How To Invest in the S&P 500 Today - NerdWallet (2024)

The S&P 500 is a well-known stock market index — and a major buzzword in financial news — and investors often wonder how they can invest in it. The answer: You can't directly invest in a stock market index, but you can choose investments that mirror or reflect the performance of that index.

That means there are two main options for investing in the S&P 500: You can invest in the individual stocks that are included in the index, or you can invest in S&P 500 index funds or exchange-traded funds.

What does it mean to invest in the S&P 500?

The S&P 500 is made up of about 500 large public U.S. companies. It is one of the stock market indexes that is often considered a proxy for the overall health of the U.S. stock market.

Contrary to popular belief, the stocks forming the index are not the 500 biggest U.S. companies, but they are arguably some of the most important U.S. companies: These stocks represent about 80% of the total U.S. stock market’s value.

The S&P 500 weights the stocks by market capitalization, or total market value (the number of outstanding shares multiplied by the stock's current market price). The larger the company, the greater its influence on the index.

How to invest in the S&P 500 in two steps:

To invest in the S&P 500 you can buy stocks of the individual companies in the index, or invest in index funds or ETFs that replicate the index.

Here are two steps to start investing:

1. Open an investment account

In order to buy investments, you'll need to open a brokerage account if you don't already have one. You can use the money you deposit into the brokerage account to purchase S&P 500 stocks or funds, which will then be held within that account. It may be advantageous to consider what type of investment account you want to open, since some have significant tax benefits.

2. Choose your investments

Do you want to invest in individual stocks included in the S&P 500, or a fund that is representative of most of the index? Investing in an S&P 500 fund can instantly diversify your portfolio and is generally considered less risky. S&P 500 index funds or ETFs will track the performance of the S&P 500, which means when the S&P 500 does well, your investment will, too. (The opposite is also true, of course.) Here are some of the top-performing S&P 500 ETFs.

Once you've made a decision, you can simply follow the instructions within your brokerage account to purchase the S&P 500 investment(s) you've decided to buy.

How much does it cost to invest in the S&P 500?

If you want to invest in the S&P 500, there are a few costs to consider.

If you are investing in an S&P 500 index fund:

If you are investing in an S&P 500 ETF:

If you are investing in a stock within the S&P 500 index:

What companies are included in the S&P 500?

Here are a few of the top companies by index weight in the S&P 500:

Should I invest in an S&P 500 index fund or S&P 500 ETF?

While all S&P 500 funds track the holdings of this index, an investor must consider whether using an index mutual fund (a passively managed mutual fund) or an ETF makes the most sense for them. There are several differences to consider — for example, ETFs can be bought and sold whenever the stock market is open, while mutual funds can only be bought and sold at a set price point at the end of each trading day.

The good news is that there are solid S&P 500 options in each category, and all of these products leverage the diversity of the index itself. Compare index funds versus ETFs to decide which one is right for you.

Are there drawbacks to investing in the S&P 500?

While an S&P 500 ETF or index fund may be a worthwhile investment, there are caveats to consider.

Overall diversification

The S&P 500 consists of only large-cap U.S. stocks. Portfolio diversification encompasses buying mid- and small-cap companies along with large-caps; allocating funds to international companies along with domestic ones; and including bonds, cash and potentially other asset classes with stocks.

Kevin Koehler, chartered financial analyst and director of the investment strategy group at Miracle Mile Advisors in Los Angeles, also notes drawbacks in the S&P 500 related to its market-cap weighting.

“As passive investing increases, investors are continually investing in S&P 500 funds, which has contributed to a ‘rich get richer’ problem, where the largest stocks are getting larger due to S&P 500 investing, rather than individual stock investing,” Koehler says. “This can lead to higher volatility, as active managers sell an individual stock on top of index funds selling a portion. The market could continuously be overvalued compared to its underlying value.”

But relative to the downsides of many investment types, the flaws of S&P 500 funds seem relatively minor, especially when used as a part of your overall portfolio and held for the longer term.