The Ultimate, Laziest, Safest, Long Term Investment Strategy

Long term investment strategy: Buy SPY. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY).

Wikipedia defines the S&P 500 as:

“The Standard and Poor’s 500, or simply the S&P 500, is a stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. It is one of the most commonly followed equity indices.”

Wikipedia defines the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) as:

“The SPDR S&P 500 trust is an exchange-traded fund which trades on the NYSE Arca under the symbol SPY. SPDR is an acronym for the Standard & Poor’s Depositary Receipts, the former name of the ETF. It is designed to track the S&P 500 stock market index. This fund is the largest and oldest ETF in the world.”

My definition of the S&P 500:

Basically, the S&P 500 is a list of 500 stocks that represent a cross-section of American public companies. Occasionally, a few companies get dropped and replaced by others, but it is very stable and is probably the best representation of the overall stock market.

My definition of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY):

And the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) is just a collection of stocks that reflect the S&P 500.
An exchange-traded fund is similar to a stock mutual fund except that it’s traded on the stock market and its fees are extremely low, meaning that your profits are much higher than they would be with a mutual fund.

Why you should avoid mutual funds

Mutual funds have extremely high fees and hidden fees that even if the mutual fund does well, by the time they’ve collected their fees, you may only break even or lose money.

And now to reiterate your long term investment strategy…

Buy SPY. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY).

Just buy shares of SPY in your IRA, and buy more every month. Set aside the same amount every month.

I use Acorns to do that. I don’t even notice the money going into Acorns. It’s just there in my account when I’m ready to invest.

By the time you are ready to retire, you’ll have more than enough money to play with.

90 Year Historical Chart of the S&P 500

CAVEAT: DO NOT pay any attention to the stock market! It goes up, it goes down, but over time, THE MARKET ALWAYS GOES UP!!!  If you do watch the market, your emotions will get the best of you when the market goes down, you’ll panic and sell and completely screw up your retirement.

Fast Track recommends:

Sign up for Acorns.
Buy SPY every month for your IRA.

And that is your Ultimate, Laziest, Safest, Long Term Investment Strategy.

Comment below: I’d love to hear what you think. Does this seem easy enough? Can you stick to this? Do you use Acorns already?  How do you like it?