An S&P 500 index fund is a fund that tracks the — a market index that measures the performance of about 500 U.S. companies.
Index funds by definition aim to mirror a particular market index, whether that is the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq Composite Index or the S&P 500. Since they contain largely the same investments, an index fund will likely perform similarly to how the overall market index performs.
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Why are S&P 500 index funds popular?
S&P 500 index funds are popular in part because they can instantly diversify a portfolio. With a single asset, you are invested in 500 of the largest companies in the U.S., covering many types of industries and sectors.
How many S&P 500 index funds do I need?
S&P 500 index funds will be nearly identical to one another in terms of their performance and their holdings, or the particular stocks held within the fund. Investing in multiple S&P 500 index funds will not necessarily further diversify your portfolio. Depending on the fund, some index funds will invest in a small portion of an index while others may track the entire index. Be sure to look at a fund’s holdings to know exactly how close your fund is tracking its benchmark index.
If you have one index fund and want to diversify further, you could consider exploring index funds that cover other market indexes, such as the Dow Jones or Nasdaq.
» Learn moreabout index funds
How to choose an S&P 500 index fund
While most S&P index funds will have similar holdings, they may vary in terms of their fees, such as expense ratios. Expense ratios are annual fees you pay to help cover a fund’s expenses. If you invest in a fund with a 0.25% expense ratio, you’ll pay $2.50 annually for every $1,000 invested. That may not sound like much, but if your account balance grows, so will that fee.
Consider looking for S&P 500 index funds with low expense ratios, several years of operation and a healthy amount of assets under management (AUM). The longer a fund has existed, the more information you have about its performance history. If a fund is only a few years old, it's hard to know how it would perform in a different type of market (though past performance does not indicate future performance).
A fund’s assets under management can give you a sense of the size of a fund. If a fund has a relatively high AUM, it may indicate that the fund may be more stable in volatile markets.
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How to invest in the S&P 500
You cannot invest in the S&P 500 itself. S&P 500 index funds are one option for investing in the S&P 500. You could also invest in the individual stocks represented in the S&P 500, but that would be much more work because you’d have to monitor the performance of each individual stock yourself.
If you’re ready to get started investing in either S&P 500 index funds or individual company stocks, you’ll need to first open a brokerage account.
» Check outthe best brokerage accounts for mutual funds
What’s the difference between S&P 500 index funds and S&P 500 ETFs?
The biggest difference between and S&P 500 index funds is that exchange-traded funds (ETFs) can be traded throughout the day like stocks, while index funds can only be bought and sold at the price set at the end of the trading day. S&P 500 funds, whether they are index funds or ETFs, both track the S&P 500.
If you’re investing for the long term — meaning you’re buying and holding the funds for five years or more — this difference won’t matter much. But ETFs are generally more tax-efficient than index funds.
Investors who prefer to trade during the day to take advantage of price fluctuations may prefer an ETF like VOO, whereas a more passive buy-and-hold investor may prefer a mutual fund like VFIAX. Investors using a taxable brokerage account may prefer VOO because tax implications are another important factor to consider.
By these measures, three of the top S&P 500 index funds are the Fidelity 500 Index Fund (NASDAQMUTFUND:FXAIX), the Schwab S&P 500 ETF, and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:VOO).
Wall Street analysts ultimately expect S&P 500 companies to grow earnings by roughly 11% in 2024. And by the fourth quarter, growth is expected to have roughly evened out, with the top 10 stocks expected to see growth of 17.2% while the other 490 companies see growth of 17.8%, according to FactSet data.
Consider looking for S&P 500 index funds with low expense ratios, several years of operation and a healthy amount of assets under management (AUM). The longer a fund has existed, the more information you have about its performance history.
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, VOO is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Blend segment of the market.
If you have $50,000 to invest, there are plenty of good options. You can choose safe investments, like CDs or high-yield savings accounts. Alternatively, you can invest in things like stocks and real estate in the hopes of achieving superior long-term returns.
Money market mutual funds generally offer the greatest level of flexibility and liquidity along with the lowest risk of principal loss among the available short-term investment products. Fixed-income securities are subject to credit risk, liquidity risk, call risk, and interest-rate risk.
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Or, you could also invest in both, for example, by putting half in VOO and half in VTI. Here's a summary of which one to choose: If you want to own only the biggest and safest stocks, choose VOO. If you want more diversification and exposure to mid-caps and small-caps, choose VTI.
However, if you know that you'd like a bit more exposure to smaller and medium-sized companies or just want to invest in more stocks overall, VTI is your best bet. VOO, meanwhile, is the better option for investors who want to focus heavily on large cap companies.
VTI is a total U.S. market fund and holds more than 3,500 stocks. VTI is better diversified and benefits from small and mid-cap stocks that grow into large caps. VOO is less diversified, tracking the performance of the S&P 500 Index. VOO excludes small and mid-cap stocks.
As a whole, analysts are optimistic about the outlook for stock prices in 2024. The consensus analyst price target for the S&P 500 is 5,090, suggesting roughly 8.5% upside from current levels.
1. Positive returns -- but smaller than in 2023. I think that the overall stock market will deliver positive returns in 2024. However, I expect those returns to be somewhat smaller than they were last year.
The S&P Target Date 2025 Index is designed to represent a broadly derived consensus of asset class exposure and glide path for target date year 2025. The index allocates to equities and fixed income at varying levels, according to a pre-determined schedule related to the respective target date.
Looking ahead, the report said that Nifty50 is expected to deliver 16% earnings growth in 2024-25 and Nifty large cap 100 is expected to register similar earnings growth. However, earnings outlook for small caps looks the best among all (large, mid, small) for 2025-26.
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