Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund

Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund

Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond Index Fund
Vanguard Long-Term Bond Index Fund

Supplement to the Prospectus and Summary Prospectuses

Dated April 26, 2024
As approved by the Funds’ Board of Trustees, Vanguard Total Bond Market Index
Fund, Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund, Vanguard Intermediate-Term
Bond Index Fund, and Vanguard Long-Term Bond Index Fund (each, a Fund)
have reduced their expense ratios. Effective February 3, 2025, the Annual Fund
Operating Expenses table and the hypothetical expenses examples for each
Fund are hereby deleted and replaced with the following:

Prospectus and Summary Prospectus Text Changes for Vanguard Total

Bond Market Index Fund

Annual Fund Operating Expenses

(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Institutional Shares Institutional Plus Shares

Management Fees 0.020% 0.02%
12b-1 Distribution Fee None None
Other Expenses 0.005% 0.00%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses1 0.025% 0.02%

1 The expense information shown in the table has been restated to reflect current fees.

Examples

The following examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in
the Fund’s Institutional Shares or Institutional Plus Shares with the cost of
investing in other mutual funds. They illustrate the hypothetical expenses that
you would incur over various periods if you were to invest $10,000 in the Fund’s
shares. These examples assume that the shares provide a return of 5% each
year and that total annual fund operating expenses remain as stated in the
preceding table. You would incur these hypothetical expenses whether or not you
were to redeem your investment at the end of the given period. Although your
actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs
would be:
1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 Years
Institutional Shares $3 $8 $14 $32
Institutional Plus Shares $2 $6 $11 $26

Prospectus and Summary Prospectus Text Changes for Vanguard

Short-Term Bond Index Fund

Annual Fund Operating Expenses

(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Institutional Shares Institutional Plus Shares

Management Fees 0.04% 0.03%
12b-1 Distribution Fee None None
Other Expenses 0.00% 0.00%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses1 0.04% 0.03%

1 The expense information shown in the table has been restated to reflect current fees.

Examples

The following examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in
the Fund’s Institutional Shares or Institutional Plus Shares with the cost of
investing in other mutual funds. They illustrate the hypothetical expenses that
you would incur over various periods if you were to invest $10,000 in the Fund’s
shares. These examples assume that the shares provide a return of 5% each
year and that total annual fund operating expenses remain as stated in the
preceding table. You would incur these hypothetical expenses whether or not you
were to redeem your investment at the end of the given period. Although your
actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs
would be:
1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 Years
Institutional Shares $4 $13 $23 $51
Institutional Plus Shares $3 $10 $17 $39
Prospectus and Summary Prospectus Text Changes for Vanguard
Intermediate-Term Bond Index Fund

Annual Fund Operating Expenses

(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Institutional Shares Institutional Plus Shares

Management Fees 0.03% 0.02%
12b-1 Distribution Fee None None
Other Expenses 0.01% 0.01%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses1 0.04% 0.03%

1 The expense information shown in the table has been restated to reflect current fees.

Examples

The following examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in
the Fund’s Institutional Shares or Institutional Plus Shares with the cost of
investing in other mutual funds. They illustrate the hypothetical expenses that
you would incur over various periods if you were to invest $10,000 in the Fund’s
shares. These examples assume that the shares provide a return of 5% each
year and that total annual fund operating expenses remain as stated in the
preceding table. You would incur these hypothetical expenses whether or not you
were to redeem your investment at the end of the given period. Although your
actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs
would be:
1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 Years
Institutional Shares $4 $13 $23 $51
Institutional Plus Shares $3 $10 $17 $39
Prospectus and Summary Prospectus Text Changes for Vanguard
Long-Term Bond Index Fund

Annual Fund Operating Expenses

(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Institutional Shares Institutional Plus Shares

Management Fees 0.04% 0.03%
12b-1 Distribution Fee None None
Other Expenses 0.00% 0.00%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses1 0.04% 0.03%

1 The expense information shown in the table has been restated to reflect current fees.

Examples

The following examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in
the Fund’s Institutional Shares or Institutional Plus Shares with the cost of
investing in other mutual funds. They illustrate the hypothetical expenses that
you would incur over various periods if you were to invest $10,000 in the Fund’s
shares. These examples assume that the shares provide a return of 5% each
year and that total annual fund operating expenses remain as stated in the
preceding table. You would incur these hypothetical expenses whether or not you
were to redeem your investment at the end of the given period. Although your
actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs
would be:
1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 Years
Institutional Shares $54 $63 $73 $101
Institutional Plus Shares $53 $60 $67 $88

© 2025 The Vanguard Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Vanguard Marketing Corporation, Distributor. PSI 0504A 022025
Vanguard Funds

Supplement Dated June 5, 2024, to the Prospectuses

Important Changes to the Funds

In March 2024, the Board of Trustees of Vanguard Municipal Cash Management

Fund (MCMT) approved (1) the reclassification of MCMT from an institutional
tax-exempt money market fund to a short-term municipal bond fund, and (2)
MCMT’s name change to Vanguard Municipal Low Duration Fund.

Prospectus Text Changes

Under the “Cash Management” heading, the following replaces the
first sentence:

The Fund’s (for Vanguard Variable Insurance Funds, “The Portfolio’s”) daily cash
balance may be invested in Vanguard Market Liquidity Fund, a low-cost money
market fund, and/or Vanguard Municipal Low Duration Fund, a short-term
municipal bond fund (each, a CMT Fund).

© 2024 The Vanguard Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Vanguard Marketing Corporation, Distributor. PS ALL 062024
Vanguard Bond Index Funds
Prospectus
April 26, 2024

Institutional Shares & Institutional Plus Shares

Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund Institutional Shares (VBTIX)

Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund Institutional Plus Shares (VBMPX)
Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund Institutional Shares (VBITX)
Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund Institutional Plus Shares (VBIPX)
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond Index Fund Institutional Shares (VBIMX)
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond Index Fund Institutional Plus Shares (VBIUX)
Vanguard Long-Term Bond Index Fund Institutional Shares (VBLLX)
Vanguard Long-Term Bond Index Fund Institutional Plus Shares (VBLIX)

This prospectus contains financial data for the Funds through the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved or disapproved these
securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary
is a criminal offense.
Contents

Fund Summaries Investing With Vanguard 54

Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund 1 Purchasing Shares 54
Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund 7 Converting Shares 59
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond
Index Fund 13 Redeeming Shares 60
Vanguard Long-Term Bond Index Fund 19 Exchanging Shares 64
Investing in Index Funds 25 Frequent-Trading Limitations 65
More on the Funds 26 Other Rules You Should Know 67
The Funds and Vanguard 40 Fund and Account Updates 71
Investment Advisor 40 Employer-Sponsored Plans 72
Dividends, Capital Gains, and Taxes 41 Contacting Vanguard 73
Share Price 44 Additional Information 74
Financial Highlights 46 Glossary of Investment Terms 76
Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund
Investment Objective
The Fund seeks to track the performance of a broad, market-weighted
bond index.

Fees and Expenses

The following tables describe the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy,
hold, and sell Institutional Shares or Institutional Plus Shares of the Fund. You
may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to
financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and
examples below.

Shareholder Fees
(Fees paid directly from your investment)

Institutional Shares Institutional Plus Shares

Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases None None
Purchase Fee None None
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested
Dividends None None
Redemption Fee None None

Annual Fund Operating Expenses

(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Institutional Shares Institutional Plus Shares

Management Fees 0.030% 0.03%
12b-1 Distribution Fee None None
Other Expenses 0.005% 0.00%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.035% 0.03%

1
Examples

The following examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in
the Fund’s Institutional Shares or Institutional Plus Shares with the cost of
investing in other mutual funds. They illustrate the hypothetical expenses that
you would incur over various periods if you were to invest $10,000 in the Fund’s
shares. These examples assume that the shares provide a return of 5% each
year and that total annual fund operating expenses remain as stated in the
preceding table. You would incur these hypothetical expenses whether or not you
were to redeem your investment at the end of the given period. Although your
actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs
would be:
1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 Years
Institutional Shares $4 $11 $20 $45
Institutional Plus Shares $3 $10 $17 $39

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells
securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may
indicate higher transaction costs and may result in more taxes when Fund shares
are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund
operating expenses or in the previous expense examples, reduce the Fund’s
performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover
rate was 36% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the
performance of the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index (the Index).
This Index measures the performance of a wide spectrum of public,
investment-grade, taxable, fixed income securities in the United States—including
government, corporate, and international dollar-denominated bonds, as well as
mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities—all with maturities of more than 1
year.

The Fund invests by sampling the Index, meaning that it holds a broadly
diversified collection of securities that, in the aggregate, approximates the full
Index in terms of key risk factors and other characteristics. All of the Fund’s
investments will be selected through the sampling process, and at least 80% of
the Fund’s assets will be invested in bonds held in the Index. The Fund seeks to
maintain a dollar-weighted average maturity consistent with that of the Index. As

2
of December 31, 2023, the dollar-weighted average maturity of the Index was 9
years. The Fund also seeks to maintain an average duration consistent with that
of the Index. As of December 31, 2023, the average duration of the Index was
6 years.

Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund could lose money over short or long periods of time.
You should expect the Fund’s share price and total return to fluctuate within a
wide range. The Fund is subject to the following risks, which could affect the
Fund’s performance, and the level of risk may vary based on market conditions:
• Interest rate risk, which is the chance that bond prices overall will decline
because of rising interest rates. Interest rate risk should be moderate for the
Fund because it invests primarily in short- and intermediate-term bonds, whose
prices are less sensitive to interest rate changes than are the prices of
long-term bonds.
• Income risk, which is the chance that the Fund’s income will decline because
of falling interest rates. Income risk is generally high for short-term bond funds
and moderate for intermediate-term bond funds, so investors should expect the
Fund’s monthly income to fluctuate accordingly.
• Prepayment risk, which is the chance that during periods of falling interest
rates, homeowners will refinance their mortgages before their maturity dates,
resulting in prepayment of mortgage-backed securities held by the Fund. The
Fund would then lose any price appreciation above the mortgage’s principal and
would be forced to reinvest the unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates,
resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income. Such prepayments and subsequent
reinvestments would also increase the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate.
Prepayment risk should be moderate for the Fund.
• Extension risk, which is the chance that during periods of rising interest rates,
certain debt securities will be paid off substantially more slowly than originally
anticipated, and the value of those securities may fall. This will lengthen the
duration or average life of those securities and delay a fund’s ability to reinvest
proceeds at higher interest rates, making a fund more sensitive to changes in
interest rates. For funds that invest in mortgage-backed securities, there is a
chance that during periods of rising interest rates, homeowners will repay their
mortgages at slower rates. Extension risk should be moderate for the Fund.
• Call risk, which is the chance that during periods of falling interest rates,
issuers of callable bonds may call (redeem) securities with higher coupon rates
or interest rates before their maturity dates. The Fund would then lose any price
appreciation above the bond’s call price and would be forced to reinvest the
unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s

3
income. Such redemptions and subsequent reinvestments would also increase
the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate. Call risk should be low for the Fund because it
invests only a small portion of its assets in callable bonds.
• Credit risk, which is the chance that a bond issuer will fail to pay interest or
principal in a timely manner or that negative perceptions of the issuer’s ability to
make such payments will cause the price of that bond to decline. Credit risk
should be low for the Fund because it purchases only bonds that are of
investment-grade quality.
• Index sampling risk, which is the chance that the securities selected for the
Fund, in the aggregate, will not provide investment performance matching that of
the Fund’s target index. Index sampling risk for the Fund is expected to be low.
• Liquidity risk, which is the chance that the Fund may not be able to sell a
security in a timely manner at a desired price.

An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or

guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other
government agency.

Annual Total Returns

The following bar chart and table are intended to help you understand the risks of
investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows how the performance of the Fund’s
Institutional Shares has varied from one calendar year to another over the
periods shown. The table shows how the average annual total returns of the
share classes presented compare with those of the Fund’s target index, which
has investment characteristics similar to those of the Fund. Keep in mind that the
Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) does not indicate how the Fund
will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available on our
website at vanguard.com/performance or by calling Vanguard toll-free at
800-662-7447.

4
Annual Total Returns — Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund Institutional Shares

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

15%
8.73 7.74
10% 5.91 5.72
2.61 3.57
5% 0.41
0%
–0.01 –1.65
-5%
-10%
-15% –13.15
-20%

During the periods shown in the bar chart, the highest and lowest returns for a
calendar quarter were:
Total Return Quarter
Highest 6.69% December 31, 2023
Lowest -5.98% March 31, 2022

Average Annual Total Returns for Periods Ended December 31, 2023
1 Year 5 Years 10 Years
Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund
Institutional Shares
Return Before Taxes 5.72% 1.13% 1.80%
Return After Taxes on Distributions 4.36 0.08 0.70
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares 3.36 0.44 0.91
Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund Institutional
Plus Shares
Return Before Taxes 5.72% 1.14% 1.81%
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) 5.60% 1.17% 1.83%

Actual after-tax returns depend on your tax situation and may differ from those
shown in the preceding table. When after-tax returns are calculated, it is
assumed that the shareholder was in the highest individual federal marginal
income tax bracket at the time of each distribution of income or capital gains or
upon redemption. State and local income taxes are not reflected in the
calculations. Please note that after-tax returns are shown only for the Institutional
Shares and may differ for each share class. After-tax returns are not relevant for
a shareholder who holds fund shares in a tax-deferred account, such as an
individual retirement account or a 401(k) plan. Also, figures captioned Return
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares may be higher than other
figures for the same period if a capital loss occurs upon redemption and results
in an assumed tax deduction for the shareholder.

5
Investment Advisor
The Vanguard Group, Inc. (Vanguard)

Portfolio Manager

Joshua C. Barrickman, CFA, Principal of Vanguard and co-head of Vanguard’s

Fixed Income Indexing Americas. He has managed the Fund since 2013.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

You may purchase or redeem shares online through our website
(vanguard.com), by mail (The Vanguard Group, P.O. Box 982901, El Paso, TX
79998-2901), or by telephone (800-662-2739). The minimum investment amount
required to open and maintain a Fund account for Institutional Shares or
Institutional Plus Shares is $5 million or $100 million, respectively. The minimum
investment amount required to add to an existing Fund account is generally $1. If
you are investing through an employer-sponsored retirement or savings plan,
your plan administrator or your benefits office can provide you with detailed
information on how you can invest through your plan.

Tax Information
The Fund’s distributions may be taxable as ordinary income or capital gain. If you
are investing through a tax-advantaged account, such as an IRA or an
employer-sponsored retirement or savings plan, special tax rules apply.

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

The Fund and its investment advisor do not pay financial intermediaries for sales
of Fund shares.

6
Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund
Investment Objective
The Fund seeks to track the performance of a market-weighted bond index with
a short-term dollar-weighted average maturity.

Fees and Expenses

The following tables describe the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy,
hold, and sell Institutional Shares or Institutional Plus Shares of the Fund. You
may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to
financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and
examples below.

Shareholder Fees
(Fees paid directly from your investment)

Institutional Shares Institutional Plus Shares

Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases None None
Purchase Fee None None
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested
Dividends None None
Redemption Fee None None

Annual Fund Operating Expenses

(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Institutional Shares Institutional Plus Shares

Management Fees 0.05% 0.04%
12b-1 Distribution Fee None None
Other Expenses 0.00% 0.00%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.05% 0.04%

7
Examples

The following examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in
the Fund’s Institutional Shares or Institutional Plus Shares with the cost of
investing in other mutual funds. They illustrate the hypothetical expenses that
you would incur over various periods if you were to invest $10,000 in the Fund’s
shares. These examples assume that the shares provide a return of 5% each
year and that total annual fund operating expenses remain as stated in the
preceding table. You would incur these hypothetical expenses whether or not you
were to redeem your investment at the end of the given period. Although your
actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs
would be:
1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 Years
Institutional Shares $5 $16 $28 $64
Institutional Plus Shares $4 $13 $23 $51

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells
securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may
indicate higher transaction costs and may result in more taxes when Fund shares
are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund
operating expenses or in the previous expense examples, reduce the Fund’s
performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover
rate was 64% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the
performance of the Bloomberg U.S. 1–5 Year Government/Credit Float Adjusted
Index (the Index). This Index includes all medium and larger issues of U.S.
government, investment-grade corporate, and investment-grade international
dollar-denominated bonds that have maturities between 1 and 5 years and are
publicly issued.

The Fund invests by sampling the Index, meaning that it holds a range of
securities that, in the aggregate, approximates the full Index in terms of key risk
factors and other characteristics. All of the Fund’s investments will be selected
through the sampling process, and at least 80% of the Fund’s assets will be
invested in bonds held in the Index. The Fund seeks to maintain a
dollar-weighted average maturity consistent with that of the Index. As of

8
December 31, 2023, the dollar-weighted average maturity of the Index was 3
years. The Fund also seeks to maintain an average duration consistent with that
of the Index. As of December 31, 2023, the average duration of the Index was
3 years.

Principal Risks
The Fund is designed for investors with a low tolerance for risk, but you could still
lose money by investing in it. The Fund is subject to the following risks, which
could affect the Fund’s performance, and the level of risk may vary based on
market conditions:
• Income risk, which is the chance that the Fund’s income will decline because
of falling interest rates. Income risk is generally high for short-term bond funds,
so investors should expect the Fund’s monthly income to fluctuate accordingly.
• Interest rate risk, which is the chance that bond prices overall will decline
because of rising interest rates. Interest rate risk should be low for the Fund
because it invests primarily in short-term bonds, whose prices are less sensitive
to interest rate changes than are the prices of longer-term bonds.
• Call risk, which is the chance that during periods of falling interest rates,
issuers of callable bonds may call (redeem) securities with higher coupon rates
or interest rates before their maturity dates. The Fund would then lose any price
appreciation above the bond’s call price and would be forced to reinvest the
unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s
income. Such redemptions and subsequent reinvestments would also increase
the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate.
• Credit risk, which is the chance that a bond issuer will fail to pay interest or
principal in a timely manner or that negative perceptions of the issuer’s ability to
make such payments will cause the price of that bond to decline. Credit risk
should be low for the Fund because it purchases only bonds that are of
investment-grade quality.
• Index sampling risk, which is the chance that the securities selected for the
Fund, in the aggregate, will not provide investment performance matching that of
the Fund’s target index. Index sampling risk for the Fund is expected to be low.
• Liquidity risk, which is the chance that the Fund may not be able to sell a
security in a timely manner at a desired price.

An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or

guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other
government agency.

9
Annual Total Returns
The following bar chart and table are intended to help you understand the risks of
investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows how the performance of the Fund’s
Institutional Shares has varied from one calendar year to another over the
periods shown. The table shows how the average annual total returns of the
share classes presented compare with those of the Fund’s target index and
another comparative index, which have investment characteristics similar to
those of the Fund. Keep in mind that the Fund’s past performance (before and
after taxes) does not indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated
performance information is available on our website at
vanguard.com/performance or by calling Vanguard toll-free at 800-662-7447.

Annual Total Returns — Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund Institutional Shares

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

8%
6% 4.88 4.71 4.88
4%
1.29 0.95 1.51 1.20 1.37
2%
0%
-2% –1.06
-4%
-6% –5.52
-8%

During the periods shown in the bar chart, the highest and lowest returns for a
calendar quarter were:
Total Return Quarter
Highest 3.40% December 31, 2023
Lowest -3.39% March 31, 2022

10
Average Annual Total Returns for Periods Ended December 31, 2023
1 Year 5 Years 10 Years
Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund
Institutional Shares
Return Before Taxes 4.88% 1.49% 1.38%
Return After Taxes on Distributions 3.84 0.72 0.65
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares 2.87 0.82 0.74
Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund Institutional
Plus Shares
Return Before Taxes 4.90% 1.50% 1.39%
Bloomberg U.S. 1-5 Year Gov/Credit Float Adjusted Index
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) 4.89% 1.54% 1.43%
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) 5.60 1.17 1.83

Actual after-tax returns depend on your tax situation and may differ from those
shown in the preceding table. When after-tax returns are calculated, it is
assumed that the shareholder was in the highest individual federal marginal
income tax bracket at the time of each distribution of income or capital gains or
upon redemption. State and local income taxes are not reflected in the
calculations. Please note that after-tax returns are shown only for the Institutional
Shares and may differ for each share class. After-tax returns are not relevant for
a shareholder who holds fund shares in a tax-deferred account, such as an
individual retirement account or a 401(k) plan. Also, figures captioned Return
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares may be higher than other
figures for the same period if a capital loss occurs upon redemption and results
in an assumed tax deduction for the shareholder.

Investment Advisor
The Vanguard Group, Inc. (Vanguard)

Portfolio Manager

Joshua C. Barrickman, CFA, Principal of Vanguard and co-head of Vanguard’s

Fixed Income Indexing Americas. He has managed the Fund since 2013.

11
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
You may purchase or redeem shares online through our website
(vanguard.com), by mail (The Vanguard Group, P.O. Box 982901, El Paso, TX
79998-2901), or by telephone (800-662-2739). The minimum investment amount
required to open and maintain a Fund account for Institutional Shares or
Institutional Plus Shares is $5 million or $100 million, respectively. The minimum
investment amount required to add to an existing Fund account is generally $1. If
you are investing through an employer-sponsored retirement or savings plan,
your plan administrator or your benefits office can provide you with detailed
information on how you can invest through your plan.

Tax Information
The Fund’s distributions may be taxable as ordinary income or capital gain. If you
are investing through a tax-advantaged account, such as an IRA or an
employer-sponsored retirement or savings plan, special tax rules apply.

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

The Fund and its investment advisor do not pay financial intermediaries for sales
of Fund shares.

12
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond Index Fund
Investment Objective
The Fund seeks to track the performance of a market-weighted bond index with
an intermediate-term dollar-weighted average maturity.

Fees and Expenses

The following tables describe the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy,
hold, and sell Institutional Shares or Institutional Plus Shares of the Fund. You
may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to
financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and
examples below.

Shareholder Fees
(Fees paid directly from your investment)

Institutional Shares Institutional Plus Shares

Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases None None
Purchase Fee None None
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested
Dividends None None
Redemption Fee None None

Annual Fund Operating Expenses

(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Institutional Shares Institutional Plus Shares

Management Fees 0.04% 0.03%
12b-1 Distribution Fee None None
Other Expenses 0.01% 0.01%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.05% 0.04%

13
Examples

The following examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in
the Fund’s Institutional Shares or Institutional Plus Shares with the cost of
investing in other mutual funds. They illustrate the hypothetical expenses that
you would incur over various periods if you were to invest $10,000 in the Fund’s
shares. These examples assume that the shares provide a return of 5% each
year and that total annual fund operating expenses remain as stated in the
preceding table. You would incur these hypothetical expenses whether or not you
were to redeem your investment at the end of the given period. Although your
actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs
would be:
1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 Years
Institutional Shares $5 $16 $28 $64
Institutional Plus Shares $4 $13 $23 $51

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells
securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may
indicate higher transaction costs and may result in more taxes when Fund shares
are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund
operating expenses or in the previous expense examples, reduce the Fund’s
performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover
rate was 63% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the
performance of the Bloomberg U.S. 5–10 Year Government/Credit Float Adjusted
Index (the Index). This Index includes all medium and larger issues of U.S.
government, investment-grade corporate, and investment-grade international
dollar-denominated bonds that have maturities between 5 and 10 years and are
publicly issued.

The Fund invests by sampling the Index, meaning that it holds a range of
securities that, in the aggregate, approximates the full Index in terms of key risk
factors and other characteristics. All of the Fund’s investments will be selected
through the sampling process, and at least 80% of the Fund’s assets will be
invested in bonds held in the Index. The Fund seeks to maintain a
dollar-weighted average maturity consistent with that of the Index. As of

14
December 31, 2023, the dollar-weighted average maturity of the Index was 7
years. The Fund also seeks to maintain an average duration consistent with that
of the Index. As of December 31, 2023, the average duration of the Index was
6 years.

Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund could lose money over short or long periods of time.
You should expect the Fund’s share price and total return to fluctuate within a
wide range. The Fund is subject to the following risks, which could affect the
Fund’s performance, and the level of risk may vary based on market conditions:
• Interest rate risk, which is the chance that bond prices overall will decline
because of rising interest rates. Interest rate risk should be moderate for the
Fund because it invests primarily in intermediate-term bonds, whose prices are
less sensitive to interest rate changes than are the prices of long-term bonds.
• Income risk, which is the chance that the Fund’s income will decline because
of falling interest rates. Income risk is generally moderate for intermediate-term
bond funds, so investors should expect the Fund’s monthly income to
fluctuate accordingly.
• Call risk, which is the chance that during periods of falling interest rates,
issuers of callable bonds may call (redeem) securities with higher coupon rates
or interest rates before their maturity dates. The Fund would then lose any price
appreciation above the bond’s call price and would be forced to reinvest the
unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s
income. Such redemptions and subsequent reinvestments would also increase
the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate.
• Credit risk, which is the chance that a bond issuer will fail to pay interest or
principal in a timely manner or that negative perceptions of the issuer’s ability to
make such payments will cause the price of that bond to decline. Credit risk
should be low for the Fund because it purchases only bonds that are of
investment-grade quality.
• Index sampling risk, which is the chance that the securities selected for the
Fund, in the aggregate, will not provide investment performance matching that of
the Fund’s target index. Index sampling risk for the Fund is expected to be low.
• Liquidity risk, which is the chance that the Fund may not be able to sell a
security in a timely manner at a desired price.

An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or

guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other
government agency.

15
Annual Total Returns
The following bar chart and table are intended to help you understand the risks of
investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows how the performance of the Fund’s
Institutional Shares has varied from one calendar year to another over the
periods shown. The table shows how the average annual total returns of the
share classes presented compare with those of the Fund’s target index and
another comparative index, which have investment characteristics similar to
those of the Fund. Keep in mind that the Fund’s past performance (before and
after taxes) does not indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated
performance information is available on our website at
vanguard.com/performance or by calling Vanguard toll-free at 800-662-7447.

Annual Total Returns — Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond Index Fund Institutional

Shares

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

15% 10.20 9.82

10% 6.99 6.09
2.85 3.87
5% 1.31
0%
–0.15
-5% –2.34
-10%
-15% –13.25
-20%

During the periods shown in the bar chart, the highest and lowest returns for a
calendar quarter were:
Total Return Quarter
Highest 6.87% December 31, 2023
Lowest -6.25% March 31, 2022

16
Average Annual Total Returns for Periods Ended December 31, 2023
1 Year 5 Years 10 Years
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond Index Fund
Institutional Shares
Return Before Taxes 6.09% 1.70% 2.32%
Return After Taxes on Distributions 4.73 0.57 1.12
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares 3.58 0.89 1.30
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond Index Fund
Institutional Plus Shares
Return Before Taxes 6.10% 1.71% 2.33%
Bloomberg U.S. 5-10 Year Gov/Credit Float Adjusted
Index
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) 5.99% 1.73% 2.36%
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) 5.60 1.17 1.83

Actual after-tax returns depend on your tax situation and may differ from those
shown in the preceding table. When after-tax returns are calculated, it is
assumed that the shareholder was in the highest individual federal marginal
income tax bracket at the time of each distribution of income or capital gains or
upon redemption. State and local income taxes are not reflected in the
calculations. Please note that after-tax returns are shown only for the Institutional
Shares and may differ for each share class. After-tax returns are not relevant for
a shareholder who holds fund shares in a tax-deferred account, such as an
individual retirement account or a 401(k) plan. Also, figures captioned Return
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares may be higher than other
figures for the same period if a capital loss occurs upon redemption and results
in an assumed tax deduction for the shareholder.

Investment Advisor
The Vanguard Group, Inc. (Vanguard)

Portfolio Manager

Joshua C. Barrickman, CFA, Principal of Vanguard and co-head of Vanguard’s

Fixed Income Indexing Americas. He has managed the Fund since 2008.

17
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
You may purchase or redeem shares online through our website
(vanguard.com), by mail (The Vanguard Group, P.O. Box 982901, El Paso, TX
79998-2901), or by telephone (800-662-2739). The minimum investment amount
required to open and maintain a Fund account for Institutional Shares or
Institutional Plus Shares is $5 million or $100 million, respectively. The minimum
investment amount required to add to an existing Fund account is generally $1. If
you are investing through an employer-sponsored retirement or savings plan,
your plan administrator or your benefits office can provide you with detailed
information on how you can invest through your plan.

Tax Information
The Fund’s distributions may be taxable as ordinary income or capital gain. If you
are investing through a tax-advantaged account, such as an IRA or an
employer-sponsored retirement or savings plan, special tax rules apply.

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

The Fund and its investment advisor do not pay financial intermediaries for sales
of Fund shares.

18
Vanguard Long-Term Bond Index Fund
Investment Objective
The Fund seeks to track the performance of a market-weighted bond index with
a long-term dollar-weighted average maturity.

Fees and Expenses

The following tables describe the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy,
hold, and sell Institutional Shares or Institutional Plus Shares of the Fund. You
may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to
financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and
examples below.

Shareholder Fees
(Fees paid directly from your investment)

Institutional Shares Institutional Plus Shares

Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases None None
Purchase Fee 0.50% 0.50%
Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Reinvested
Dividends None None
Redemption Fee None None

Annual Fund Operating Expenses

(Expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Institutional Shares Institutional Plus Shares

Management Fees 0.05% 0.04%
12b-1 Distribution Fee None None
Other Expenses 0.00% 0.00%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.05% 0.04%

19
Examples

The following examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in
the Fund’s Institutional Shares or Institutional Plus Shares with the cost of
investing in other mutual funds. They illustrate the hypothetical expenses that
you would incur over various periods if you were to invest $10,000 in the Fund’s
shares. These examples assume that the shares provide a return of 5% each
year and that total annual fund operating expenses remain as stated in the
preceding table. You would incur these hypothetical expenses whether or not you
were to redeem your investment at the end of the given period. Although your
actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs
would be:
1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 Years
Institutional Shares $55 $66 $78 $114
Institutional Plus Shares $54 $63 $73 $101

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells
securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may
indicate higher transaction costs and may result in more taxes when Fund shares
are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund
operating expenses or in the previous expense examples, reduce the Fund’s
performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover
rate was 25% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the
performance of the Bloomberg U.S. Long Government/Credit Float Adjusted
Index (the Index). This Index includes all medium and larger issues of U.S.
government, investment-grade corporate, and investment-grade international
dollar-denominated bonds that have maturities of greater than 10 years and are
publicly issued.

The Fund invests by sampling the Index, meaning that it holds a range of
securities that, in the aggregate, approximates the full Index in terms of key risk
factors and other characteristics. All of the Fund’s investments will be selected
through the sampling process, and at least 80% of the Fund’s assets will be
invested in bonds held in the Index. The Fund seeks to maintain a
dollar-weighted average maturity consistent with that of the Index. As of

20
December 31, 2023, the dollar-weighted average maturity of the Index was 23
years. The Fund also seeks to maintain an average duration consistent with that
of the Index. As of December 31, 2023, the average duration of the Index was
14 years.

Principal Risks
An investment in the Fund could lose money over short or long periods of time.
You should expect the Fund’s share price and total return to fluctuate within a
wide range. The Fund is subject to the following risks, which could affect the
Fund’s performance, and the level of risk may vary based on market conditions:
• Interest rate risk, which is the chance that bond prices overall will decline
because of rising interest rates. Interest rate risk should be high for the Fund
because it invests primarily in long-term bonds, whose prices are more sensitive
to interest rate changes than are the prices of shorter-term bonds.
• Income risk, which is the chance that the Fund’s income will decline because
of falling interest rates. Income risk should be low for the Fund because it invests
primarily in long-term bonds.
• Call risk, which is the chance that during periods of falling interest rates,
issuers of callable bonds may call (redeem) securities with higher coupon rates
or interest rates before their maturity dates. The Fund would then lose any price
appreciation above the bond’s call price and would be forced to reinvest the
unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates, resulting in a decline in the Fund’s
income. Such redemptions and subsequent reinvestments would also increase
the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate.
• Credit risk, which is the chance that a bond issuer will fail to pay interest or
principal in a timely manner or that negative perceptions of the issuer’s ability to
make such payments will cause the price of that bond to decline. Credit risk
should be low for the Fund because it purchases only bonds that are of
investment-grade quality.
• Index sampling risk, which is the chance that the securities selected for the
Fund, in the aggregate, will not provide investment performance matching that of
the Fund’s target index. Index sampling risk for the Fund is expected to be low.
• Liquidity risk, which is the chance that the Fund may not be able to sell a
security in a timely manner at a desired price.

An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or

guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other
government agency.

21
Annual Total Returns
The following bar chart and table are intended to help you understand the risks of
investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows how the performance of the Fund’s
Institutional Shares (including annual fund operating expenses but excluding
shareholder fees) has varied from one calendar year to another over the periods
shown. If applicable shareholder fees were reflected, returns would be less than
those shown in the bar chart. The table shows how the average annual total
returns of the share classes presented (including annual fund operating
expenses and any applicable shareholder fees) compare with those of the
Fund’s target index and another comparative index, which have investment
characteristics similar to those of the Fund. Keep in mind that the Fund’s past
performance (before and after taxes) does not indicate how the Fund will perform
in the future. Updated performance information is available on our website at
vanguard.com/performance or by calling Vanguard toll-free at 800-662-7447.

Annual Total Returns — Vanguard Long-Term Bond Index Fund Institutional Shares

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

30%
19.87 19.12
20% 16.25
10.87 7.54
10% 6.51
0%
-10% –3.37 –4.41 –2.64
-20%
-30% –27.20
-40%

During the periods shown in the bar chart, the highest and lowest returns for a
calendar quarter were:
Total Return Quarter
Highest 13.12% December 31, 2023
Lowest -12.27% June 30, 2022

22
Average Annual Total Returns for Periods Ended December 31, 2023
1 Year 5 Years 10 Years
Vanguard Long-Term Bond Index Fund
Institutional Shares
Return Before Taxes 7.01% 0.99% 3.22%
Return After Taxes on Distributions 5.18 -0.62 1.52
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares 4.09 0.23 1.83
Vanguard Long-Term Bond Index Fund Institutional
Plus Shares
Return Before Taxes 7.02% 1.00% 3.24%
Bloomberg U.S. Long Gov/Credit Float Adjusted Index
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) 7.13% 1.12% 3.22%
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) 5.60 1.17 1.83

Actual after-tax returns depend on your tax situation and may differ from those
shown in the preceding table. When after-tax returns are calculated, it is
assumed that the shareholder was in the highest individual federal marginal
income tax bracket at the time of each distribution of income or capital gains or
upon redemption. State and local income taxes are not reflected in the
calculations. Please note that after-tax returns are shown only for the Institutional
Shares and may differ for each share class. After-tax returns are not relevant for
a shareholder who holds fund shares in a tax-deferred account, such as an
individual retirement account or a 401(k) plan. Also, figures captioned Return
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares may be higher than other
figures for the same period if a capital loss occurs upon redemption and results
in an assumed tax deduction for the shareholder.

23
Investment Advisor
The Vanguard Group, Inc. (Vanguard)

Portfolio Manager

Joshua C. Barrickman, CFA, Principal of Vanguard and co-head of Vanguard’s

Fixed Income Indexing Americas. He has managed the Fund since 2013.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

You may purchase or redeem shares online through our website
(vanguard.com), by mail (The Vanguard Group, P.O. Box 982901, El Paso, TX
79998-2901), or by telephone (800-662-2739). The minimum investment amount
required to open and maintain a Fund account for Institutional Shares or
Institutional Plus Shares is $5 million or $100 million, respectively. The minimum
investment amount required to add to an existing Fund account is generally $1. If
you are investing through an employer-sponsored retirement or savings plan,
your plan administrator or your benefits office can provide you with detailed
information on how you can invest through your plan.

Tax Information
The Fund’s distributions may be taxable as ordinary income or capital gain. If you
are investing through a tax-advantaged account, such as an IRA or an
employer-sponsored retirement or savings plan, special tax rules apply.

Payments to Financial Intermediaries

The Fund and its investment advisor do not pay financial intermediaries for sales
of Fund shares.

24
Investing in Index Funds
What Is Indexing?
Indexing is an investment strategy for tracking the performance of a specified
market benchmark, or “index.” An index is a group of securities whose overall
performance is used as a standard to measure the investment performance of a
particular market. There are many types of indexes. Some represent entire
markets—such as the U.S. stock market or the U.S. bond market. Other indexes
cover market segments—such as small-capitalization stocks or short-term
bonds. One cannot invest directly in an index.
The index provider determines the securities to include in the index and the
weighting of each security in the index. Under normal circumstances, the index
provider will rebalance an index on a regular schedule. An index provider may
carry out additional ad hoc index rebalances or delay or cancel a scheduled
rebalance. Generally, the index provider does not provide any warranty, or
accept any liability, with respect to the quality, accuracy, or completeness of
either the target index or its related data. Errors made by the index provider may
occur from time to time and may not be identified by the index provider for a
period of time or at all. Vanguard does not provide any warranty or guarantee
against such errors. Therefore, the gains, losses, or costs associated with the
index provider’s errors will generally be borne by the index fund and
its shareholders.
An index fund seeks to hold all, or a representative sample, of the securities that
make up its target index. Index funds attempt to mirror the performance of the
target index, for better or worse. However, an index fund generally does not
perform exactly like its target index. For example, index funds have operating
expenses and transaction costs. Market indexes do not, and therefore they will
usually have a slight performance advantage over funds that track them. The
ability of an index fund to match its performance to that of its target index can
also be impacted by, among other things, the timing and size of cash flows, asset
valuation differences, and the size of the fund. Market disruptions could also
have an adverse effect on a fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required
levels in order to track the index. The risk that a fund may not track the
performance of its target index may be heightened during times of increased
market volatility or other unusual market conditions.
Index funds typically have the following characteristics:
• Variety of investments. Depending on a fund’s benchmark index, the fund may
invest in the securities of a variety of companies, industries, and/or governments
or government agencies.
• Relative performance consistency. Because they seek to track market
benchmarks, index funds usually do not perform dramatically better or worse
than their benchmarks.
• Low cost. Index funds are generally inexpensive to run compared with actively
managed funds. They have low or no research costs and typically keep trading
activity—and thus dealer markups and other transaction costs—to a minimum
compared with actively managed funds.
25
More on the Funds
This prospectus describes the principal risks you would face as a Fund
shareholder. It is important to keep in mind one of the main principles of
investing: generally, the higher the risk of losing money, the higher the potential
reward. The reverse, also, is generally true: the lower the risk, the lower the
potential reward. As you consider an investment in any mutual fund, you should
take into account your personal tolerance for fluctuations in the securities
markets. Look for this symbol throughout the prospectus. It is used to mark
detailed information about the more significant risks that you would confront as a
Fund shareholder. To highlight terms and concepts important to mutual fund
investors, we have provided Plain Talk® explanations along the way. Reading the
prospectus will help you decide whether a Fund is the right investment for you.
We suggest that you keep this prospectus for future reference.

Share Class Overview

This prospectus offers the Funds’ Institutional Shares and Institutional Plus
Shares, which are generally for investors who invest a minimum of $5 million and
$100 million, respectively. A separate prospectus offers the Funds’ Admiral
Shares, which generally have an investment minimum of $3,000. Another
prospectus offers Investor Shares for the Total Bond Market Index, Short-Term
Bond Index, and Intermediate-Term Bond Index Funds, which are generally
available only to Vanguard funds that operate as funds of funds and to certain
retirement plan clients that receive recordkeeping services from Vanguard.
Another prospectus offers Institutional Select Shares for the Total Bond Market
Index Fund, which are generally for investors who invest a minimum of $3 billion.
In addition, each Fund issues ETF Shares (an exchange-traded class of shares),
which are also offered through a separate prospectus.

All share classes offered by a Fund have the same investment objective,
strategies, and policies. However, because different share classes can have
different expenses, their investment returns may differ.

Plain Talk About Costs of Investing

Costs are an important consideration in choosing a mutual fund. That is
because you, as a shareholder, pay a proportionate share of the costs of
operating a fund and any transaction costs incurred when the fund buys or
sells securities, including costs generated by shareholders of other share
classes offered by the fund. These costs can erode a substantial portion of
the gross income or the capital appreciation a fund achieves. Even
seemingly small differences in expenses can, over time, have a dramatic
effect on a fund’s performance.

26
The following sections explain the principal investment strategies and policies
that each Fund uses in pursuit of its investment objective. The Funds’ board of
trustees, which oversees each Fund’s management, may change investment
strategies or policies in the interest of shareholders without a shareholder vote,
unless those strategies or policies are designated as fundamental. Each Fund’s
policy of investing at least 80% of its assets in bonds that are part of its target
index may be changed only upon 60 days‘ notice to shareholders.

Market Exposure

Each Fund is subject to interest rate risk, which is the chance that bond prices
will decline because of rising interest rates.

Although fixed income securities (commonly referred to as bonds) are often

thought to be less risky than stocks, there have been periods when bond prices
have fallen significantly because of rising interest rates. For instance, prices of
long-term bonds fell by almost 48% between December 1976 and
September 1981.

To illustrate the relationship between bond prices and interest rates, the following
table shows the effect of a 1% and a 2% change (both up and down) in interest
rates on the values of three noncallable bonds (i.e., bonds that cannot be
redeemed by the issuer) of different maturities, each with a face value of $1,000.

How Interest Rate Changes Affect the Value of a $1,000 Bond1

After a 1% After a 1% After a 2% After a 2%
Type of Bond (Maturity) Increase Decrease Increase Decrease
Short-Term (2.5 years) $977 $1,024 $954 $1,049
Intermediate-Term (10 years) 922 1,086 851 1,180
Long-Term (20 years) 874 1,150 769 1,328

1 Assuming a 4% coupon rate.

These figures are for illustration only; you should not regard them as an
indication of future performance of the bond market as a whole or the Funds
in particular.

27
 Plain Talk About Bonds and Interest Rates
As a rule, when interest rates rise, bond prices fall. The opposite is also true:
bond prices go up when interest rates fall. Why do bond prices and interest
rates move in opposite directions? Let’s assume that you hold a bond
offering a 4% yield. A year later, interest rates are on the rise and bonds of
comparable quality and maturity are offered with a 5% yield. With
higher-yielding bonds available, you would have trouble selling your 4% bond
for the price you paid—you would probably have to lower your asking price.
On the other hand, if interest rates were falling and 3% bonds were being
offered, you should be able to sell your 4% bond for more than you paid.

How mortgage-backed securities are different: In general, declining interest

rates will not lift the prices of mortgage-backed securities—such as those
guaranteed by the Government National Mortgage Association—as much as
the prices of comparable bonds. Why? Because when interest rates fall, the
bond market tends to discount the prices of mortgage-backed securities for
prepayment risk—the possibility that homeowners will refinance their
mortgages at lower rates and cause the bonds to be paid off prior to maturity.
In part to compensate for this prepayment possibility, mortgage-backed
securities tend to offer higher yields than other bonds of comparable credit
quality and maturity. In contrast, when interest rates rise, prepayments tend
to slow down, subjecting mortgage-backed securities to extension risk—the
possibility that homeowners will repay their mortgages at slower rates. This
will lengthen the duration or average life of mortgage-backed securities held
by a fund and delay the fund’s ability to reinvest proceeds at higher interest
rates, making the fund more sensitive to changes in interest rates.

Changes in interest rates can affect bond income as well as bond prices.

Each Fund is subject to income risk, which is the chance that the Fund’s
income will decline because of falling interest rates. A fund’s income declines
when interest rates fall because the fund then must invest new cash flow and
cash from maturing bonds in lower-yielding bonds. Income risk is generally
higher for short-term bond funds and lower for long-term bond funds.

28
 Plain Talk About Bond Maturities
A bond is issued with a specific maturity date—the date when the issuer must
pay back the bond’s principal (face value). Bond maturities range from less
than 1 year to more than 30 years. Typically, the longer a bond’s maturity, the
more price risk you, as a bond investor, will face as interest rates rise—but
also the higher the potential yield you could receive. Longer-term bonds are
generally more suitable for investors willing to take a greater risk of price
fluctuations to get higher and more stable interest income. Shorter-term bond
investors should be willing to accept lower yields and greater income
variability in return for less fluctuation in the value of their investment. The
stated maturity of a bond may differ from the effective maturity of a bond,
which takes into consideration that an action such as a call or refunding may
cause bonds to be repaid before their stated maturity dates.

Although falling interest rates tend to strengthen bond prices, they can cause
other problems for bond fund investors—bond calls and prepayments.

Each Fund is subject to call risk, which is the chance that during periods of low
or falling interest rates, issuers of callable bonds may call (redeem) securities
with higher coupon rates or interest rates before their maturity dates. The
Fund would then lose any price appreciation above the bond’s call price and
would be forced to reinvest the unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates,
resulting in a decline in the Fund’s income. Such redemptions and subsequent
reinvestments would also increase the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate.

Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund is subject to extension risk, which is
the chance that during periods of rising interest rates, certain debt securities
will be paid off substantially more slowly than originally anticipated, and the
value of those securities may fall. This will lengthen the duration or average
life of those securities held by the Fund and delay the Fund’s ability to reinvest
proceeds at higher interest rates, making the Fund more sensitive to changes
in interest rates. For funds that invest in mortgage-backed securities, there is a
chance that during periods of rising interest rates, homeowners will repay their
mortgages at slower rates. Extension risk should be moderate for the Fund.

29
 Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund is subject to prepayment risk, which
is the chance that during periods of falling interest rates, homeowners will
refinance their mortgages before their maturity dates, resulting in prepayment
of mortgage-backed securities held by the Fund. The Fund would then lose
any price appreciation above the mortgage’s principal and would be forced to
reinvest the unanticipated proceeds at lower interest rates, resulting in a
decline in the Fund’s income. Such prepayments and subsequent
reinvestments would also increase the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate.
Prepayment risk should be moderate for the Fund.

Each Fund is subject to credit risk, which is the chance that a bond issuer will
fail to pay interest or principal in a timely manner or that negative perceptions
of the issuer’s ability to make such payments will cause the price of that bond
to decline.

Plain Talk About Credit Quality

A bond’s credit quality rating is an assessment of the issuer’s ability to pay
interest on the bond and, ultimately, to repay the principal. The lower the
credit quality, the greater the perceived chance that the bond issuer will
default, or fail to meet its payment obligations. All things being equal, the
lower a bond’s credit quality, the higher its yield should be to compensate
investors for assuming additional risk.

The credit quality of each Fund is expected to be very high, and thus credit risk is
expected to be low.

To a limited extent, the Funds are subject to event risk, which is the chance that
corporate fixed income securities held by a Fund may suffer a substantial decline
in credit quality and market value because of a restructuring of the companies
that issued the securities or because of other factors negatively affecting
the issuers.

Each Fund is subject to liquidity risk, which is the chance that the Fund may
not be able to sell a security in a timely manner at a desired price.

Corporate bonds are traded among dealers and brokers that connect buyers with
sellers. Liquidity in the corporate bond market may be challenged depending on
overall economic conditions and credit tightening. There may be little trading in
the secondary market for particular bonds and other debt securities, which may
make them more difficult to value or sell.

30
Market disruptions can adversely affect local and global markets as well as
normal market conditions and operations. Any such disruptions could have an
adverse impact on the value of a Fund’s investments and Fund performance.

Security Selection
Index sampling strategy. Because it would be very expensive and inefficient to
buy and sell all securities held in its target index—which is an indexing strategy
called “full replication”—each Fund uses index “sampling” techniques to select
securities. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, each Fund’s advisor
generally selects a representative sample of securities that approximates the full
target index in terms of key risk factors and other characteristics. These factors
include duration, cash flow, quality, and callability of the underlying bonds. In
addition, each Fund keeps industry sector and subsector exposure within tight
boundaries relative to its target index. Because each Fund does not hold all of
the securities included in its target index, some of the securities (and issuers)
that are held will likely be overweighted (or underweighted) compared with the
target index. The maximum overweight (or underweight) is constrained at the
issuer level with the goal of producing well-diversified exposure in the portfolio.

Each Fund is subject to index sampling risk, which is the chance that the
securities selected for a Fund, in the aggregate, will not provide investment
performance matching that of the Fund’s target index. Index sampling risk for
each Fund is expected to be low.

The following table shows the number of bonds held by each Fund, as well as
the number of bonds in each Fund’s target index, as of December 31, 2023.
Number of Number of Bonds
Vanguard Fund Bonds Held in Target Index
Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund 10,719 13,334
Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund 2,666 3,550
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond Index 2,154 2,336
Fund
Vanguard Long-Term Bond Index Fund 3,028 3,385

Types of bonds. Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund tracks the Bloomberg
U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index; Vanguard Short-Term, Vanguard
Intermediate-Term, and Vanguard Long-Term Bond Index Funds track subsets of
that Index. The Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index measures the
performance of a wide spectrum of public, investment-grade, taxable, fixed income
securities in the United States—including government, corporate, and international
dollar-denominated bonds, as well as mortgage-backed and asset-backed
securities—all with maturities of more than 1 year.

31
As of December 31, 2023, each Fund was composed of the following types
of bonds:
Asset-Backed/
U.S. Commercial International
Government/ Mortgage- Dollar-
Vanguard Fund Agency Corporate Backed Denominated Other Total
Vanguard Total
Bond Market
Index Fund 66.29% 27.02% 2.41% 3.53% 0.75% 100%
Vanguard
Short-Term
Bond Index
Fund 67.16 27.15 0.00 5.45 0.24 100
Vanguard
Intermediate-Term
Bond Index
Fund 55.58 39.58 0.00 4.34 0.50 100
Vanguard
Long-Term
Bond Index
Fund 47.46 46.19 0.00 3.04 3.31 100

1 Due to rounding, the total percentage may not equal to 100%

An explanation of each type of bond follows:

• U.S. government and agency bonds represent loans by investors to the
U.S. Treasury or a wide variety of government agencies and instrumentalities.
Securities issued by most U.S. government entities are neither guaranteed by
the U.S. Treasury nor backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.
These entities include, among others, the Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBs),
the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), and the Federal Home Loan
Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC). Securities issued by the U.S. Treasury and a
small number of U.S. government agencies, such as the Government National
Mortgage Association (GNMA), are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S.
government. The market values of U.S. government and agency securities and
U.S. Treasury securities are subject to fluctuation.
• Corporate bonds are IOUs issued by businesses that want to borrow money
for some purpose—often to develop a new product or service, to expand into a
new market, or to buy another company. As with other types of bonds, the issuer
promises to repay the principal on a specific date and to make interest payments
in the meantime. The amount of interest offered depends both on market
conditions and on the financial health of the corporation issuing the bonds; a
company whose credit rating is not strong will have to offer a higher interest rate
to obtain buyers for its bonds. For purposes of the preceding table, corporate

32
bonds include securities that are backed by a pool of underlying assets
(asset-backed securities) or commercial mortgages (commercial
mortgage-backed bonds). Each Fund expects to purchase only investment-grade
corporate bonds.
• Mortgage-backed securities represent interests in underlying pools of
mortgages. Unlike ordinary bonds, which generally pay a fixed rate of interest at
regular intervals and then repay principal upon maturity, mortgage-backed
securities pass through both interest and principal from underlying mortgages as
part of their regular payments. Because the mortgages underlying the securities
can be prepaid at any time by homeowners or by corporate borrowers,
mortgage-backed securities are subject to prepayment risk. These types of
securities are issued by a number of government agencies, including the GNMA,
the FHLMC, and the FNMA. Mortgage-backed securities issued by the GNMA
are guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government as to the timely
payment of principal and interest; those issued by other government agencies or
private corporations are not.

Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund may also invest in conventional
mortgage-backed securities—which are packaged by private corporations and
are not guaranteed by the U.S. government—and enter into mortgage-dollar-roll
transactions. In a mortgage-dollar-roll transaction, a fund sells mortgage-backed
securities to a dealer and simultaneously agrees to purchase similar securities in
the future at a predetermined price. These transactions simulate an investment in
mortgage-backed securities and have the potential to enhance a fund’s returns
and reduce its administrative burdens, compared with holding mortgage-backed
securities directly. These transactions may increase a fund’s portfolio turnover
rate. Mortgage dollar rolls will be used only to the extent that they are consistent
with the Fund’s investment objective and risk profile.
• Asset-backed securities are bonds that represent partial ownership in pools of
consumer or commercial loans --most often credit card, automobile, or trade
receivables. Asset-backed securities, which can be types of corporate fixed
income obligations, are issued by entities formed solely for that purpose, but their
value ultimately depends on repayments by underlying borrowers. A primary risk
of asset-backed securities is that their maturity is difficult to predict, being driven
by borrowers’ prepayments.
• International dollar-denominated bonds are bonds denominated in U.S. dollars
and issued by foreign governments and companies. To the extent that a Fund
owns foreign bonds, it is subject to country risk, which is the chance that world
events—such as political upheaval, financial troubles, or natural disasters—will
adversely affect the value and/or liquidity of securities issued by companies in
foreign countries. In addition, the prices of foreign bonds and the prices of U.S.
bonds have, at times, moved in opposite directions. Because the bond’s value is
33
designated in dollars rather than in the currency of the issuer’s country, the
investor is not exposed to currency risk; rather, the issuer assumes that risk,
usually to attract U.S. investors. Although currency movements do not affect the
value of international dollar-denominated bonds directly, they could affect the
value indirectly by adversely affecting the issuer’s ability (or the market’s
perception of the issuer’s ability) to pay interest or repay principal.

Plain Talk About U.S. Government-Sponsored Enterprises

A variety of U.S. government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), such as the
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC), the Federal National
Mortgage Association (FNMA), and the Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBs),
issue debt and mortgage-backed securities. Although GSEs may be chartered
or sponsored by acts of Congress, they are not funded by congressional
appropriations. In September of 2008, the U.S. Treasury placed FNMA and
FHLMC under conservatorship and appointed the Federal Housing Finance
Agency (FHFA) to manage their daily operations. In addition, the U.S. Treasury
entered into purchase agreements with FNMA and FHLMC to provide them
with capital in exchange for senior preferred stock. Generally, a GSE’s
securities are neither issued nor guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury and are not
backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. In most cases, these
securities are supported only by the credit of the GSE, standing alone. In some
cases, a GSE’s securities may be supported by the ability of the GSE to
borrow from the U.S. Treasury or may be supported by the U.S. government in
some other way. Securities issued by the Government National Mortgage
Association (GNMA), however, are backed by the full faith and credit of the
U.S. government.

Other Investment Policies and Risks

Each Fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in bonds held in its target index.
Up to 20% of each Fund’s assets may be used to purchase nonpublic,
investment-grade securities, generally referred to as 144A securities not included
in the index, as well as smaller public issues or medium-term notes not included
in the index because of the small size of the issue. The Funds’ advisor expects
that the vast majority of these securities will have characteristics similar to those
in the target index. Subject to the same 20% limit, a Fund may also purchase
other investments that are outside of its target index or may hold bonds that,
when acquired, were included in the index but subsequently were removed. The
Funds may also invest in relatively conservative classes of collateralized
mortgage obligations (CMOs), which offer a high degree of cash-flow
predictability and a low level of vulnerability to mortgage prepayment risk. To

34
reduce credit risk, these less-risky classes of CMOs are purchased only if they
are issued by agencies of the U.S. government or issued by private companies
that carry high-quality investment-grade ratings.

Each Fund reserves the right to substitute a different index for the index it
currently tracks if the current index is discontinued, if the Fund’s agreement with
the provider of its target index is terminated, or for any other reason determined
in good faith by the Fund’s board of trustees. In any such instance, the substitute
index would represent the same market segment as the current index.

Each Fund may invest in derivatives. In general, investments in derivatives

may involve risks different from, and possibly greater than, those of
investments directly in the underlying securities or assets.

Generally speaking, a derivative is a financial contract whose value is based on

the value of a financial asset (such as a stock, a bond, or a currency), a physical
asset (such as gold, oil, or wheat), a market index, or a reference rate. The
Funds may invest in derivatives only if the expected risks and rewards of the
derivatives are consistent with the investment objective, policies, strategies, and
risks of the Funds as disclosed in this prospectus. In particular, derivatives will be
used only when they may help the advisor to accomplish one or more of the
following:

• Invest in eligible asset classes with greater efficiency and lower cost than is
possible through direct investment.

• Add value when these instruments are attractively priced.

• Adjust sensitivity to changes in interest rates.

Plain Talk About Derivatives

Derivatives can take many forms. Some forms of derivatives—such as
exchange-traded futures and options on securities, commodities, or
indexes—have been trading on regulated exchanges for decades. These
types of derivatives are standardized contracts that can easily be bought and
sold and whose market values are determined and published daily. On the
other hand, non-exchange-traded derivatives—such as certain swap
agreements and foreign currency exchange forward contracts—tend to be
more specialized or complex and may be more difficult to accurately value.

35
Each Fund may invest a small portion of its assets in fixed income futures, which
are a type of derivative, and/or shares of exchange-traded funds (ETFs). These
fixed income futures and ETFs typically provide returns similar to those of the
bonds listed in the index, or in a subset of the index, the Fund seeks to track. A
Fund may purchase futures or ETFs when doing so will reduce the Fund’s
transaction costs, facilitate cash management, mitigate risk, or have the potential
to add value because the instruments are favorably priced. Vanguard receives no
additional revenue from Fund assets invested in ETF Shares of other Vanguard
funds. Fund assets invested in ETF Shares of other Vanguard funds are
excluded when allocating to the Fund its share of the costs of
Vanguard operations.

Cash Management
Each Fund’s daily cash balance may be invested in Vanguard Market Liquidity
Fund and/or Vanguard Municipal Cash Management Fund (each, a CMT Fund),
which are low-cost money market funds. When investing in a CMT Fund, each
Fund bears its proportionate share of the expenses of the CMT Fund in which it
invests. Vanguard receives no additional revenue from Fund assets invested in a
CMT Fund.

Redemption Requests
Methods used to meet redemption requests. Under normal circumstances,
each Fund typically expects to meet redemptions with positive cash flows. When
this is not an option, each Fund seeks to maintain its risk exposure by selling a
cross section of the Fund’s holdings to meet redemptions, while also factoring in
transaction costs. Additionally, a Fund may work with larger clients to implement
their redemptions in a manner that is least disruptive to the portfolio; see
“Potentially disruptive redemptions” under Redeeming Shares in the Investing
With Vanguard section.

Under certain circumstances, including under stressed market conditions, there

are additional tools that each Fund may use in order to meet redemptions,
including advancing the settlement of market trades with counterparties to match
investor redemption payments or delaying settlement of an investor’s transaction
to match trade settlement within regulatory requirements. A Fund may also
suspend payment of redemption proceeds for up to seven days; see “Emergency
circumstances” under Redeeming Shares in the Investing With Vanguard
section. Additionally under these unusual circumstances, a Fund may borrow
money (subject to certain regulatory conditions and if available under
board-approved procedures) through an interfund lending facility; through a bank
line-of-credit, including a joint committed credit facility; or through an
uncommitted line-of-credit from Vanguard in order to meet redemption requests.

36
Potential redemption activity impacts. At times, a Fund may experience
adverse effects when certain large shareholders, or multiple shareholders
comprising significant ownership of the Fund or share class of the Fund, redeem
large amounts of shares of the Fund. Large redemptions may cause a Fund to
sell portfolio securities at times when it would not otherwise do so. This may
result in a Fund distributing capital gains or other taxable income to
non-redeeming shareholders. Large redemptions may also increase a Fund’s
transaction costs. Redemption activity can occur for many reasons, including
shareholder reactions to market movements or other events unrelated to
Vanguard’s actions, or when Vanguard makes product changes that, for
example, may result in a shareholder redeeming shares of a Fund to purchase
shares of another similar fund or investment vehicle. When experiencing large
redemptions, the Fund reserves the right to pay all or part of the redemption
in-kind and/or delay payment of the redemption proceeds for up to seven
calendar days; see “Potentially disruptive redemptions” under Redeeming
Shares in the Investing With Vanguard section.

Temporary Investment Measures

Each Fund may temporarily depart from its normal investment policies and
strategies when the advisor believes that doing so is in the Fund’s best interest,
so long as the strategy or policy employed is consistent with the Fund’s
investment objective. For instance, a Fund may invest beyond its normal limits in
derivatives or exchange-traded funds that are consistent with the Fund’s
investment objective when those instruments are more favorably priced or
provide needed liquidity, as might be the case when the Fund receives large
cash flows that it cannot prudently invest immediately.

Transaction Fees on Purchases

Vanguard Long-Term Bond Index Fund charges a fee of 0.50% on all purchases
of shares, including shares that you purchase by exchange from another
Vanguard fund.

In addition, Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund, Vanguard Short-Term Bond
Index Fund, and Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond Index Fund each reserve the
right to charge the following transaction fees to investors whose aggregate share
purchases into a Fund equal or exceed the following amounts:
Vanguard Fund Transaction Fee Aggregate Purchases
Total Bond Market Index Fund 0.25% Over $500 million
Short-Term Bond Index Fund 0.15 Over $200 million
Intermediate-Term Bond Index Fund 0.25 Over $100 million

37
Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund, Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index
Fund, and Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond Index Fund may impose these
transaction fees if an investor’s aggregate purchases into a Fund over a
12-month period exceed, or are expected to exceed, the indicated amounts upon
notice to the client in conjunction with a purchase that triggers application of the
fees. The transaction fees will be assessed only if the client elects to proceed
with the purchase. Generally, these fees will not apply to transactions
coordinated in advance between a client and Vanguard.

Unlike a sales charge or a load paid to a broker or a fund management company,

purchase and transaction fees are paid directly to the Fund to offset the costs of
buying securities.

See Investing With Vanguard for more information about fees.

Frequent Trading or Market-Timing

Background. Some investors try to profit from strategies involving frequent
trading of mutual fund shares, such as market-timing. For funds holding foreign
securities, investors may try to take advantage of an anticipated difference
between the price of the fund’s shares and price movements in overseas
markets, a practice also known as time-zone arbitrage. Investors also may try to
engage in frequent trading of funds holding investments such as small-cap
stocks and high-yield bonds. As money is shifted into and out of a fund by a
shareholder engaging in frequent trading, the fund incurs costs for buying and
selling securities, resulting in increased brokerage and administrative costs.
These costs are borne by all fund shareholders, including the long-term investors
who do not generate the costs. In addition, frequent trading may interfere with an
advisor’s ability to efficiently manage the fund.

Policies to address frequent trading. The Vanguard funds (other than money
market funds and short-term bond funds, but including Vanguard Short-Term
Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund) do not knowingly accommodate
frequent trading. The board of trustees of each Vanguard fund (other than money
market funds and short-term bond funds, but including Vanguard Short-Term
Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund) has adopted policies and procedures
reasonably designed to detect and discourage frequent trading and, in some
cases, to compensate the fund for the costs associated with it. These policies
and procedures do not apply to ETF Shares because frequent trading in ETF
Shares generally does not disrupt portfolio management or otherwise harm fund
shareholders. Although there is no assurance that Vanguard will be able to detect
or prevent frequent trading or market-timing in all circumstances, the following
policies have been adopted to address these issues:

38
• Each Vanguard fund reserves the right to reject any purchase
request—including exchanges from other Vanguard funds—without notice and
regardless of size. For example, a purchase request could be rejected because
the investor has a history of frequent trading or if Vanguard determines that such
purchase may negatively affect a fund’s operation or performance.
• Each Vanguard fund (other than money market funds and short-term bond
funds, but including Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index
Fund) generally prohibits, except as otherwise noted in the Investing With
Vanguard section, an investor’s purchases or exchanges into a fund account for
30 calendar days after the investor has redeemed or exchanged out of that
fund account.
• Certain Vanguard funds charge shareholders purchase and/or redemption fees
on transactions.

See the Investing With Vanguard section of this prospectus for further details
on Vanguard’s transaction policies.

Each Vanguard fund (other than retail and government money market funds), in
determining its net asset value, will use fair-value pricing when appropriate, as
described in the Share Price section. Fair-value pricing may reduce or eliminate
the profitability of certain frequent-trading strategies.

Do not invest with Vanguard if you are a market-timer.

A precautionary note to investment companies: Each Fund’s shares are

issued by a registered investment company, and therefore the acquisition of such
shares by other investment companies and private funds is subject to the
restrictions of Section 12(d)(1) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the 1940
Act). SEC Rule 12d1-4 under the 1940 Act permits registered investment
companies to invest in other registered investment companies beyond the limits
in Section 12(d)(1), subject to certain conditions, including that funds with
different investment advisors must enter into a fund of funds investment
agreement.

Turnover Rate
Although the Funds generally seek to invest for the long term, each Fund may
sell securities regardless of how long they have been held. Generally, an index
fund sells securities in response to redemption requests from shareholders of
conventional (not exchange-traded) shares or to changes in the composition of
its target index or in an effort to manage the fund’s duration. The Financial
Highlights section of this prospectus shows historical turnover rates for the
Funds. A turnover rate of 100%, for example, would mean that a Fund had sold
and replaced securities valued at 100% of its net assets within a one-year period.

39
Shorter-term bonds will mature or be sold—and need to be replaced—more
frequently than longer-term bonds. As a result, shorter-term bond funds tend to
have higher turnover rates than longer-term bond funds. In general, the greater
the turnover rate, the greater the impact transaction costs will have on a fund’s
return. Also, funds with high turnover rates may be more likely to generate capital
gains, including short-term capital gains, that must be distributed to shareholders
and will be taxable to shareholders investing through a taxable account.

The Funds and Vanguard

Each Fund is a member of The Vanguard Group, Inc. (Vanguard), a family of
over 200 funds. All of the funds that are members of Vanguard (other than funds
of funds) share in the expenses associated with administrative services and
business operations, such as personnel, office space, and equipment.

Vanguard Marketing Corporation provides marketing services to the funds.

Although fund shareholders do not pay sales commissions or 12b-1 distribution
fees, each fund (other than a fund of funds) or each share class of a fund (in the
case of a fund with multiple share classes) pays its allocated share of the
Vanguard funds’ marketing costs.

Plain Talk About Vanguard’s Unique Corporate Structure

Vanguard is owned jointly by the funds it oversees and thus indirectly by the
shareholders in those funds. Most other mutual funds are operated by
management companies that are owned by third parties—either public or
private stockholders—and not by the funds they serve.

Investment Advisor

The Vanguard Group, Inc., P.O. Box 2600, Valley Forge, PA 19482, which began
operations in 1975, serves as advisor to the Funds through its Fixed Income
Group. As of December 31, 2023, Vanguard served as advisor for approximately
$7.2 trillion in assets. Vanguard provides investment advisory services to the
Funds pursuant to the Funds’ Service Agreement and subject to the supervision
and oversight of the trustees and officers of the Funds.

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, the advisory expenses
represented an effective annual rate of less than 0.01% of each Fund’s average
net assets.

40
Under the terms of an SEC exemption, the Funds’ board of trustees may, without
prior approval from shareholders, change the terms of an advisory agreement
with a third-party investment advisor or hire a new third-party investment
advisor—either as a replacement for an existing advisor or as an additional
advisor. Any significant change in a Fund’s advisory arrangements will be
communicated to shareholders in writing. As the Funds’ sponsor and overall
manager, Vanguard may provide investment advisory services to a Fund at any
time. Vanguard may also recommend to the board of trustees that an advisor be
hired, terminated, or replaced or that the terms of an existing advisory agreement
be revised. The Funds have filed an application seeking a similar SEC exemption
with respect to investment advisors that are wholly owned subsidiaries of
Vanguard. If the exemption is granted, the Funds may rely on the new SEC relief.

For a discussion of why the board of trustees approved each Fund’s investment
advisory arrangement, see the most recent semiannual reports to shareholders
covering the fiscal period ended June 30.

The manager primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the

Funds is:

Joshua C. Barrickman, CFA, Principal of Vanguard and co-head of Vanguard’s

Fixed Income Indexing Americas. He has been with Vanguard since 1998; has
worked in investment management since 1999; has managed investment
portfolios since 2005; has managed Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond Index
Fund since 2008; and has managed Vanguard Total Bond Market Index,
Short-Term Bond Index, and Long-Term Bond Index Funds since 2013.
Education: B.S., Ohio Northern University; M.B.A., Lehigh University.

The Funds' Statement of Additional Information provides information about the

portfolio manager’s compensation, other accounts under management, and
ownership of shares of the Funds.

Dividends, Capital Gains, and Taxes

Fund Distributions
Each Fund distributes to shareholders virtually all of its net income (interest less
expenses) as well as any net short-term or long-term capital gains realized from
the sale of its holdings. From time to time, each Fund may also make
distributions that are treated as a return of capital. Income dividends generally

41
are declared daily and distributed monthly; capital gains distributions, if any,
generally occur annually in December. In addition, each Fund may occasionally
make a supplemental distribution at some other time during the year.

You can receive distributions of income or capital gains in cash, or you can have
them automatically reinvested in more shares of the Fund. However, if you are
investing through an employer-sponsored retirement or savings plan, your
distributions will be automatically reinvested in additional Fund shares.

Plain Talk About Distributions

As a shareholder, you are entitled to your portion of a fund’s income from
interest as well as capital gains from the fund’s sale of investments. Income
consists of interest the fund earns from its money market and bond
investments. Capital gains are realized whenever the fund sells securities for
higher prices than it paid for them. These capital gains are either short-term
or long-term, depending on whether the fund held the securities for one year
or less or for more than one year.

Basic Tax Points

Investors in taxable accounts should be aware of the following basic federal
income tax points:
• Distributions are taxable to you whether or not you reinvest these amounts in
additional Fund shares.
• Distributions declared in December—if paid to you by the end of January—are
taxable as if received in December.
• Any income dividend distribution or short-term capital gains distribution that
you receive is taxable to you as ordinary income.
• Any distribution of net long-term capital gains is taxable to you as long-term
capital gains, no matter how long you have owned shares in the Fund.
• Capital gains distributions can occur when a Fund sells assets at a gain.
Capital gains distributions vary from year to year as a result of the Fund’s
investment activities and cash flows, including those due to redemption activity
by Fund shareholders.
• Capital gains distributions may occur if Vanguard makes changes that would
impact a Fund directly or indirectly, including if Vanguard makes changes to the
Fund’s portfolio or to any other Vanguard fund or product that would involve the
redemption of shares of the Fund and the related sale of the Fund’s investments.

42
• Your cost basis in the Fund will be decreased by the amount of any return of
capital that you receive. This, in turn, will affect the amount of any capital gain or
loss that you realize when selling or exchanging your Fund shares.
• Return of capital distributions generally are not taxable to you until your cost
basis has been reduced to zero. If your cost basis is at zero, return of capital
distributions will be treated as capital gains.
• A sale or exchange of Fund shares is a taxable event. This means that you
may have a capital gain to report as income, or a capital loss to report as a
deduction, when you complete your tax return.
• Any conversion between classes of shares of the same fund is a nontaxable
event. By contrast, an exchange between classes of shares of different funds is a
taxable event.
• Vanguard (or your intermediary) will send you a statement each year showing
the tax status of all of your distributions.

Individuals, trusts, and estates whose income exceeds certain threshold amounts
are subject to a 3.8% Medicare contribution tax on “net investment income.” Net
investment income takes into account distributions paid by the Fund and capital
gains from any sale or exchange of Fund shares.

Income dividends and capital gains distributions that you receive, as well as your
gains or losses from any sale or exchange of Fund shares, may be subject to
state and local income taxes. Depending on your state’s rules, however, any
dividends attributable to interest earned on direct obligations of the U.S.
government may be exempt from state and local taxes. Vanguard will notify you
each year how much, if any, of your dividends may qualify for this exemption.

This prospectus provides general tax information only. If you are investing
through a tax-advantaged account, such as an IRA or an employer-sponsored
retirement or savings plan, special tax rules apply. Please consult your tax
advisor for detailed information about any tax consequences for you.

General Information
Backup withholding. By law, Vanguard must withhold 24% of any taxable
distributions or redemptions from your account if you do not:
• Provide your correct taxpayer identification number.
• Certify that the taxpayer identification number is correct.
• Confirm that you are not subject to backup withholding.

Similarly, Vanguard (or your intermediary) must withhold taxes from your account
if the IRS instructs us to do so.

43
Foreign investors. Vanguard funds offered for sale in the United States
(Vanguard U.S. funds), including the Funds offered in this prospectus, are not
widely available outside the United States. Non-U.S. investors should be aware
that U.S. withholding and estate taxes and certain U.S. tax reporting
requirements may apply to any investments in Vanguard U.S. funds. Foreign
investors should visit the non-U.S. investors page on our website at
vanguard.com for information on Vanguard’s non-U.S. products.

Invalid addresses. If an income dividend distribution or capital gains distribution

check mailed to your address of record is returned as undeliverable, Vanguard
will automatically reinvest the distribution and all future distributions until you
provide us with a valid mailing address. Reinvestments will receive the net asset
value calculated on the date of the reinvestment.

Share Price
Share price, also known as net asset value (NAV), is calculated as of the close of
regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), generally 4 p.m.,
Eastern time, on each day that the NYSE is open for business (a business day).
In the rare event the NYSE experiences unanticipated disruptions and is
unavailable at the close of the trading day, NAVs will be calculated as of the
close of regular trading on the Nasdaq (or another alternate exchange if the
Nasdaq is unavailable, as determined at Vanguard’s discretion), generally 4 p.m.,
Eastern time. Each share class has its own NAV, which is computed by dividing
the total assets, minus liabilities, allocated to the share class by the number of
Fund shares outstanding for that class. On U.S. holidays or other days when the
NYSE is closed, the NAV is not calculated, and the Funds do not sell or redeem
shares. However, on those days the value of a Fund’s assets may be affected to
the extent that the Fund holds securities that change in value on those days
(such as foreign securities that trade on foreign markets that are open).

Debt securities held by a Vanguard fund are valued based on information

furnished by an independent pricing service or market quotations. When a fund
determines that pricing-service information or market quotations either are not
readily available or do not accurately reflect the value of a security, the security is
priced at its fair value (the amount that the owner might reasonably expect to
receive upon the current sale of the security).

The values of any foreign securities held by a fund are converted into U.S.
dollars using an exchange rate obtained from an independent third party as of
the close of regular trading on the NYSE. The values of any mutual fund shares,

44
including institutional money market fund shares, held by a fund are based on
the NAVs of the shares. The values of any ETF shares or closed-end fund
shares held by a fund are based on the market value of the shares.

A fund also may use fair-value pricing on bond market holidays when the fund is
open for business (such as Columbus Day and Veterans Day). Fair-value prices
are determined by Vanguard according to procedures adopted by the board of
trustees. When fair-value pricing is employed, the prices of securities used by a
fund to calculate the NAV may differ from quoted or published prices for the
same securities.

Each Fund has authorized certain financial intermediaries and their designees,
and may, from time to time, authorize certain funds of funds for which Vanguard
serves as the investment advisor (Vanguard Funds of Funds), to accept orders to
buy or sell fund shares on its behalf. The Fund will be deemed to receive an
order when accepted by the financial intermediary, its designee, or one of the
Vanguard Funds of Funds, and the order will receive the NAV next computed by
the Fund after such acceptance.

Vanguard fund share prices are published daily on our website at

vanguard.com/prices.

45
Financial Highlights
Financial highlights information is intended to help you understand a fund’s
performance for the past five years (or, if shorter, its period of operations).
Certain information reflects financial results for a single fund share. Total return
represents the rate that an investor would have earned or lost each period on an
investment in a fund or share class (assuming reinvestment of all distributions).
This information has been obtained from the financial statements audited by
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm,
whose report, along with fund financial statements, is included in a fund’s most
recent annual report to shareholders. You may obtain a free copy of a fund’s
latest annual or semiannual report, which is available upon request.

Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund Institutional Shares

Year Ended December 31,

For a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Period 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019
Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period $9.48 $11.19 $11.62 $11.05 $10.45
Investment Operations
Net Investment Income1 .301 .240 .214 .260 .303
Net Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments .230 (1.702) (.406) .590 .601
Total from Investment Operations .531 (1.462) (.192) .850 .904
Distributions
Dividends from Net Investment Income (.301) (.240) (.214) (.261) (.304)
Distributions from Realized Capital Gains — (.008) (.024) (.019) —
Total Distributions (.301) (.248) (.238) (.280) (.304)
Net Asset Value, End of Period $9.71 $9.48 $11.19 $11.62 $11.05

Total Return 5.72% -13.15% -1.65% 7.74% 8.73%

Ratios/Supplemental Data
Net Assets, End of Period (Millions) $43,463 $40,813 $49,162 $53,018 $47,477
Ratio of Total Expenses to Average Net Assets 0.035%2 0.035%2 0.035% 0.035% 0.035%
Ratio of Net Investment Income to Average Net Assets 3.17% 2.39% 1.90% 2.26% 2.79%
Portfolio Turnover Rate3,4 36% 40% 69% 79% 31%

1 Calculated based on average shares outstanding.

2 The ratio of expenses to average net assets for the period net of reduction from custody fee
offset arrangements was 0.035%.
3 Excludes the value of portfolio securities received or delivered as a result of in-kind purchases
or redemptions of the fund’s capital shares, including ETF Creation Units.
4 Includes 10%, 12%, 34%, 29%, and 10%, respectively, attributable to mortgage-dollar-
roll activity.

46
Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund Institutional Plus Shares

Year Ended December 31,

For a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Period 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019
Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period $9.48 $11.19 $11.62 $11.05 $10.45
Investment Operations
Net Investment Income1 .302 .240 .214 .260 .304
Net Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments .229 (1.702) (.406) .590 .600
Total from Investment Operations .531 (1.462) (.192) .850 .904
Distributions
Dividends from Net Investment Income (.301) (.240) (.214) (.261) (.304)
Distributions from Realized Capital Gains — (.008) (.024) (.019) —
Total Distributions (.301) (.248) (.238) (.280) (.304)
Net Asset Value, End of Period $9.71 $9.48 $11.19 $11.62 $11.05

Total Return 5.72% -13.14% -1.65% 7.74% 8.74%

Ratios/Supplemental Data
Net Assets, End of Period (Millions) $33,268 $28,670 $36,314 $32,910 $23,679
Ratio of Total Expenses to Average Net Assets 0.03%2 0.03%2 0.03% 0.03% 0.03%
Ratio of Net Investment Income to Average Net Assets 3.18% 2.40% 1.90% 2.25% 2.80%
Portfolio Turnover Rate3,4 36% 40% 69% 79% 31%

1 Calculated based on average shares outstanding.

2 The ratio of expenses to average net assets for the period net of reduction from custody fee
offset arrangements was 0.03%.
3 Excludes the value of portfolio securities received or delivered as a result of in-kind purchases
or redemptions of the fund’s capital shares, including ETF Creation Units.
4 Includes 10%, 12%, 34%, 29%, and 10%, respectively, attributable to mortgage-dollar-
roll activity.

47
Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund Institutional Shares

Year Ended December 31,

For a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Period 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019
Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period $9.87 $10.60 $10.87 $10.57 $10.31
Investment Operations
Net Investment Income1 .245 .143 .126 .195 .239
Net Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments .230 (.726) (.240) .301 .260
Total from Investment Operations .475 (.583) (.114) .496 .499
Distributions
Dividends from Net Investment Income (.245) (.144) (.127) (.196) (.239)
Distributions from Realized Capital Gains — (.003) (.029) — —
Total Distributions (.245) (.147) (.156) (.196) (.239)
Net Asset Value, End of Period $10.10 $9.87 $10.60 $10.87 $10.57

Total Return 4.88% -5.52% -1.06% 4.71% 4.88%

Ratios/Supplemental Data
Net Assets, End of Period (Millions) $5,379 $5,580 $6,790 $6,134 $5,524
Ratio of Total Expenses to Average Net Assets 0.05%2 0.05%2 0.05% 0.05% 0.05%
Ratio of Net Investment Income to Average Net Assets 2.47% 1.42% 1.17% 1.80% 2.28%
Portfolio Turnover Rate3 64% 41% 37% 49% 44%

1 Calculated based on average shares outstanding.

2 The ratio of expenses to average net assets for the period net of reduction from custody fee
offset arrangements was 0.05%.
3 Excludes the value of portfolio securities received or delivered as a result of in-kind purchases
or redemptions of the fund’s capital shares, including ETF Creation Units.

48
Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund Institutional Plus Shares

Year Ended December 31,

For a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Period 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019
Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period $9.87 $10.60 $10.87 $10.57 $10.31
Investment Operations
Net Investment Income1 .247 .145 .127 .196 .240
Net Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments .229 (.727) (.240) .301 .260
Total from Investment Operations .476 (.582) (.113) .497 .500
Distributions
Dividends from Net Investment Income (.246) (.145) (.128) (.197) (.240)
Distributions from Realized Capital Gains — (.003) (.029) — —
Total Distributions (.246) (.148) (.157) (.197) (.240)
Net Asset Value, End of Period $10.10 $9.87 $10.60 $10.87 $10.57

Total Return 4.90% -5.51% -1.05% 4.72% 4.89%

Ratios/Supplemental Data
Net Assets, End of Period (Millions) $6,827 $6,723 $7,774 $6,817 $6,631
Ratio of Total Expenses to Average Net Assets 0.04%2 0.04%2 0.04% 0.04% 0.04%
Ratio of Net Investment Income to Average Net Assets 2.48% 1.43% 1.18% 1.81% 2.29%
Portfolio Turnover Rate3 64% 41% 37% 49% 44%

1 Calculated based on average shares outstanding.

2 The ratio of expenses to average net assets for the period net of reduction from custody fee
offset arrangements was 0.04%.
3 Excludes the value of portfolio securities received or delivered as a result of in-kind purchases
or redemptions of the fund’s capital shares, including ETF Creation Units.

49
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond Index Fund Institutional Shares

Year Ended December 31,

For a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Period 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019
Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period $10.08 $11.89 $12.59 $11.81 $11.02
Investment Operations
Net Investment Income1 .322 .240 .232 .283 .325
Net Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments .280 (1.807) (.527) .868 .790
Total from Investment Operations .602 (1.567) (.295) 1.151 1.115
Distributions
Dividends from Net Investment Income (.322) (.240) (.232) (.283) (.325)
Distributions from Realized Capital Gains — (.003) (.173) (.088) —
Total Distributions (.322) (.243) (.405) (.371) (.325)
Net Asset Value, End of Period $10.36 $10.08 $11.89 $12.59 $11.81

Total Return 6.09% -13.25% -2.34% 9.82% 10.20%

Ratios/Supplemental Data
Net Assets, End of Period (Millions) $2,931 $2,706 $3,271 $3,527 $3,158
Ratio of Total Expenses to Average Net Assets 0.05%2 0.05%2 0.05% 0.05% 0.05%
Ratio of Net Investment Income to Average Net Assets 3.18% 2.26% 1.90% 2.28% 2.81%
Portfolio Turnover Rate3 63% 46% 46% 55% 50%

1 Calculated based on average shares outstanding.

2 The ratio of expenses to average net assets for the period net of reduction from custody fee
offset arrangements was 0.05%.
3 Excludes the value of portfolio securities received or delivered as a result of in-kind purchases
or redemptions of the fund’s capital shares, including ETF Creation Units.

50
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond Index Fund Institutional Plus Shares

Year Ended December 31,

For a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Period 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019
Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period $10.08 $11.89 $12.59 $11.81 $11.02
Investment Operations
Net Investment Income1 .322 .242 .233 .285 .326
Net Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments .281 (1.808) (.527) .868 .790
Total from Investment Operations .603 (1.566) (.294) 1.153 1.116
Distributions
Dividends from Net Investment Income (.323) (.241) (.233) (.285) (.326)
Distributions from Realized Capital Gains — (.003) (.173) (.088) —
Total Distributions (.323) (.244) (.406) (.373) (.326)
Net Asset Value, End of Period $10.36 $10.08 $11.89 $12.59 $11.81

Total Return 6.10% -13.24% -2.33% 9.83% 10.21%

Ratios/Supplemental Data
Net Assets, End of Period (Millions) $951 $1,655 $1,786 $1,777 $1,632
Ratio of Total Expenses to Average Net Assets 0.04%2 0.04%2 0.04% 0.04% 0.04%
Ratio of Net Investment Income to Average Net Assets 3.18% 2.28% 1.91% 2.29% 2.83%
Portfolio Turnover Rate3 63% 46% 46% 55% 50%

1 Calculated based on average shares outstanding.

2 The ratio of expenses to average net assets for the period net of reduction from custody fee
offset arrangements was 0.04%.
3 Excludes the value of portfolio securities received or delivered as a result of in-kind purchases
or redemptions of the fund’s capital shares, including ETF Creation Units.

51
Vanguard Long-Term Bond Index Fund Institutional Shares

Year Ended December 31,

For a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Period 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019
Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period $10.99 $15.67 $16.65 $15.18 $13.23
Investment Operations
Net Investment Income1 .465 .442 .449 .494 .525
Net Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments .340 (4.665) (.902) 1.949 1.975
Total from Investment Operations .805 (4.223) (.453) 2.443 2.500
Distributions
Dividends from Net Investment Income (.465) (.441) (.449) (.493) (.524)
Distributions from Realized Capital Gains — (.016) (.078) (.480) (.026)
Total Distributions (.465) (.457) (.527) (.973) (.550)
Net Asset Value, End of Period $11.33 $10.99 $15.67 $16.65 $15.18

Total Return2 7.54% -27.20% -2.64% 16.25% 19.12%

Ratios/Supplemental Data
Net Assets, End of Period (Millions) $922 $963 $1,501 $1,649 $2,097
Ratio of Total Expenses to Average Net Assets 0.05% 0.05%3 0.05% 0.05% 0.05%
Ratio of Net Investment Income to Average Net Assets 4.24% 3.53% 2.88% 2.98% 3.64%
Portfolio Turnover Rate4 25% 25% 30% 48% 33%

1 Calculated based on average shares outstanding.

2 Total returns do not include transaction fees that may have applied in the periods shown.
Fund prospectuses provide information about any applicable transaction fees.
3 The ratio of expenses to average net assets for the period net of reduction from custody fee
offset arrangements was 0.05%.
4 Excludes the value of portfolio securities received or delivered as a result of in-kind purchases
or redemptions of the fund’s capital shares, including ETF Creation Units.

52
Vanguard Long-Term Bond Index Fund Institutional Plus Shares

Year Ended December 31,

For a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Period 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019
Net Asset Value, Beginning of Period $10.99 $15.67 $16.65 $15.18 $13.23
Investment Operations
Net Investment Income1 .467 .442 .452 .498 .526
Net Realized and Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Investments .339 (4.664) (.903) 1.947 1.975
Total from Investment Operations .806 (4.222) (.451) 2.445 2.501
Distributions
Dividends from Net Investment Income (.466) (.442) (.451) (.495) (.525)
Distributions from Realized Capital Gains — (.016) (.078) (.480) (.026)
Total Distributions (.466) (.458) (.529) (.975) (.551)
Net Asset Value, End of Period $11.33 $10.99 $15.67 $16.65 $15.18

Total Return2 7.55% -27.20% -2.63% 16.26% 19.14%

Ratios/Supplemental Data
Net Assets, End of Period (Millions) $377 $357 $1,052 $1,362 $2,960
Ratio of Total Expenses to Average Net Assets 0.04% 0.04%3 0.04% 0.04% 0.04%
Ratio of Net Investment Income to Average Net Assets 4.25% 3.50% 2.90% 3.02% 3.63%
Portfolio Turnover Rate4 25% 25% 30% 48% 33%

1 Calculated based on average shares outstanding.

2 Total returns do not include transaction fees that may have applied in the periods shown.
Fund prospectuses provide information about any applicable transaction fees.
3 The ratio of expenses to average net assets for the period net of reduction from custody fee
offset arrangements was 0.04%.
4 Excludes the value of portfolio securities received or delivered as a result of in-kind purchases
or redemptions of the fund’s capital shares, including ETF Creation Units.

53
Investing With Vanguard
This section of the prospectus explains the basics of doing business with
Vanguard. Vanguard fund shares can be held indirectly through an intermediary,
such as a bank, a broker, or an investment advisor. If you hold Vanguard fund
shares indirectly through an intermediary (including shares held in a brokerage
account through Vanguard Brokerage Services®), please see Investing With
Vanguard Through Other Firms, and also refer to your account agreement with
the intermediary for information about transacting in that account. If you hold
Vanguard fund shares through an employer-sponsored retirement or savings
plan, please see Employer-Sponsored Plans. Vanguard reserves the right to
change the policies in this section without notice. Please call or check online for
current information. See Contacting Vanguard.

In certain circumstances, Vanguard fund shares can be held directly with

Vanguard. If you hold Vanguard fund shares directly with Vanguard, you should
carefully read each topic within this section that pertains to your relationship with
Vanguard. Vanguard reserves the right, upon reasonable notice, to discontinue
the ability to hold Vanguard fund shares directly with Vanguard for any or all
investors and/or to transfer such shares to an affiliate or other financial institution.

For Vanguard fund shares held directly with Vanguard, each fund you hold in an
account is a separate “fund account.” For example, if you hold three funds in a
nonretirement account titled in your own name, two funds in a nonretirement
account titled jointly with your spouse, and one fund in an individual retirement
account, you have six fund accounts—and this is true even if you hold the same
fund in multiple accounts. Note that each reference to “you” in this prospectus
applies to any one or more registered account owners or persons authorized to
transact on your account.

Purchasing Shares

Vanguard reserves the right, without notice, to increase or decrease the

minimum amount required to open, convert shares to, or maintain a fund account
or to add to an existing fund account.

Investment minimums may differ for certain categories of investors.

54
Account Minimums for Institutional Shares and Institutional
Plus Shares
To open and maintain an account. Institutional Shares—$5 million; Institutional
Plus Shares—$100 million. If you request Institutional Shares or Institutional Plus
Shares when you open a new account but the investment amount does not meet
the account minimum for the requested share class, your investment will be
placed in another share class of the Fund, as appropriate.

Certain Vanguard institutional clients may meet the minimum investment amount
by aggregating separate accounts within the same fund. This aggregation policy
does not apply to financial intermediaries.

Vanguard may charge additional recordkeeping fees for institutional clients

whose accounts are recordkept by Vanguard. Please contact your Vanguard
representative to determine whether additional recordkeeping fees apply to
your account.

To add to an existing account. Generally $1.

How to Initiate a Purchase Request

Be sure to check Exchanging Shares, Frequent-Trading Limitations, and Other
Rules You Should Know before placing your purchase request.

Online. You may open certain types of accounts, request a purchase of shares,
and request an exchange through our website or our mobile application if your
account is eligible and you are registered for online access.

By telephone. You may call Vanguard to begin the account registration process
or request that the account-opening forms be sent to you. You may also call
Vanguard to request a purchase of shares in your account or to request an
exchange. See Contacting Vanguard.

By mail. You may send Vanguard your account registration form and check to
open a new fund account. To add to an existing fund account, you may send your
check with an Invest-by-Mail form (from a transaction confirmation or your
account statement) or with a deposit slip (available online).

Transaction Fees on Purchases

Vanguard Long-Term Bond Index Fund charges a fee of 0.50% on purchases of
shares, including shares that you purchase by exchange from another
Vanguard fund.

55
In addition, Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund, Vanguard Short-Term Bond
Index Fund, and Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond Index Fund each reserve the
right to charge the following transaction fees to investors whose aggregate share
purchases into a Fund equal or exceed the following amounts:
Vanguard Fund Transaction Fee Aggregate Purchases
Total Bond Market Index Fund 0.25% Over $500 million
Short-Term Bond Index Fund 0.15 Over $200 million
Intermediate-Term Bond Index Fund 0.25 Over $100 million

Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund, Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index
Fund, and Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond Index Fund may impose these
transaction fees if an investor’s aggregate purchases into a Fund over a
12-month period exceed, or are expected to exceed, the indicated amounts upon
notice to the client in conjunction with a purchase that triggers application of the
fees. The transaction fees will be assessed only if the client elects to proceed
with the purchase. Generally, these fees will not apply to transactions
coordinated in advance between a client and Vanguard.

Purchase fees will not apply to Vanguard fund account purchases in the following
circumstances: (1) purchases of shares through reinvested dividends or capital
gains distributions; (2) share transfers, rollovers, or reregistrations within the
same fund; (3) conversions of shares from one share class to another in the
same fund; (4) purchases in kind; and (5) share rollovers to an IRA within the
same Vanguard fund for plans in which Vanguard serves as a recordkeeper.
Unlike a sales charge or a load paid to a broker or a fund management company,
purchase and transaction fees are paid directly to the Fund to offset the costs of
buying securities.

How to Pay for a Purchase

By electronic bank transfer. You may purchase shares of a Vanguard fund
through an electronic transfer of money from a bank account. To establish the
electronic bank transfer service on an account, you must designate the bank
account online, complete a form, or fill out the appropriate section of your
account registration form. After the service is set up on your account, you can
purchase shares by electronic bank transfer on a regular schedule (Automatic
Investment Plan), if eligible, or upon request. Your purchase request can be
initiated online (if you are registered for online access), by telephone, or by mail.

By wire. Wiring instructions vary for different types of purchases. Please call
Vanguard for instructions and policies on purchasing shares by wire. See
Contacting Vanguard.

56
By check. You may make initial or additional purchases to your fund account by
sending a check with a deposit slip or by utilizing our mobile application if your
account is eligible and you are registered for online access. Also see How to
Initiate a Purchase Request. Make your check payable to Vanguard and include
the appropriate fund number (e.g., Vanguard—xx). For a list of Fund numbers
(for Funds and share classes in this prospectus), see Additional Information.

By exchange. You may purchase shares of a Vanguard fund using the proceeds
from the simultaneous redemption of shares of another Vanguard fund. You may
initiate an exchange online (if you are registered for online access), by
telephone, or by mail with an exchange form. See Exchanging Shares.

Trade Date
The trade date for any purchase request received in good order will depend on
the day and time Vanguard receives your request, the manner in which you are
paying, and the type of fund you are purchasing. Your purchase will be executed
using the NAV as calculated on the trade date. NAVs are calculated only on days
that the NYSE is open for trading (a business day). In the rare event the NYSE
experiences unanticipated disruptions and is unavailable at the close of the
trading day, NAVs will be calculated as of the close of regular trading on the
Nasdaq (or another alternate exchange if the Nasdaq is unavailable, as
determined at Vanguard’s discretion), generally 4 p.m., Eastern time. The time
selected for NAV calculation in this rare event shall also serve as the conclusion
of the trading day. See Share Price.

For purchases by check into all funds other than money market funds and for
purchases by exchange, wire, or electronic bank transfer into all funds: If the
purchase request is received by Vanguard on a business day before the close of
regular trading on the NYSE (generally 4 p.m., Eastern time), the trade date for
the purchase will be the same day. If the purchase request is received on a
business day after the close of regular trading on the NYSE, or on a nonbusiness
day, the trade date for the purchase will be the next business day.

For purchases by check into money market funds: If the purchase request is
received by Vanguard on a business day before the close of regular trading on
the NYSE (generally 4 p.m., Eastern time), the trade date for the purchase will be
the next business day. If the purchase request is received on a business day
after the close of regular trading on the NYSE, or on a nonbusiness day, the
trade date for the purchase will be the second business day following the day
Vanguard receives the purchase request. Because money market instruments
must be purchased with federal funds and it takes a money market mutual fund
one business day to convert check proceeds into federal funds, the trade date for
the purchase will be one business day later than for other funds.

57
If applicable, orders by Vanguard Funds of Funds will be treated as received by
the Fund at the same time that corresponding orders are received in proper form
by the Vanguard Funds of Funds

If your purchase request is not accurate and complete, it may be rejected. See
Other Rules You Should Know—Good Order.

For further information about purchase transactions, consult our website at

vanguard.com or see Contacting Vanguard.

Earning Dividends
You generally begin earning dividends on the business day following your trade
date. When buying money market fund shares through a federal funds wire on a
business day, however, you generally can begin earning dividends immediately
by making a purchase request by telephone to Vanguard before 10:45 a.m.,
Eastern time (2 p.m., Eastern time, for Vanguard Cash Reserves Federal Money
Market Fund; 12:30 p.m., Eastern time, for Vanguard Federal Money
Market Fund).

Other Purchase Rules You Should Know

Check purchases. All purchase checks must be written in U.S. dollars, be drawn
on a U.S. bank, and be accompanied by good order instructions. Vanguard does
not accept cash, traveler’s checks, starter checks, or money orders. In addition,
Vanguard may refuse checks that are not made payable to Vanguard.

New accounts. We are required by law to obtain from you certain personal
information that we will use to verify your identity. If you do not provide the
information, we may not be able to open your account. If we are unable to verify
your identity, Vanguard reserves the right, without notice, to close your account
or take such other steps as we deem reasonable. Certain types of accounts may
require additional documentation.

Refused or rejected purchase requests. Vanguard reserves the right to stop

selling fund shares or to reject any purchase request at any time and without
notice, including, but not limited to, purchases requested by exchange from
another Vanguard fund. This also includes the right to reject any purchase
request because the investor has a history of frequent trading or because the
purchase may negatively affect a fund’s operation or performance.

Large purchases. Call Vanguard before attempting to invest a large

dollar amount.

58
No cancellations. Vanguard will not accept your request to cancel any purchase
request once processing has begun. Please be careful when placing a
purchase request.

Converting Shares
When a conversion occurs, you receive shares of one class in place of shares of
another class of the same fund. At the time of conversion, the dollar value of the
“new” shares you receive equals the dollar value of the “old” shares that were
converted. In other words, the conversion has no effect on the value of your
investment in the fund at the time of the conversion. However, the number of
shares you own after the conversion may be greater than or less than the
number of shares you owned before the conversion, depending on the NAVs of
the two share classes.

Vanguard will not accept your request to cancel any self-directed conversion
request once processing has begun. Please be careful when placing a
conversion request.

A conversion between share classes of the same fund is a nontaxable event.

Trade Date
The trade date for any conversion request received in good order will depend on
the day and time Vanguard receives your request. Your conversion will be
executed using the NAVs of the different share classes on the trade date. NAVs
are calculated only on days that the NYSE is open for trading (a business day).
In the rare event the NYSE experiences unanticipated disruptions and is
unavailable at the close of the trading day, NAVs will be calculated as of the
close of regular trading on the Nasdaq (or another alternate exchange if the
Nasdaq is unavailable, as determined at Vanguard’s discretion), generally 4 p.m.,
Eastern time. The time selected for NAV calculation in this rare event shall also
serve as the conclusion of the trading day. See Share Price.

For a conversion request received by Vanguard on a business day before the

close of regular trading on the NYSE (generally 4 p.m., Eastern time), the trade
date will be the same day. For a conversion request received on a business day
after the close of regular trading on the NYSE, or on a nonbusiness day, the
trade date will be the next business day. See Other Rules You Should Know.

Conversions to Institutional Shares or Institutional Plus Shares

You are eligible for a self-directed conversion from another share class to
Institutional Shares or Institutional Plus Shares of the same Fund (if available),
provided that your account meets all eligibility requirements. You may request a

59
conversion through our website (if you are registered for online access), or you
may contact Vanguard by telephone or by mail to request this transaction.
Accounts that qualify for Institutional Shares or Institutional Plus Shares will not
be automatically converted.

Conversions to Institutional Select Shares

You are eligible for a self-directed conversion from another share class to
Institutional Select Shares of the same Fund (if available), provided that your
account meets all eligibility requirements. You may request a conversion through
our website (if you are registered for online access), through a trading platform,
by mail, or by telephone. Accounts that qualify for Institutional Select Shares will
not be automatically converted.

Mandatory Conversions to Another Share Class

If an account no longer meets the balance requirements for a share class,
Vanguard may automatically convert the shares in the account to another share
class, as appropriate. A decline in the account balance because of market
movement may result in such a conversion. Vanguard will notify the investor in
writing before any mandatory conversion occurs.

Redeeming Shares

How to Initiate a Redemption Request

Be sure to check Exchanging Shares, Frequent-Trading Limitations, and Other
Rules You Should Know before placing your redemption request.

Online. You may request a redemption of shares or request an exchange

through our website or our mobile application if your account is eligible and you
are registered for online access.

By telephone. You may call Vanguard to request a redemption of shares or an

exchange. See Contacting Vanguard.

By mail. You may send a form (available online) to Vanguard to redeem from a
fund account or to make an exchange.

How to Receive Redemption Proceeds

By electronic bank transfer. You may have the proceeds of a fund redemption
sent directly to a designated bank account. To establish the electronic bank
transfer service on an account, you must designate a bank account online,
complete a form, or fill out the appropriate section of your account registration
form. After the service is set up on your account, you can redeem shares by

60
electronic bank transfer on a regular schedule (Automatic Withdrawal Plan), if
eligible, or upon request. Your redemption request can be initiated online (if you
are registered for online access), by telephone, or by mail.

By wire. To receive your proceeds by wire, you may instruct Vanguard to wire
your redemption proceeds ($100 minimum) to a previously designated bank
account. To establish the wire redemption service, you generally must designate
a bank account online, complete a form, or fill out the appropriate section of your
account registration form.

Please note that Vanguard charges a $10 wire fee for outgoing wire redemptions.
The fee is assessed in addition to, rather than being withheld from, redemption
proceeds and is paid directly to the fund in which you invest. For example, if you
redeem $100 via a wire, you will receive the full $100, and the $10 fee will be
assessed to your fund account through an additional redemption of fund shares.
If you redeem your entire fund account, your redemption proceeds will be
reduced by the amount of the fee. The wire fee does not apply to accounts held
by Flagship and Flagship Select clients; accounts held through intermediaries,
including Vanguard Brokerage Services; or accounts held by institutional clients.

By exchange. You may have the proceeds of a Vanguard fund redemption

invested directly in shares of another Vanguard fund. You may initiate an
exchange online (if you are registered for online access), by telephone, or by
mail. See Exchanging Shares.

By check. If you have not chosen another redemption method, Vanguard will
mail you a redemption check, generally payable to all registered account owners,
normally within two business days of your trade date, and generally to the
address of record.

Trade Date
The trade date for any redemption request received in good order will depend on
the day and time Vanguard receives your request and the manner in which you
are redeeming. Your redemption will be executed using the NAV as calculated on
the trade date. NAVs are calculated only on days that the NYSE is open for
trading (a business day). In the rare event the NYSE experiences unanticipated
disruptions and is unavailable at the close of the trading day, NAVs will be
calculated as of the close of regular trading on the Nasdaq (or another alternate
exchange if the Nasdaq is unavailable, as determined at Vanguard’s discretion),
generally 4 p.m., Eastern time. The time selected for NAV calculation in this rare
event shall also serve as the conclusion of the trading day. See Share Price.

61
For redemptions by check, exchange, or wire: If the redemption request is
received by Vanguard on a business day before the close of regular trading on
the NYSE (generally 4 p.m., Eastern time), the trade date will be the same day. If
the redemption request is received on a business day after the close of regular
trading on the NYSE, or on a nonbusiness day, the trade date will be the next
business day.
• Note on timing of wire redemptions from money market funds: For
telephone requests received by Vanguard on a business day before
10:45 a.m., Eastern time (2 p.m., Eastern time, for Vanguard Cash Reserves
Federal Money Market Fund; 12:30 p.m., Eastern time, for Vanguard Federal
Money Market Fund), the redemption proceeds generally will leave Vanguard
by the close of business the same day. For telephone requests received by
Vanguard on a business day after those cut-off times, or on a nonbusiness
day, and for all requests other than by telephone, the redemption proceeds
generally will leave Vanguard by the close of business on the next
business day.
• Note on timing of wire redemptions from all other funds: For requests
received by Vanguard on a business day before the close of regular trading on
the NYSE (generally 4 p.m., Eastern time), the redemption proceeds generally
will leave Vanguard by the close of business on the next business day. For
requests received by Vanguard on a business day after the close of regular
trading on the NYSE, or on a nonbusiness day, the redemption proceeds
generally will leave Vanguard by the close of business on the second
business day after Vanguard receives the request.

For redemptions by electronic bank transfer: If the redemption request is

received by Vanguard on a business day before the close of regular trading on
the NYSE (generally 4 p.m., Eastern time), the trade date will be the same day. If
the redemption request is received on a business day after the close of regular
trading on the NYSE, or on a nonbusiness day, the trade date will be the next
business day.

If your redemption request is not accurate and complete, it may be rejected. If we

are unable to send your redemption proceeds by wire or electronic bank transfer
because the receiving institution rejects the transfer, Vanguard will make
additional efforts to complete your transaction. If Vanguard is still unable to
complete the transaction, we may send the proceeds of the redemption to you by
check, generally payable to all registered account owners, or use your proceeds
to purchase new shares of the fund from which you sold shares for the purpose
of the wire or electronic bank transfer transaction. See Other Rules You Should
Know—Good Order.

62
If your redemption request is received in good order, we typically expect that
redemption proceeds will be paid by a Fund within one business day of the trade
date; however, in certain circumstances, investors may experience a longer
settlement period at the time of the transaction. For further information, see
“Potentially disruptive redemptions” and “Emergency circumstances.”

For further information about redemption transactions, consult our website at

vanguard.com or see Contacting Vanguard.

Earning Dividends
You generally will continue earning dividends until the first business day following
your redemption or exchange trade date.

Other Redemption Rules You Should Know

Documentation for certain accounts. Special documentation may be required
to redeem from certain types of accounts, such as trust, corporate, nonprofit, or
retirement accounts. Please call us before attempting to redeem from these
types of accounts.

Potentially disruptive redemptions. Vanguard reserves the right to pay all or

part of a redemption in kind—that is, in the form of securities—if we reasonably
believe that a cash redemption would negatively affect the fund’s operation or
performance or that the shareholder may be engaged in market-timing or
frequent trading. Under these circumstances, Vanguard also reserves the right to
delay payment of the redemption proceeds for up to seven calendar days. By
calling us before you attempt to redeem a large dollar amount, you may avoid
in-kind or delayed payment of your redemption. Please see Frequent-Trading
Limitations for information about Vanguard’s policies to limit frequent trading.

Recently purchased shares. Although you can redeem shares at any time,
proceeds may not be made available to you until the fund collects payment for
your purchase. This may take up to seven calendar days for shares purchased
by check or by electronic bank transfer. If you have written a check on a fund in
an account with checkwriting privileges, that check may be rejected if your fund
account does not have a sufficient available balance.

Share certificates. Share certificates are no longer issued for Vanguard funds.
Shares currently held in certificates cannot be redeemed, exchanged, converted,
or transferred (reregistered) until you return the certificates (unsigned) to
Vanguard by registered mail.

Address change. If you change your address online or by telephone, there may
be up to a 14-day restriction (starting on the business day after your address is
changed) on your ability to request check redemptions online and by telephone.

63
You can request a redemption in writing (using a form available online) at any
time. Confirmations of address changes are sent to both the old and
new addresses.

Payment to a different person or address. At your request, we can make your

redemption check payable, or wire your redemption proceeds, to a different
person or send it to a different address. However, this generally requires the
written consent of all registered account owners and may require additional
documentation, such as a signature guarantee or a notarized signature. You may
obtain a signature guarantee from some commercial or savings banks, credit
unions, trust companies, or member firms of a U.S. stock exchange.

No cancellations. Vanguard will not accept your request to cancel any

redemption request once processing has begun. Please be careful when placing
a redemption request.

Emergency circumstances. Vanguard funds can postpone payment of

redemption proceeds for up to seven calendar days. In addition, Vanguard funds
can suspend redemptions and/or postpone payments of redemption proceeds
beyond seven calendar days at times when the NYSE is closed or during
emergency circumstances, as determined by the SEC.

Exchanging Shares
An exchange occurs when you use the proceeds from the redemption of shares of
one Vanguard fund to simultaneously purchase shares of a different Vanguard
fund. You can make exchange requests online (if you are registered for online
access), by telephone, or by mail. See Purchasing Shares and Redeeming
Shares.

If the NYSE is open for regular trading (generally until 4 p.m., Eastern time, on a
business day) at the time an exchange request is received in good order, the
trade date generally will be the same day. See Other Rules You Should
Know—Good Order for additional information on all transaction requests.

Vanguard will not accept your request to cancel any exchange request once
processing has begun. Please be careful when placing an exchange request.

Call Vanguard before attempting to exchange a large dollar amount. By calling us

before you attempt to exchange a large dollar amount, you may avoid delayed or
rejected transactions.

64
Please note that Vanguard reserves the right, without notice, to revise or
terminate the exchange privilege, limit the amount of any exchange, or reject an
exchange, at any time, for any reason. See Frequent-Trading Limitations for
additional restrictions on exchanges.

Frequent-Trading Limitations
Because excessive transactions can disrupt management of a fund and increase
the fund’s costs for all shareholders, the board of trustees of each Vanguard fund
places certain limits on frequent trading in the funds. Each Vanguard fund (other
than money market funds and short-term bond funds, but including Vanguard
Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund) limits an investor’s
purchases or exchanges into a fund account for 30 calendar days after the
investor has redeemed or exchanged out of that fund account. ETF Shares are
not subject to these frequent-trading limits.

For Vanguard Retirement Investment Program pooled plans, the limitations apply
to exchanges made online or by telephone.

These frequent-trading limitations do not apply to the following:

• Certain transactions below dollar value or other thresholds specified
by Vanguard.
• In-kind transactions to a shareholder’s donor advised fund managed by
Vanguard Charitable.
• Purchases of shares with reinvested dividend or capital gains distributions.
• Transactions through Vanguard’s Automatic Investment Plan, Automatic
Exchange Service, Direct Deposit Service, Automatic Withdrawal Plan, Required
Minimum Distribution Service, Vanguard Small Business Online®, and certain
transactions through intermediaries relating to systematic trades and required
minimum distributions.
• Discretionary transactions through Vanguard Personal Advisor Services®,
Vanguard Institutional Advisory Services®, Vanguard Digital Advisor™, and
discretionary (advisor-directed) transactions through certain intermediaries.
• Redemptions of shares to pay fund or account fees.
• Redemptions of shares to remove excess shareholder contributions to certain
types of retirement accounts (including, but not limited to, IRAs and Vanguard
Individual 401(k) Plans).
• Transfers and reregistrations of shares within the same fund.
• Purchases of shares by asset transfer or direct rollover.

65
• Conversions of shares from one share class to another in the same fund.
• Checkwriting redemptions.
• Section 529 college savings plans.
• Certain approved institutional portfolios and asset allocation programs, as well
as trades made by funds or trusts managed by Vanguard or its affiliates that
invest in other Vanguard funds. (Please note that shareholders of Vanguard’s
funds of funds are subject to the limitations.)

For participants in employer-sponsored defined contribution plans,* the

frequent-trading limitations do not apply to:
• Purchases of shares with participant payroll or employer contributions or
loan repayments.
• Purchases of shares with reinvested dividend or capital gains distributions.
• Distributions, loans, and in-service withdrawals from a plan.
• Redemptions of shares as part of a plan termination or at the direction of
the plan.
• Transactions executed through the Vanguard Managed Account Program.
• Redemptions of shares to pay fund or account fees.
• Share or asset transfers or rollovers.
• Reregistrations of shares.
• Conversions of shares from one share class to another in the same fund.
• Exchange requests submitted by written request to Vanguard. (Exchange
requests submitted by fax, if otherwise permitted, are subject to the limitations.)

*The following Vanguard fund accounts are also subject to the frequent-trading
limitations: SEP-IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, certain individual 403(b)(7) Custodial
Accounts, and Vanguard Individual 401(k) Plans.

Accounts Held by Institutions (Other Than Defined Contribution Plans)

Vanguard will systematically monitor for frequent trading in institutional clients’
accounts. If we detect suspicious trading activity, we will investigate and take
appropriate action, which may include applying to a client’s accounts the 30-day
policy previously described, prohibiting a client’s purchases of fund shares,
and/or revoking the client’s exchange privilege.

66
Accounts Held by Intermediaries
When intermediaries establish accounts in Vanguard funds for the benefit of their
clients, we cannot always monitor the trading activity of the individual clients.
However, we review trading activity at the intermediary (omnibus) level, and if we
detect suspicious activity, we will investigate and take appropriate action. If
necessary, Vanguard may prohibit additional purchases of fund shares by an
intermediary, including for the benefit of certain of the intermediary’s clients.
Intermediaries also may monitor their clients’ trading activities with respect to
Vanguard funds.

For those Vanguard funds that charge purchase and/or redemption fees,
intermediaries will be asked to assess these fees on client accounts and remit
these fees to the funds. The application of purchase and redemption fees and
frequent-trading limitations may vary among intermediaries. There are no
assurances that Vanguard will successfully identify all intermediaries or that
intermediaries will properly assess purchase and redemption fees or administer
frequent-trading limitations. If you invest with Vanguard through an intermediary,
please read that firm’s materials carefully to learn of any other rules or fees that
may apply.

Other Rules You Should Know

Prospectus and Shareholder Report Mailings

When two or more shareholders have the same last name and address, just one
summary prospectus (or prospectus) and/or shareholder report may be sent in
an attempt to eliminate the unnecessary expense of duplicate mailings. You may
request individual prospectuses and reports by contacting our Client Services
Department in writing, by telephone, or online. See Contacting Vanguard.

Vanguard.com
Registration. If you are a registered user of vanguard.com, you can review your
account holdings; buy, sell, or exchange shares of most Vanguard funds; and
perform most other transactions through our website. You must register for this
service online.

Electronic delivery. Vanguard can deliver your account statements, transaction

confirmations, prospectuses, certain tax forms, and shareholder reports
electronically. If you are a registered user of vanguard.com, you can consent to
the electronic delivery of these documents by logging on and changing your
mailing preferences under “Account Maintenance.” You can revoke your
electronic consent at any time through our website, and we will begin to send
paper copies of these documents within 30 days of receiving your revocation.

67
Telephone Transactions
Automatic. When we set up your account, we will automatically enable you to do
business with us by telephone, unless you instruct us otherwise in writing.

Proof of a caller’s authority. We reserve the right to refuse a telephone request

if the caller is unable to provide the requested information or if we reasonably
believe that the caller is not an individual authorized to act on the account.
Before we allow a caller to act on an account, we may request the
following information:
• Authorization to act on the account (as the account owner or by legal
documentation or other means).
• Account registration and address.
• Fund name and account number, if applicable.
• Other information relating to the caller, the account owner, or the account.

Good Order
We reserve the right to reject any transaction instructions that are not in “good
order.” Good order generally means that your instructions:
• Are provided by the person(s) authorized in accordance with Vanguard’s
policies and procedures to access the account and request transactions.
• Include the fund name and account number.
• Include the amount of the transaction (stated in dollars, shares, or percentage).

Written instructions also must generally be provided on a Vanguard form

and include:
• Signature(s) and date from the authorized person(s).
• Signature guarantees or notarized signatures, if required for the type of
transaction. (Call Vanguard for specific requirements.)
• Any supporting documentation that may be required.

Good order requirements may vary among types of accounts and transactions.
For more information, consult our website at vanguard.com or see
Contacting Vanguard.

Vanguard reserves the right, without notice, to revise the requirements for
good order.

68
Future Trade-Date Requests
Vanguard does not accept requests to hold a purchase, conversion, redemption,
or exchange transaction for a future date. All such requests will receive trade
dates as previously described in Purchasing Shares, Converting Shares,
Redeeming Shares, and Exchanging Shares. Vanguard reserves the right to
return future-dated purchase checks.

Accounts With More Than One Owner

If an account has more than one owner or authorized person, Vanguard
generally will accept instructions from any one owner or authorized person.

Responsibility for Fraud

You should take precautions to protect yourself from fraud. Keep your
account-related information private, and review any account confirmations,
statements, or other information that we provide to you as soon as you receive
them. Let us know immediately if you discover unauthorized activity or see
something on your account that you do not understand or that looks unusual.

Vanguard will not be responsible for losses that result from transactions by a
person who we reasonably believe is authorized to act on your account.

Uncashed Checks
Please cash your distribution or redemption checks promptly. Vanguard will not
pay interest on uncashed checks. Vanguard may be required to transfer assets
related to uncashed checks to a state under the state’s abandoned property law.

Dormant Accounts
If your account has no activity in it for a period of time, Vanguard may be
required to transfer it to a state under the state’s abandoned property law,
subject to potential federal or state withholding taxes.

Unusual Circumstances
If you experience difficulty contacting Vanguard online or by telephone, you can
send us your transaction request on a Vanguard form by regular or express mail.

Investing With Vanguard Through Other Firms

You may purchase or sell shares of most Vanguard funds through a financial
intermediary, such as a bank, a broker, or an investment advisor. Please consult
your financial intermediary to determine which, if any, shares are available
through that firm and to learn about other rules that may apply. Your financial

69
intermediary can provide you with account information and any required tax
forms. You may be required to pay a commission on purchases of mutual fund
shares made through a financial intermediary.

Please see Frequent-Trading Limitations—Accounts Held by Intermediaries for

information about the assessment of any purchase or redemption fees and the
monitoring of frequent trading for accounts held by intermediaries.

Low- Balance Accounts

Each Fund reserves the right to convert an investor’s Institutional Shares or
Institutional Plus Shares to another share class, as appropriate, if the investor’s
fund account balance falls below the account minimum for any reason, including
market fluctuation. Any such conversion will be preceded by written notice to
the investor.

Right to Change Policies

In addition to the rights expressly stated elsewhere in this prospectus, Vanguard
reserves the right, without notice, to (1) alter, add, or discontinue any conditions
of purchase (including eligibility requirements), redemption, exchange,
conversion, service, or privilege at any time and (2) alter, impose, discontinue, or
waive any purchase fee, redemption fee, account service fee, or other fee
charged to a shareholder or a group of shareholders. Changes may affect any or
all investors. These actions will be taken when, at the sole discretion of Vanguard
management, Vanguard believes they are in the best interest of a fund.

Account Restrictions
Vanguard reserves the right to: (1) redeem all or a portion of a fund/account to
meet a legal obligation, including tax withholding, tax lien, garnishment order, or
other obligation imposed on your account by a court or government agency; (2)
redeem shares, close an account, or suspend account privileges, features, or
options in the case of threatening conduct or activity; (3) redeem shares, close
an account, or suspend account privileges, features, or options if Vanguard
believes or suspects that not doing so could result in a suspicious, fraudulent, or
illegal transaction; (4) place restrictions on the ability to redeem any or all shares
in an account if it is required to do so by a court or government agency; (5) place
restrictions on the ability to redeem any or all shares in an account if Vanguard
believes that doing so will prevent fraud, financial exploitation or abuse, or to
protect vulnerable investors; (6) freeze any account and/or suspend account
services if Vanguard has received reasonable notice of a dispute regarding the
assets in an account, including notice of a dispute between the registered or
beneficial account owners; and (7) freeze any account and/or suspend account
services upon initial notification to Vanguard of the death of an account owner.

70
Share Classes
Vanguard reserves the right, without notice, to change the eligibility requirements
of its share classes, including the types of clients who are eligible to purchase
each share class.

Shareholder Rights
Each Fund’s Agreement and Declaration of Trust, as amended, requires a
shareholder bringing a derivative action on behalf of Vanguard Bond Index Funds
(the Trust) that is subject to a pre-suit demand to collectively hold at least 10% of
the outstanding shares of the Trust or at least 10% of the outstanding shares of
the series or class to which the demand relates and to undertake to reimburse
the Trust for the expense of any counsel or advisors used when considering the
merits of the demand in the event that the board of trustees determines not to
bring such action. In each case, these requirements do not apply to claims
arising under the federal securities laws to the extent that any such federal
securities laws, rules, or regulations do not permit such application.

Fund and Account Updates

Confirmation Statements
We will send (or provide through our website, whichever you prefer) a
confirmation of your trade date and the amount of your transaction when you
buy, sell, exchange, or convert shares. However, we will not send confirmations
reflecting only checkwriting redemptions or the reinvestment of dividend or
capital gains distributions. For any month in which you had a checkwriting
redemption, a Checkwriting Activity Statement will be sent to you itemizing the
checkwriting redemptions for that month. Promptly review each confirmation
statement that we provide to you. It is important that you contact Vanguard
immediately with any questions you may have about any transaction reflected on
a confirmation statement, or Vanguard will consider the transaction
properly processed.

Portfolio Summaries
We will send (or provide through our website, whichever you prefer) quarterly
portfolio summaries to help you keep track of your accounts throughout the year.
Each summary shows the market value of your account at the close of the
statement period, as well as all distributions, purchases, redemptions,
exchanges, transfers, and conversions for the current calendar quarter (or
month). Promptly review each summary that we provide to you. It is important

71
that you contact Vanguard immediately with any questions you may have about
any transaction reflected on the summary, or Vanguard will consider the
transaction properly processed.

Tax Information Statements

For most accounts, Vanguard (or your intermediary) is required to provide annual
tax forms to assist you in preparing your income tax returns. These forms are
generally available for each calendar year early in the following year. Registered
users of vanguard.com can also view certain forms through our website.
Vanguard (or your intermediary) may also provide you with additional tax-related
documentation. For more information, consult our website at vanguard.com or
see Contacting Vanguard.

Annual and Semiannual Reports

We will send (or provide through our website, whichever you prefer) reports
about Vanguard Bond Index Funds twice a year, in February and August. These
reports include overviews of the financial markets and provide the following
specific Fund information:
• Performance assessments and comparisons with industry benchmarks.
• Financial statements with listings of Fund holdings.

Portfolio Holdings
Please consult the Funds' Statement of Additional Information or our website for
a description of the policies and procedures that govern disclosure of a Fund’s
portfolio holdings.

Employer-Sponsored Plans
Your plan administrator or your employee benefits office can provide you with
detailed information on how to participate in your plan and how to elect a Fund
as an investment option.
• If you have any questions about a Fund or Vanguard, including those about a
Fund’s investment objective, strategies, or risks, contact Vanguard Participant
Services toll-free at 800-523-1188 or visit our website at vanguard.com.
• If you have questions about your account, contact your plan administrator or
the organization that provides recordkeeping services for your plan.
• Be sure to carefully read each topic that pertains to your transactions
with Vanguard.

Vanguard reserves the right to change its policies without notice to shareholders.

72
Transactions
Processing times for your transaction requests may differ among recordkeepers
or among transaction and funding types. Your plan’s recordkeeper (which may
also be Vanguard) will determine the necessary processing time frames for your
transaction requests prior to submission to a Fund. Consult your recordkeeper or
plan administrator for more information.

If Vanguard is serving as your plan recordkeeper and if your transaction involves

one or more investments with an early cut-off time for processing or another
trading restriction, your entire transaction will be subject to the restriction when
the trade date for your transaction is determined.

Contacting Vanguard

Web
Vanguard.com For the most complete source of Vanguard news
For fund, account, and service information
For most account transactions
For literature requests
24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Phone
Investor Information 800-662-7447 For fund and service information
(Text telephone for people with For literature requests
hearing impairment at 800-749-7273)
Client Services 800-662-2739 For account information
(Text telephone for people with For most account transactions
hearing impairment at 800-749-7273)
Participant Services 800-523-1188 For information and services for participants in
(Text telephone for people with employer-sponsored plans
hearing impairment at 800-749-7273)
Institutional Division For information and services for large institutional
888-809-8102 investors
Financial Advisor and Intermediary For information and services for financial intermediaries
Sales Support 800-997-2798 including financial advisors, broker-dealers, trust
institutions, and insurance companies
Financial Advisory and Intermediary For account information and trading support for
Trading Support 800-669-0498 financial intermediaries including financial advisors,
broker-dealers, trust institutions, and insurance
companies

73
Additional Information
Each Fund’s Bylaws require, unless the Trust otherwise consents in writing, that
the U.S. Federal District Courts be the sole and exclusive forum for the resolution
of complaints under the Securities Act of 1933. This provision may limit a
shareholder’s ability to bring a claim in a different forum and may result in
increased shareholder costs in pursuing such a claim.

Vanguard
Newspaper Fund CUSIP
Vanguard Fund Inception Date Abbreviation Number Number
Vanguard Total Bond Market
Index Fund
Institutional Shares 9/18/1995 TotBdInst 222 921937504
Institutional Plus Shares 2/5/2010 TotBdInstPl 850 921937785
Vanguard Short-Term Bond
Index Fund
Institutional Shares 9/27/2011 STBondInstl 732 921937777
Institutional Plus Shares 9/29/2011 STBondInstlPl 733 921937769
Vanguard Intermediate-Term
Bond Index Fund
Institutional Shares 1/26/2006 ITBondInstl 504 921937884
Institutional Plus Shares 11/30/2011 ITBondInstPl 1874 921937751
Vanguard Long-Term Bond
Index Fund
Institutional Shares 2/2/2006 LTBondInstl 545 921937876
Institutional Plus Shares 10/6/2011 LTBondInstPl 1872 921937744
CGS identifiers have been provided by CUSIP Global Services, managed on behalf of the
American Bankers Association by Standard & Poor’s Financial Services, LLC, and are not for
use or dissemination in a manner that would serve as a substitute for any CUSIP service. The
CUSIP Database, © 2024 American Bankers Association. “CUSIP” is a registered trademark of
the American Bankers Association.

74
CFA® is a registered trademark owned by CFA Institute.
“Bloomberg®” and Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index, Bloomberg U.S. 1-5 Year
Government/Credit Float Adjusted Index, Bloomberg U.S. 5-10 Year Government/Credit Float
Adjusted Index, and Bloomberg U.S. Long Government/Credit Float Adjusted Index (the
“Indices”) are service marks of Bloomberg Finance L.P. and its affiliates, including Bloomberg
Index Services Limited (“BISL”), the administrator of the index (collectively, “Bloomberg”), and
have been licensed for use for certain purposes by Vanguard.
Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund, Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund, Vanguard
Intermediate-Term Bond Index Fund, and Vanguard Long-Term Bond Index Fund (the “Funds”)
are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Bloomberg. Bloomberg does not make any
representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of or counterparties to the Funds
or any member of the public regarding the advisability of investing in securities or commodities
generally or in the Funds particularly. The only relationship of Bloomberg to Vanguard is the
licensing of certain trademarks, trade names and service marks and of the Indices, which are
determined, composed and calculated by BISL without regard to Vanguard or the Funds.
Bloomberg has no obligation to take the needs of Vanguard or the owners of the Funds into
consideration in determining, composing or calculating the Indices. Bloomberg is not responsible
for and has not participated in the determination of the timing, price, or quantities of the Funds to
be issued. Bloomberg shall not have any obligation or liability, including, without limitation, to
customers of the Funds, in connection with the administration, marketing or trading of
the Funds.
BLOOMBERG DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY AND/OR THE COMPLETENESS
OF THE INDICES OR ANY DATA RELATED THERETO AND SHALL HAVE NO LIABILITY FOR
ANY ERRORS, OMISSIONS OR INTERRUPTIONS THEREIN. BLOOMBERG DOES NOT
MAKE ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED BY
VANGUARD, OWNERS OF THE FUNDS OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY FROM THE
USE OF THE INDICES OR ANY DATA RELATED THERETO. BLOOMBERG DOES NOT MAKE
ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR
USE WITH RESPECT TO THE INDICES OR ANY DATA RELATED THERETO. WITHOUT
LIMITING ANY OF THE FOREGOING, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT ALLOWED BY LAW,
BLOOMBERG, ITS LICENSORS, AND ITS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE EMPLOYEES,
CONTRACTORS, AGENTS, SUPPLIERS, AND VENDORS SHALL HAVE NO LIABILITY OR
RESPONSIBILITY WHATSOEVER FOR ANY INJURY OR DAMAGES—WHETHER DIRECT,
INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE OR OTHERWISE—ARISING IN
CONNECTION WITH THE FUNDS OR INDICES OR ANY DATA OR VALUES RELATING
THERETO—WHETHER ARISING FROM THEIR NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF
NOTIFIED OF THE POSSIBILITY THEREOF.

75
Glossary of Investment Terms
Bond. A debt security issued by a corporation, a government, or a government
agency in exchange for the money the bondholder lends it. In most instances,
the issuer agrees to pay back the loan by a specific date and generally to make
regular interest payments until that date.

Capital Gains Distributions. Payments to mutual fund shareholders of gains

realized on securities that a fund has sold at a profit, minus any realized losses.

Coupon Rate. The interest rate paid by the issuer of a debt security until its
maturity. It is expressed as an annual percentage of the face value of
the security.

Dividend Distributions. Payments to mutual fund shareholders of income from

interest or dividends generated by a fund’s investments.

Expense Ratio. A fund’s total annual operating expenses expressed as a

percentage of the fund’s average net assets. The expense ratio includes
management and administrative expenses, but it does not include the transaction
costs of buying and selling portfolio securities.

Face Value. The amount to be paid at a bond’s maturity; also known as the par
value or principal.

Fixed Income Security. An investment, such as a bond, representing a debt that

must be repaid by a specified date, and on which the borrower may pay a fixed,
variable, or floating rate of interest.

Float-Adjusted Index. An index that weights its constituent securities based on

the value of the constituent securities that are available for public trading, rather
than the value of all constituent securities. Some portion of an issuer’s securities
may be unavailable for public trading because, for example, those securities are
owned by company insiders on a restricted basis or by a government agency. By
excluding unavailable securities, float-adjusted indexes can produce a more
accurate picture of the returns actually experienced by investors in the
measured market.

Inception Date. The date on which the assets of a fund (or one of its share
classes) are first invested in accordance with the fund’s investment objective. For
funds with a subscription period, the inception date is the day after that period
ends. Investment performance is generally measured from the inception date.

Indexing. A low-cost investment strategy in which a mutual fund attempts to

track—rather than outperform—a specified market benchmark, or “index.”

76
Investment-Grade Bond. A debt security whose credit quality is considered by
independent bond rating agencies, or through independent analysis conducted
by a fund’s advisor, to be sufficient to ensure timely payment of principal and
interest under current economic circumstances. Debt securities rated in one of
the four highest rating categories are considered investment-grade. Other debt
securities may be considered by an advisor to be investment-grade.

Joint Committed Credit Facility. Each Fund participates, along with other funds
managed by Vanguard, in a committed credit facility provided by a syndicate of
lenders pursuant to a credit agreement that may be renewed annually; each
Vanguard fund is individually liable for its borrowings, if any, under the credit
facility. The amount and terms of the committed credit facility are subject to
approval by the Funds’ board of trustees and renegotiation with the lender
syndicate on an annual basis.

Mutual Fund. An investment company that pools the money of many people and
invests it in a variety of securities in an effort to achieve a specific objective
over time.

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). A stock exchange based in New York City
that is open for regular trading on business days, Monday through Friday, from
9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Eastern time.

Principal. The face value of a debt instrument or the amount of money put into
an investment.

Return of Capital. A return of capital occurs when a fund’s distributions exceed

its earnings in a fiscal year. A return of capital is a return of all or part of your
original investment or amounts paid in excess of your original investment in a
fund. In general, a return of capital reduces your cost basis in a fund’s shares
and is not taxable to you until your cost basis has been reduced to zero.

Securities. Stocks, bonds, money market instruments, and other investments.

Total Return. A percentage change, over a specified time period, in a mutual

fund’s net asset value, assuming the reinvestment of all distributions of dividends
and capital gains.

Volatility. The fluctuations in value of a mutual fund or other security. The greater
a fund’s volatility, the wider the fluctuations in its returns.

Yield. Income (interest or dividends) earned by an investment, expressed as a

percentage of the investment’s price.
 ®
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