Jan. 3, 2019
It can be daunting for new investors to figure out the stock market even in the best of times. And after 2018, which marked the worst performance for the S&P 500 since the dark days of the financial crisis, it can be intimidating if you’re just getting started.
But take heart, because it really is the best time to be an individual investor.
Internet technologies make trading lightning fast and put many tools at your disposal, while low-cost exchange-traded funds make it cheap and easy to invest with diversification. If you’re looking to get started with stocks, here are seven key ETFs to consider as your first investments.
1. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (ticker: SPY). One of the most popular ETFs, the SPY boasts a staggering $245 billion in assets under management. It’s not always wise to follow the crowd on Wall Street, but in this case the attention is warranted.
The SPY debuted back in 1993 and in many ways began the ETF revolution for investors. The fund is benchmarked to the S&P 500, comprised of 500 stocks that make up the largest companies on Wall Street. That includes companies like Apple (AAPL), JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM). This ETF is a great starting point to get exposure to the biggest stocks out there.
2. iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market (ITOT). The S&P 500 is limited to 500 large stocks. But there’s benefit to having mid-sized and smaller companies in your portfolio. While mega-corporations have more stability, smaller companies have much more room to grow. They also tend to be more domestically focused, which could be a plus since U.S. metrics remain strong as growth elsewhere slows.
This iShares fund offers broad exposure to these trends with a massive portfolio of more than 3,000 stocks to represent about 90 percent of companies listed on U.S. exchanges. It has a rock-bottom fee structure, too – an expense ratio of just 0.03 percent, or $3 annually on every $10,000 invested. – Jeff Reeves
https://money.usnews.com/investing/funds/slideshows/10-great-etfs-for-beginning-investors?src=usn_invested_nl
