Slashing the cost of investing for retirement savers.

Index funds, which mirror the stock market’s performance at low cost, outperform the vast majority of funds run by high-priced stock pickers. Vanguard introduced the first such fund in 1976: Growth exploded four years ago as investors traumatized by the financial crisis began stampeding to index funds, overwhelmingly Vanguard’s, into which they now deposit over $100 million an hour. The “Vanguard effect” has forced competitors to cut their costs. The result: more comfortable retirements for millions of people.