Want $1 Million in Retirement? 4 Simple Index Funds to Buy and Hold for Decades.
Contrary to what your action-seeking gut is telling you, simpler is better, and trading less produces more net gains.
Are you looking for the simplest path to a seven-figure retirement nest egg? If so, owning individual stocks isn't it. Even names that qualify as true "forever" holdings when you buy them will need regular monitoring and occasional replacement. If you truly want the simplest and most likely passive path to $1 million, exchange-traded funds are a far better bet.
To this end, here's a rundown of four index funds that could collectively get you to the million-dollar mark sooner and more safely than you might think is possible. You can fine-tune the net risk this suggested portfolio poses by adjusting how much of your money you allocate to each one.
Sector-based ETFs have proven frustrating for more than a few investors. They obviously expose owners to a particular sector's performance. Roughly half of all major sectors routinely underperform the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC), however, not without enough tangible upside to offset this downside. At the same time, if their purpose is to offer exposure to a particular sliver of the market for only a period of time, finding the perfect entry and exit points is practically impossible.
