Small and midsize plans are big deals to us

Because everyone deserves a quality retirement plan. Everyone.

Retirement readiness for all

It's our commitment to retirement investors.
Our mission is to give everyone the best chance for investment success—and that includes retirement investors. It’s a philosophy we believe in deeply. Nothing demonstrates that better than our offerings for plan sponsors and their participants.

Dedicated partnership

Through our partnerships with financial advisors and third-party administrators, we can help you drive participant outcomes, build stronger client relationships, and achieve greater business goals. Together, we can help give all participants the best chance for retirement success.

Proven investments

We offer investments that can help give participants financial well-being at every stage of life. Of course, our retirement plans prioritize saving for the long term. And we have the accolades to prove it: Barron’s ranked us number one for 10-year returns  and 5th for 5-year returns.*  
*“Barron’s Best Fund Families" published February 18, 2022, based on data through 2021. Returns were calculated before any 12b-1 fees, fund loads, or sales charges were deducted. Index funds were excluded. Results were asset weighted and ranked against actively managed peers in the relevant Lipper category. For the 10-year period, Vanguard ranked 1st in 2021, 2020, 2019, and 2017, and ranked 3rd in 2018. For 2021, Vanguard is ranked 43rd for 1-year performance and 5th for 5-year performance. Past performance is no guarantee of future returns. Please see the bottom of the page for more information.

Flexible recordkeeping

It can be difficult to find an investment plan that’s not only affordable, but also the best fit for a business’s needs. With Vanguard, sponsors can customize plans so they include the investment types and other services they want. 

What’s the right fit?

Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all retirement plan. Use this quick reference guide to see what we offer. Want to take a closer look? Check out our comparison table →

Traditional 401(k) (VRPA offer)

Vanguard Retirement Plan Access™ (VRPA) can be the best option for offering employees all the tax, savings, and retirement benefits of a typical 401(k) plan.

Individual 401(k)

Great for sole proprietors because they can contribute as employer and employee. It’s a great way to maximize tax deferral. 

SEP-IRA

This is a great option for business owners who want to provide a retirement benefit to all employees (including themselves) through employer-only contributions.

SIMPLE IRA

This plan is for businesses with fewer than 100 employees and encourages employee contributions. 

Quality resources for all

Check out our robust advisor resources that can help you, sponsors, and participants.

Simple answers to complex questions

Our online learning center is a go-to destination for quick-hit, easy-to-grasp education and tools.

Ready to see how our retirement plan access capabilities can help you and your clients?

Already a client? Contact your representative today.

Vanguard ranked first place in the Barron's/Lipper Top Fund Families rankings for 10-year performance, as featured in Barron's February 18, 2022, issue. In 2021, Vanguard is ranked #43 for 1-year performance and #5 for 5-year performance.

Each fund’s performance is measured against all of the other funds in its Refinitiv Lipper category, with a percentile ranking of 100 being the highest and one the lowest. This result is then weighted by asset size, relative to the fund family’s other assets in its general classification. If a family’s biggest funds do well, that boosts its overall ranking; poor performance in its biggest funds hurts a firm’s ranking.

To be included in the ranking, a firm must have at least three funds in the general equity category, one world equity, one mixed equity (such as a balanced or target-date fund), two taxable bond funds, and one national tax-exempt bond fund.

Single-sector and country equity funds are factored into the rankings as general equity. We exclude all passive index funds, including pure index, enhanced index, and index-based, but include actively managed ETFs and so-called smart-beta ETFs, which are passively managed but created from active strategies.

Finally, the score is multiplied by the weighting of its general classification, as determined by the entire Lipper universe of funds. The category weightings for the one-year results in 2021 were general equity, 37.1%; mixed asset, 20.6%; world equity, 16.8%; taxable bond, 20.9%; and tax-exempt bond, 4.5%.

The category weightings for the five-year results were general equity, 37.3%; mixed asset, 21%; world equity, 16.5%; taxable bond, 20.8%; and tax-exempt bond, 4.4%. For the 10-year list, they were general equity, 38.6%; mixed asset, 19.2%; world equity, 16.9%; taxable bond, 20.5%; and tax-exempt bond, 4.8%.

The scoring: Say a fund in the general U.S. equity category has $500 million in assets, accounting for half of the firm’s assets in that category, and its performance lands it in the 75th percentile for the category. The first calculation would be 75 times 0.5, which comes to 37.5. That score is then multiplied by 37.1%, general equity’s overall weighting in Lipper’s universe. So it would be 37.5 times 0.371, which equals 13.9. Similar calculations are done for each fund in our study. Then the numbers are added for each category and overall. The shop with the highest total score wins. The same process is repeated to determine the five-and 10-year rankings.

Visit Barrons.com for more information about the Barron's/Lipper Top Fund Families rankings.

For more information about any fund, visit institutional.vanguard.com or call 800-523-1036 to obtain a prospectus or, if available, a summary prospectus. Investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses, and other important information are contained in the prospectus; read and consider it carefully before investing.

All investing is subject to risk, including the possible loss of the money you invest. Diversification does not ensure a profit or protect against a loss.

Retirement plan recordkeeping and administrative services are provided by The Vanguard Group, Inc. (VGI). VGI has entered into an agreement with Ascensus, Inc., to provide certain plan recordkeeping and administrative services on its behalf. Ascensus and Total Benefits Communications are not affiliated with Vanguard Marketing Corporation, The Vanguard Group, Inc., or any of its affiliates.

Ascensus is a registered trademark of Ascensus, Inc.