S&P 500 Index Funds Offer Strong Long-Term Returns for Patient Investors
• Buy an S&P 500 index fund to get exposure to the top 500 US companies like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, etc. Popular options are SPY, IVV, and VOO ETFs.
• Hold your investment for at least 10 years - historically there's a 94% chance of making money over a 10 year period.
• Time smoothes out short-term market volatility caused by inflation, interest rates, geopolitics. No crisis lasts forever.
• The longer the holding period - 1 yr (73% chance), 3 yrs (84%), 5 yrs (88%), 10 yrs (94%) - the higher the chance of positive returns.
• Top performing tech stocks like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, Google, Meta, and Tesla make up over 28% of the S&P 500's value.