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Most investors panic when they realize one part of their portfolio is doing all the heavy lifting. Suze Orman? She practically cheers it on.
In a recent episode of “Suze Orman’s Women & Money” podcast, Orman and her wife and co-host, KT, read a letter from a listener named Rachel. Her problem wasn’t overspending or debt — it was diversification anxiety.
“Hi KT and Suze,” Rachel wrote. “I love VOO as much as Suze, but I’m worried that the top 10 stocks now make up 38%.”
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The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) is a low-cost index fund that tracks the 500 biggest public companies in the U.S. It’s a staple for long-term investors who want simplicity and steady growth. But lately, that “500” has started to look a lot smaller, with tech and AI giants like Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia taking up a growing share of the index.
As KT read the message, she paused and laughed. “It seems I’m buying the S&P 10 rather than the S&P 500.”
Orman didn’t disagree. “Yes,” she said immediately, “that’s why I like VOO.”
She then explained that today’s stock market operates differently than it did decades ago. “The top 10 stocks now make up 38% of it,” Orman said. She pointed out that whether investors choose SPDR funds — which track the S&P 500 — or broader options like Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (NYSE:VTI), they’re often holding the same big names. “Everybody’s in AI,” she said.
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While many financial experts preach spreading money evenly across sectors, Orman took a completely different approach. “Not only do I love that you have VOO,” she said, “but I would actually, besides VOO, have you even more heavy-weighted in those stocks and have you buy even more of them on an individual basis.”
That’s when she shared the line that summed up her strategy:
“A lot of times when a friend or somebody asks me what should I invest in, I’ll say, all right, let’s put 50% of your money in VOO. And then let’s buy Nvidia, AMD, Palantir, IONQ, and all of those.”
