[Rich_in_Tampa]

It has been explained to me that despite being packaged under the Vanguard umbrella, the shares that you purchase are actually owned by you with a custodian (Pershing, I think) keeping an eye on the comings and goings. So if Vgd disappeared, the actual owned shares of stock are yours.

This may be an oversimplification but that's the general idea. You could make the case that spreading it around instead of keeping it mostly in one reputable company increases your risk of exposure to some company going bad, albeit with only a portion of your money.

I've made the leap. I guess the only hedge is that my next two years of spending money will probably always reside in my bank, maybe a CD here and there.