any advice on investing in the S&P 500?

[Guest wanahave$]

I know I may sound like an idiot but can you just put your money in the s&p 500? is that a mutual fund? any comments welcome

[Demosthenes]

Look for an S & P 500 Index Fund offered by almost all of the major fund companies. Look for the lowest absolute level of expenses (I'd bet on Vanguard).

Since the funds track the index, there's no management or stock picking ability required, expenses are about the only differentiator.

Quicken.com and Morningstar.com are good free places to do comparisons.

[John G]

S&P relates to Standard and Poors (spelling?) which is one of many info services that tracks the markets. There are also index funds related to the DOW, Wilshire 2000 and 5000 and "total market". Generally, one group makes the list and mutual funds and brokerages use "the list" to create an investment portfolio. This field is growing because index funds often outperform many managed funds.

Not all Index funds are the same, especially if you are accessing via a broker and getting a different class of shares. Vanguard, as the creator of these investment options originally, has ultra low annual expenses, last time I looked it was below 0.20%. Some "clones" are 3x that rate and hope you don't notice.

Scwab, Etrade, Fidelity.... many of the internet brokerages also have search/sort capabilities for mutual funds.

If you are just getting started, you may want to send you money directly to a mutual fund family. The brokerage approach may offer some conviences, but may add some extra expenses.