Hi guys it's mark so have you ever wished. There was an easy way to become rich that anyone could do with no prior experience. Well, guess what there is, and i've made millions doing it myself, but before you click off thinking, this is some kind of scam. I'm not pumping the latest crypto coin or trying to sell you an online course that costs 997 dollars i'm instead referring to index funds index fund.

Investing is super, easy, incredibly effective and, in most cases, actually ends up beating the profits of professional investors. A study published in 2020 showed over a 15-year period. Nearly 90 percent of actively managed investment funds failed to beat the market simply put. Experts who spend their full-time job trying to beat the market are unable to beat most investors that use the index fund strategy.

So today, let's discuss what an index fund actually is, which ones are best for you and how you can use them to grow your wealth right after you smash that like button for the ltube eugerism, i'm going. To be honest, i almost didn't make this video. The world has changed over the last couple of years, and now most people only seem interested in the stocks and crypto going to the moon. I get it it's exciting to see your money multiplied quickly, but the harsh truth is lots of people are investing more than they can afford to lose in risky investments.

This means that when a crash happens and believe me, it always does many people will be left with nothing. I've seen this happen time and time again, and the people that make it through the storm are usually the ones that also invest for the long term. Of course, i've taken my fair share of risks over the years like investing in a dot-com bubble and now by investing in the metaverse. However, the one thing i've kept consistent is my index fund investing no matter if the market is up or down every week.

I prioritize those investments. This has allowed me to grow my wealth over the long term, while a lot of my previously richer friends have lost everything. So i like to think of index funds as my secret weapon as they've meant that i've always had a backup for when the worst happens. If you only ever watch one of my videos all the way through to the end, then it definitely should be this one.

So it's been a while, since i've talked about index funds, so let's break down what they actually are think of these skittles as lots of different individual companies. This one is tesla, this one is apple and this one is coca-cola. Now, as an investor, you could cherry pick the ones that you like the most. This is called investing in individual stocks.

However, these companies go bankrupt or crash in value you're in trouble. Mind you. I do like the new sour skittles they're, very tasty. The great thing about index funds is with one simple purchase.

You can own all the skittles in the bowl without having to deal with all the hassle of creating your own hand, selected portfolio or have some expensive manager do it for you. This is because they're passively managed, which means they are extremely cost effective. I have a large chunk of my wealth in index funds and i dabble with individual stocks using my fund money. This is because i occasionally enjoy the excitement of seeing an investment skyrocket 40.

In a day which, let me tell you, it's never gon na happen with an index fund, but that's not a bad thing as it's all about building long-term wealth and not short-term wins. The truth is that if a stock or crypto can give you these kinds of returns, then it could also swing back the other way. The great thing about index funds is if one company from within the bowl is having a bad time like this one boom. You've still got all the other companies holding it up.

An index fund aims to track something called an index which is a lot like a sports leaderboard. They can rank company, size, location, business type and even currencies, though, because there are so many choices. Let's pretend we're in a supermarket and i'll walk you through my 3.5 favorite baskets of stocks to invest in the reason i've added a 0.5 is because there's a new kid on the block. Remember i'm a businessman and not a financial advisor.

These are just investments. I believe in, and none of this should be taken as financial advice - i'm just aiming to make you aware of these investments. So please do your own research before investing basket. Number one is, of course, the s p 500 index.

This is the big daddy of index funds and you've probably heard people talking about it before i've certainly mentioned it hundreds of times, but there's a good reason for this, as it is such a great investment, and it's done very well for me over the years on Average, the s p 500, has returned investors eight to ten percent per year, which isn't anything crazy compared to the latest crazies like shiba inu, but it is pretty consistent and much less volatile. That sounds great, but what's inside the basket? Well, the s p 500. Is the top 500 american companies? Well, actually, it's 505 stocks to be exact in order to be included in the s p 500, a company must meet certain requirements, including achieving a specific market cap having the majority of its shares in public hands and being a public company for at least a year. So if you buy one share of the s p 500, you will actually own a small piece of amazon, tesla, apple paypal and so much more.

The ultimate flex is telling your friends you own all of these companies. One of the benefits of the s p 500. Is that it's widely spread across many great companies in the usa? To be honest, they are more like worldwide companies. Now, since the creation of the internet has blurred the lines between borders and made the world much much more interconnected, the historical return of eight to ten percent has allowed me to generate a fortune over the years due to the power of compound interest.

However, it's worth pointing out that the s p 500 is a bit tech heavy these days with five big tech stocks dominating 23 of the entire fund. It's up to you! If you see this as a positive or a negative, i personally don't mind as tech is doing really well, and i do believe it's the future, but there are so many different index funds that track the s p 500, which one do i pick well. That depends on where you live in the world and what investing platform you're, using the best i found in the usa, the v5x index fund or the vu etf. The best in the uk would probably be the usa etf, but there are tons of other etfs that also track the s p.

500.. One thing i look out for is that the dividends are reinvested into the fund. The only real difference between an index fund and an etf otherwise known as an exchange-traded fund is that these can be purchased or sold at any time throughout the day. Just like a stock as long as the market is open, of course that's why they're exchange traded? It's in the name index funds can only be purchased in full once per day.

So, for example, if the price of the fund is 500, you must pay 500, whereas an etf can also be purchased in fractional shares, which means you don't have to buy a full share and can instead invest whatever amount you like. This is great if you're, just starting out or you want a dollar cost average in. I do this by making a stand in order each week and i don't even know it's gone from. My bank account really and truly there isn't a huge difference between an index fund and an etf, so just consider which one is best for you and take the plunge.

If you want to get started, then public have given away a free stock worth all the way up to a thousand dollars. If you live in the usa and free trade are giving you a free stock worth all the way up to 200 pound. If you live in the uk i'll leave those links below basket number two is a total stock market index. The total stock market index is well the definition of diversification.

You can't really get any more skin in the game for a lower cost than this. So if you want to invest for a long period of time without having to check or even think about it, then this is most likely the fun for you. Investing in everything means you can experience gains across the entire market and unless a crazy crash happens, you should be okay, but even if it does crash with time things, bounce back. I've seen three crashes since i've been an investor, the dot-com bubble, the 2008 financial crisis and the 2020 coveted crash.

I'm not going to pretend these crashes didn't hurt, but long term. Every market i've invested in has bounced back. The downside to this index is that it depends on the entire market trending upwards. This means that there could be an individual stock that you really believe in.

That goes all the way to the moon, but you might not experience those gains, because that one stock doesn't play much of a role within the index fund if you're an active investor who likes to trade and mess with options, this index fund is probably great to Have as a safety net that you regularly invest into the best i've found in the usa is the vt sax index fund and the vti etf, and the best in the uk is the vwrl etf. These are vanguard index funds, but you should be able to buy them on most platforms, including public and free trade. The third basket is the emerging markets. Index emerging markets are predicted by some experts to be on the rise and whether i agree with this or not, i think it's important to have at least a little bit of exposure to these markets.

It's all well and good, buying the s p 500, but when china or another emerging country has some great gains, you'll end up missing out. I'm definitely more excited about funds like the s p 500, but, as i also do a lot of business in china, i see firsthand why investing in emerging markets is a good idea, just as an example of this growth. When i first traveled to china, i looked into buying an apartment in shenzhen. This real estate was 47 000 and is now worth over a million.

This just shows the potential growth in these markets. Emerging market funds are definitely the most risky type of index fund. We've discussed so far. These funds include stocks from lots of different growing markets and can be very heavy with chinese companies.

Taking a look at the list of the largest economies in the world, a lot of them are emerging markets, so it just makes sense to me to throw a little bit of money in for diversification. Also, the population of these emerging markets is absolutely huge, so i think there is certainly potential for growth, not only in their own countries but in exports as well. As i said before, these are definitely more risky place, but countries are adapting and evolving. So i do like to invest in their future.

The best i've found in the usa is a v-e-i-e-x, that's a mouthful etf and in the uk the v-f-e-m-e-t-f they don't make it any easier there do they basket. Number 3.5 is a bit of a bonus one as it's the metaverse index. Recently, i've made a few videos on the metaverse and you guys seem super excited about it, which is great because i am too. I actually re-watched the film ready player one the other day and if you ever want to see the possibilities of the metaverse, then i recommend watching this movie.

This has just made me even more confident. The potential profit is insane and therefore it's not something that i can ignore because of this i've been investing more and more into companies that i think, will be heavily involved in the metaverse, and i'm not just talking about meta. If you want to see my other picks, i made a video about it. A few weeks ago, it's just here.

I've just been picking my favorite stocks and building my own portfolio, but round hill investments are offering a meta etf. This makes things easy as it offers exposure to lots of companies that are set to benefit and take part in the metaverse all with one simple buy. But, of course the metaverse isn't here yet, and it's all just speculation at the moment also, the top 10 companies in this etf are not all selections i would make. So that's definitely something to look out for and consider.

This etf also has quite a high expense ratio of 0.75, which may not sound a lot, but trust me it's considerably more than a lot of the funds i've already talked about. I think the best way forward is to look at what stocks the meta etf holds and then buy the ones you like individually. But if this sounds like too much hassle, then the etf is definitely something to consider. When i first heard about index funds, i thought it was fantastic as before.

I'd always thought investing was only for the rich. The most important thing is getting started and index funds gave me the ability to start investing when i knew very little, which meant that i could get the snowball rolling. So if you're sitting on the fence, then now is as good a time as ever. To start your long-term investing journey, so i'm going to leave the next video right up there, but don't click on it just yet make sure to subscribe.

If you want to grow your wealth and don't forget to pick up the free stocks and bitcoin with the links below okay i'll see you over there.