--- title: The Likely Next Fed Chairman May Be Worth More Than $100 Million. Here's How to Steal His Best Investing Idea description: Trump Fed Chair nominee Jerome Powell's biggest holding appears to be the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund. That's smart. authors: - name: Ian Salisbury role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/ian-salisbury-2/ bio: Ian Salisbury was a senior editor at Money, focusing on investing, banks and mortgage. at_money_since: 2013 articles: 91 covers: - Investing - Economy and Politics - Housing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes former_staff: true published: '2017-11-14T15:30:16.000Z' modified: '2017-11-14T15:30:16.000Z' section: Investing tags: - Federal Reserve - index funds - Investing - mutual funds - Vanguard word_count: 261 canonical: https://money.com/fed-powell-vanguard-index-investor/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![President Trump Announces Nominee For Federal Reserve Chair Of The Board Of Governors](https://img.money.com/2017/11/171114-jerome-powell.jpg) *Jerome Powell, governor of the U.S. Federal Reserve and President Donald Trump's nominee as chairman of the Federal Reserve, speaks during a nomination announcement in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017. If approved by the Senate, the 64-year-old former Carlyle Group LP managing director and ex-Treasury undersecretary would succeed Fed Chair Janet Yellen.* Jerome Powell, President Trump's pick to be the next Fed chairman, would be richest person in recent memory to hold the job—with a fortune that [could be worth more than $100 million](https://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/articles/2017-11-02/jerome-powell-at-the-fed-is-trump-s-kind-of-wealthy?utm_content=gadfly&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&cmpid%3D=socialflow-twitter-gadfly). (By contrast, Janet Yellen was worth only up to $14.6 million when she took the job in 2014.) But judging by what appears to be Powell's largest single holding -- possibly accounting for around half his fortune -- his investment strategy is not all that different from one followed by millions of middle-class retirement savers. Indeed, the largest holding in Powell's investment portfolio appears to be Vanguard Total Stock Market index fund (VTSAX), [the world's largest mutual fund.](https://www.cnbc.com/2013/11/04/vanguard-overtakes-pimco-with-worlds-largest-mutual-fund.html) That fund is hardly a road to overnight riches -- it is designed to merely track the overall performance of the stock market. But it's a great value. The fund's Admiral shares, available to investors with more than $10,000, charge investors a razor-thin fee of $4 for every $10,000 invested. It's not clear precisely how much money Powell has invested in Vanguard Total Stock Market. [His disclosure states](https://extapps2.oge.gov/201/Presiden.nsf/PAS+Index/E54DC5C9281668888525815A006BF4E1/$FILE/Jerome-H-Powell-2017-278.pdf) that it is merely "over $1,000,000." However, a Bloomberg Gadfly analysis, based on annual income Powell derives from the holding, suggests Powell's investment could be valued at up to $58 million -- and estimates his overall net worth at $112 million. Either way Powell's portfolio makes one thing clear: Being wealthy and sophisticated about the stock market doesn't mean you need to dabble in exotic investments. No matter who you are, an ultra-low cost index fund will probably suit you just fine. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/fed-powell-vanguard-index-investor/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Investing", "item": "https://money.com/investing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Index Funds", "item": "https://money.com/index-funds/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The Likely Next Fed Chairman May Be Worth More Than $100 Million. 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