If you haven’t accumulated a significant amount of savings currently, that doesn’t mean you can’t get on the path to growing your portfolio to over $1 million. You can invest while saving to make the most of the money you can put aside in stocks.

A safer option than investing in individual stocks is to hold an exchange-traded fund (ETFs) in your wallet. This can provide you with an easy way to diversify without having to select individual stocks, and you don’t have to worry that an individual security will have too large an effect on your overall returns. This can be an ideal investment option to help you keep your overall risk low.

An ETF that can help you diversify while giving you exposure to many top stocks growth stocks is the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK 0.12%). Here’s how investing $275 per month in this fund can help you achieve massive gains in the long run.

The ETF has averaged an annual return of over 15% over the past decade.

The benefit of investing in the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF is that it focuses on the largest growth stocks by market cap, including big names such as Apple, Microsoft, Nvidiaand many others. There are 71 stocks total in the fund, and it won’t be as diversified as many other ETFs. But by relying on the big hitters, investors can earn big returns without taking on too much risk. He charges a minimum spending rate of 0.07%.

Over the last 10 years, the fund has made total returns (including dividends) of around 324%, which is much better than if you were to simply reflect the S&P500.

M.G.K. data by Y Charts

The ETF returned 15.6% per year on an annualized basis. Growth stocks, and particularly technology stocks, have performed exceptionally well in recent years. Investors may want to moderate their expectations for the future, as such a high rate may not be sustainable in the very long term. But even though the ETF averages a more conservative return of around 10%, it can still be a solid option for long-term investors.

Turn $275 a month into a portfolio worth over a million dollars

If you invest money each month in a powerful fund like the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF, you can accelerate your portfolio’s gains much more than if you were to invest in safe, slow-growing dividend stocks.

Assuming an annual growth rate of 10% and an ongoing investment of $275 per month in the fund, this is what your portfolio balance could look like over the years.

Calculations by author.

If you can maintain the habit of investing $275 per month over the long term, you can potentially grow your portfolio to well over $1 million.

Ideally, you continue to invest in the ETF for as long as possible, but the benefits can be there even if you invest for just 10 years. Over that time, you would have saved $33,000. But by investing in this powerful fund, your portfolio could be worth more than $56,000 at this point.

It’s not a guarantee, but in all likelihood you’re much better off putting money into a growth-oriented ETF like the Vanguard fund rather than just keeping it in a savings account at your bank.

Vanguard ETFs Can Make Investment Decisions Easier

Investing in a Vanguard ETF, whether focused on mega-caps or other types of growth stocks, can significantly simplify your investment strategy by having a benchmark fund to regularly invest money into. With low fees and good diversification, you can significantly reduce the risk you would otherwise have by investing only in individual stocks. While you can always select individual stocks, a top Vanguard ETF can provide a strong pillar on which to build your portfolio, giving it good stability over the long term.