Index Funds have been around for 40 years. Bogle started the First Index Investment Trust on December 31, 1975. Bogle founded The Vanguard Group in 1974; it is

Index Funds have been around for 40 years. Bogle started the First Index Investment Trust on December 31, 1975. Bogle founded The Vanguard Group in 1974; it is now the largest mutual fund company in the United States as of 2009. [ source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_fund#Origins https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_fund#Origins ]