pats89•18d ago

Can we talk about index funds versus my old stock picking

I spent years trying to pick winners and my portfolio was a mess. Switched to a simple S&P 500 index fund last January and it's already up 18% with zero effort. How do people still waste time on the other stuff?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_sam18d ago

Index funds are a great move, but last January was a weird time to start. The market was in a dip, so your timing was lucky. A lot of stock pickers got crushed in 2022. Your 18% is awesome, but it's partly from buying low. The real test is over ten or twenty years.

xena37313d ago

And not panicking when it drops is the real skill.

caleb_stone18d ago

Yeah, the "real test is over ten or twenty years" thing is so true. My buddy got spooked and sold everything after a bad quarter, locking in his losses and missing the bounce. He learned the hard way that just staying put is the toughest part.