How to Invest in the S&P 500 [FOR DUMMIES]
Updated
In the investment world everybody expects you to know exactly how to buy into an Index Fund, which makes it very hard to find a good detailed non-outdated resource to learn from. While it’s easy to do once your set up, learning how to from nothing was difficult (at least for me).
Before you even think about investing into the S&P 500 you need to know WHY. Because if you don't know WHY your investing into this you will panic sell when its the best time to be buying. Now while this part can be answered by a YouTube video I put some of the main reasons below.
- The s&p 500 is a diverse Index Fund. (The term index fund means a portfolio set up for you to invest in.)
- The s&p 500 holds the top 500 USA companies. (The diversity in big companies makes it a safe investment in the long term.)
- The s&p 500, over a 15-year period, beat nearly 90% of actively managed investment funds. (Meaning us noobies can beat the pros!)
- The S&P 500 has always recovered, there are lost decades which the market has stayed down for 10 years but in those 10 years you could be buying every single month! (Dollar Cost Averaging)
- With the power of compounding your money will grow exponentially.
Now what is Dollar Cost Averaging..? Dollar Cost Averaging is buying roughly equal amounts of an asset per month. Doesn't have to be equal but nothing to different, for example you don't want to buy $500 worth's one month and $1000 worth's another (only spend what you know you can be consistent with in the future). Dollar-cost averaging is a great investing strategy because, in the long term, it can protect the investor (you) from market volatility (up and down movement) and reduce the amount you'll spend buying shares. So, over time, you will end up investing in more assets for less.
Now what is compounding..? Compounding is re-investing both your capital gains and dividends in order to get a higher payout the next time around again and again and again.. till your rich. Although with compounding comes a catch; if you panic sell before your desired target you've fell into your own trap, because compounding depends on time, and you just smashed the watch. Plus, you should never panic sell when the market crashes; be happy you’re getting everything on a sale!
Now we have reviewed why you should invest into the S&P 500, what dollar cost averaging is, what compounding is, and why panic selling is stupid. But how do you buy it?!?
I started by trying a brokerage called Vanguard. (a brokerage company is pretty much a middleman that connects buyers and sellers). I wanted to use Vanguard because I knew that I wanted low purchase fees; low purchase fees are good because in the long term it impacts how much you’re actually investing (less fees = more invested long term). Now let me tell you this, vanguard SUCKS, their customer service is terrible, the website is terrible, and they wouldn't even let me open an account for god’s sake because "their website was down". The only thing good about them is their index funds and low fees. What took me a while to learn was that I can purchase the SAME index funds but with a different broker. Now I do recommend you get an account with Charles Schwab they have real branches you can go to and ask questions in (not just a phone number like Vanguard) plus if you do want to call their wait time isn't over an hour like Vanguard, and their website is user friendly.
How to make an account with Charles Schwab..? Search up "Charles Schwab", click on their website, Open an Account, and decide what type of brokerage account you want (if your just one person pick individual), then continue with the steps. If you’re below the age of 18 search up "create a custodial account Charles Schwab" and start from there, you will need your parents SSN, and other info.
Now that you have a basic account set up your ready to invest; but wait there's more. You currently have a brokerage account which means your eligible to invest however much you want per year, although once you pull the money out you will be taxed on it based off your tax bracket. Along with your brokerage account you should set up a Roth IRA account. A Roth IRA account is a retirement account in short, your allowed to invest up to $6000 per year into it and once your 50 you can pull it out TAX FREE. (if you pull it out any sooner it will act as a brokerage account and tax you, so don't do that). Making a Roth IRA account requires paperwork which you fill in and then go to one of the many "Charles Schwab Branches" to turn in. You can ask customer support to send you the paperwork to your email which you must print out. This account pretty much assures you will be a millionaire at retirement.
Ok I have both accounts.. now how to buy? Click on "trade", make sure you’re on the "Stocks & ETFs" Tab, click the "symbol search bar", and type "VOO" (Vanguard S&P 500 ETF). Now decide on how many shares you want (you can check the price here on trading view). It will have an option to turn on auto-reinvest dividends make sure to click that, & make sure you select "Market Order" so you get filled in immediately then click "order".
Always invest the maximum of 6K into your Roth IRA and invest as much as you can into your brokerage account. Every 3 months re-invest your capital gains on both accounts.
You can see how much your projected to earn in the future. Search up "compounding calculator" put in how much you’re going to be investing per month, how long, and at a 10% average rate of return.
I hope this helps, comment and like. :)
Before you even think about investing into the S&P 500 you need to know WHY. Because if you don't know WHY your investing into this you will panic sell when its the best time to be buying. Now while this part can be answered by a YouTube video I put some of the main reasons below.
- The s&p 500 is a diverse Index Fund. (The term index fund means a portfolio set up for you to invest in.)
- The s&p 500 holds the top 500 USA companies. (The diversity in big companies makes it a safe investment in the long term.)
- The s&p 500, over a 15-year period, beat nearly 90% of actively managed investment funds. (Meaning us noobies can beat the pros!)
- The S&P 500 has always recovered, there are lost decades which the market has stayed down for 10 years but in those 10 years you could be buying every single month! (Dollar Cost Averaging)
- With the power of compounding your money will grow exponentially.
Now what is Dollar Cost Averaging..? Dollar Cost Averaging is buying roughly equal amounts of an asset per month. Doesn't have to be equal but nothing to different, for example you don't want to buy $500 worth's one month and $1000 worth's another (only spend what you know you can be consistent with in the future). Dollar-cost averaging is a great investing strategy because, in the long term, it can protect the investor (you) from market volatility (up and down movement) and reduce the amount you'll spend buying shares. So, over time, you will end up investing in more assets for less.
Now what is compounding..? Compounding is re-investing both your capital gains and dividends in order to get a higher payout the next time around again and again and again.. till your rich. Although with compounding comes a catch; if you panic sell before your desired target you've fell into your own trap, because compounding depends on time, and you just smashed the watch. Plus, you should never panic sell when the market crashes; be happy you’re getting everything on a sale!
Now we have reviewed why you should invest into the S&P 500, what dollar cost averaging is, what compounding is, and why panic selling is stupid. But how do you buy it?!?
I started by trying a brokerage called Vanguard. (a brokerage company is pretty much a middleman that connects buyers and sellers). I wanted to use Vanguard because I knew that I wanted low purchase fees; low purchase fees are good because in the long term it impacts how much you’re actually investing (less fees = more invested long term). Now let me tell you this, vanguard SUCKS, their customer service is terrible, the website is terrible, and they wouldn't even let me open an account for god’s sake because "their website was down". The only thing good about them is their index funds and low fees. What took me a while to learn was that I can purchase the SAME index funds but with a different broker. Now I do recommend you get an account with Charles Schwab they have real branches you can go to and ask questions in (not just a phone number like Vanguard) plus if you do want to call their wait time isn't over an hour like Vanguard, and their website is user friendly.
How to make an account with Charles Schwab..? Search up "Charles Schwab", click on their website, Open an Account, and decide what type of brokerage account you want (if your just one person pick individual), then continue with the steps. If you’re below the age of 18 search up "create a custodial account Charles Schwab" and start from there, you will need your parents SSN, and other info.
Now that you have a basic account set up your ready to invest; but wait there's more. You currently have a brokerage account which means your eligible to invest however much you want per year, although once you pull the money out you will be taxed on it based off your tax bracket. Along with your brokerage account you should set up a Roth IRA account. A Roth IRA account is a retirement account in short, your allowed to invest up to $6000 per year into it and once your 50 you can pull it out TAX FREE. (if you pull it out any sooner it will act as a brokerage account and tax you, so don't do that). Making a Roth IRA account requires paperwork which you fill in and then go to one of the many "Charles Schwab Branches" to turn in. You can ask customer support to send you the paperwork to your email which you must print out. This account pretty much assures you will be a millionaire at retirement.
Ok I have both accounts.. now how to buy? Click on "trade", make sure you’re on the "Stocks & ETFs" Tab, click the "symbol search bar", and type "VOO" (Vanguard S&P 500 ETF). Now decide on how many shares you want (you can check the price here on trading view). It will have an option to turn on auto-reinvest dividends make sure to click that, & make sure you select "Market Order" so you get filled in immediately then click "order".
Always invest the maximum of 6K into your Roth IRA and invest as much as you can into your brokerage account. Every 3 months re-invest your capital gains on both accounts.
You can see how much your projected to earn in the future. Search up "compounding calculator" put in how much you’re going to be investing per month, how long, and at a 10% average rate of return.
I hope this helps, comment and like. :)
Note
Search up "nerd wallet compounding calculator" to see how much you need invested to reach your goals. Put average return at 10%.
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