James Brumley, The Motley Fool
Thu, August 13, 2026 astatine 10:50 AM CDT 4 min read
Have you embraced the thought of buying and holding alternatively than perpetually swapping retired your stocks successful hunt of the adjacent blistery trade? If so, good. It's surely little stressful, and you'll apt bash amended successful the agelong tally with specified a strategy. In fact, the information suggests your champion stake whitethorn good beryllium an full handbasket of buy-and-hold stocks successful the signifier of an exchange-traded fund, oregon ETF, that doesn't necessitate immoderate existent ongoing oversight.
And the champion wide ETFs to bargain and clasp are inactive the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEMKT: SPY) oregon the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO), some of which are meant to reflector the show of the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) index. Here's wherefore they're inactive the best.
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If it's bully capable for the world's best-known banal picker...
Giving recognition wherever it's due, Warren Buffett arguably explained it champion erstwhile helium said, "There seems to beryllium immoderate perverse quality diagnostic that likes to marque casual things difficult." Too galore investors person convinced themselves that much enactment and much hazard are the keys to amended returns. It isn't.
The information proves it, too. Standard & Poor's ongoing monitoring of each communal funds' performances indicates that the immense bulk of them really underperform their benchmark indexes. Ditto for hedge funds. The clip framework successful question doesn't substance either; these actively managed funds mostly underperform the wide marketplace crossed each clip frames.
There's an important acquisition for mean investors buried successful this reality. That is, contempt these money managers having the clip and entree to tools and grooming meant to nutrient market-beating results, astir of them don't, and nearly none of them bash truthful with immoderate consistency. It's a testament to conscionable however hard it is to bash so. It's surely not immoderate easier if you're an amateur with less tools and little clip to prime and show idiosyncratic stocks.
And for what it's worth, Buffett practices what helium preaches.
Sure, Berkshire Hathaway holds a clump of idiosyncratic banal picks. Most of them service a precise strategical semipermanent intent for the conglomerate, though -- generating reliable dividend income. As helium explained successful his 2013 missive to Berkshire shareholders, for the idiosyncratic wealth he'll beryllium passing on erstwhile helium passes, "My proposal to [my estate's] trustee could not beryllium much simple: Put 10% of the currency successful short-term authorities bonds and 90% successful a precise low-cost S&P 500 scale fund. (I suggest Vanguard's.)"

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