One of the most successful investors in history is Warren Buffett.
Now 95, he is worth approximately $146.5 billion after decades of investing in companies with wide economic moats, proven earnings, and businesses simple enough to understand. Buffett stepped down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-B | BRK-B Price Prediction) at the end of 2025, handing the reins to Greg Abel, though he remains Chairman. The real story for 2026 is the company’s record cash position: Berkshire ended Q1 2026 with $397.4 billion in cash and short-term Treasury bills, the highest liquid reserve in its history, generating roughly $12 billion in annual interest while Abel and his team wait for undervalued opportunities to emerge.
While most of us will never accumulate that level of wealth, we can still build capital by following Buffett-inspired strategies. A handful of exchange-traded funds track precisely the qualities he has championed for decades: value, quality, patience, and low costs.
The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
“Over the years, I’ve often been asked for investment advice,” Buffett wrote in his 2016 shareholder letter. “My regular recommendation has been a low-cost S&P 500 index fund.”
That recommendation has a specific name: Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:VOO). The fund tracks the 500 largest U.S. companies across all 11 sectors and, in early June 2026, became the first ETF in history to cross $1 trillion in assets. Its 0.03% expense ratio is among the lowest available anywhere, and it pays a quarterly distribution to patient shareholders. For long-term investors who want broad U.S. market exposure without the drag of high fees or active management, it remains the foundational Buffett-endorsed choice.
Buffett’s own estate plan reinforces the point. His 2013 shareholder letter instructed the trustee of his wife’s inheritance to put 90% in a low-cost S&P 500 index fund (he specifically mentioned Vanguard’s) and 10% in short-term government bonds. Decades of advice and a personal directive point in the same direction.
VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF
Buffett’s core investment framework has always centered on companies with durable competitive advantages, what he calls an economic moat. The ideal target is a business that is straightforward to understand, has proven earnings, and holds a structural edge over rivals that competitors cannot easily replicate.
The VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF (NYSEARCA:MOAT) operationalizes that idea. With an expense ratio of 0.46% and $11.7 billion in assets as of mid-July 2026, the fund tracks companies that Morningstar’s analysts have identified as having sustainable competitive advantages and attractive valuations. It selects from a universe of wide-moat businesses and tilts toward those trading at the biggest discounts to fair value, combining quality with the price-consciousness that Buffett has always insisted upon.
Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF
The Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF (NYSEARCA:SCHD) tracks 100 high-yielding dividend stocks that pass a rigorous quality screen: at least 10 consecutive years of dividend payments, strong balance sheet fundamentals, and above-average yields. That combination produces a portfolio of mature, cash-generating businesses aligned closely with Buffett’s preference for durable income over speculative growth.
After lagging the broader market for several years, SCHD has mounted a sharp comeback in 2026. Its total return has reached approximately 19% year-to-date as investors rotated out of expensive technology and into the cheaper, dividend-paying value names that fill its portfolio. The fund carries an expense ratio of 0.06% and currently yields roughly 3.3%, which is more than three times the S&P 500’s dividend yield. Its 10-year annualized return of about 12.4% reflects a long track record of compounding income alongside price appreciation.
Diversifying the Moat: Schwab International Dividend Equity ETF
While Buffett has long favored American business, 2026 has offered a reminder that value can surface in unexpected places. The Schwab International Dividend Equity ETF (SCHY) focuses on high-profitability, low-volatility dividend payers in international markets, yielding around 3.1%. For investors whose portfolios are heavily concentrated in U.S. equities, it provides a meaningful counterweight without abandoning the dividend-quality discipline that Buffett’s philosophy demands.
The “Cash and Patience” Strategy
Berkshire’s record $397.4 billion cash position sends a clear message: the team currently running the company sees few assets priced attractively enough to deploy capital at scale. Investors who want to mirror that posture can hold short-term instruments such as the Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF (VGSH), earning interest while keeping powder dry for a correction. The approach echoes Buffett’s 2013 estate directive, which allocated 10% to short-term government bonds precisely to provide liquidity and downside protection. In a market where Berkshire’s own T-bill holdings yield roughly 3.7%, patience now has a real price tag attached to it.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect Berkshire Hathaway’s Q1 2026 record cash reserve of $397.4 billion (up from the previously cited $373 billion end-of-2025 figure), the fund’s annualized interest earnings approaching $12 billion, Greg Abel’s transition to CEO as of January 1, 2026, SCHD’s approximately 19% year-to-date total return (revised from the earlier 11% figure), SCHD’s current yield of roughly 3.3%, the MOAT ETF’s corrected expense ratio of 0.46%, VOO’s crossing of $1 trillion in assets, and Warren Buffett’s current net worth of approximately $146.5 billion per Forbes.
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