series used | CRSP US Large Growth (proxied by S&P 500) |
What a growth tilt buys you
Growth funds overweight companies with fast revenue expansion and rich valuations. They shine when rates fall and momentum runs (2009–2021), and lag brutally when valuations compress (2000–2008, 2022). Over the full century, value has actually outperformed growth — the recent growth decade is the historical exception, not the rule. A growth ETF is a fine satellite, but pairing it with everything-else exposure keeps one regime change from defining your outcome.
What 0.04% costs over 30 years
Expense ratios compound against you exactly the way returns compound for you. On a $10,000 position growing at a 10% gross return for 30 years, VUG's 0.04% fee quietly consumes about $1,894 of the final balance. That is the lowest fee in its category on this site — fee drag is one variable you fully control.
VUG vs same-category peers
| Fund | ER | Yield | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| VUG (this page) | 0.04% | 0.5% | 2004 |
| IWF | 0.19% | 0.6% | 2000 |
| ARKK | 0.75% | — | 2014 |
How this calculator works
For each start year, we apply the year-by-year total return of the CRSP US Large Growth (proxied by S&P 500) to the entered starting amount, compounding annually with dividends reinvested at year-end. This mirrors what an actual buy-and-hold VUG holder would have experienced, before fees and taxes. Expense ratio is intentionally excluded from the historical result to keep the underlying series comparable across ETFs; for a full lifetime fee estimate at 0.04%, use the projection tab in our fund fee analyzer.