S&P 500 index fund
Hacker ApprovedThe most recommended of 11 index funds
Recommended as a simple, low-cost way to hold hundreds of large US companies long term. Critics call its rules flawed and its top holdings too concentrated.
Recommended as a simple, low-cost way to hold hundreds of large US companies long term. Critics call its rules flawed and its top holdings too concentrated.
41 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 28
- criticize it
- 13
- approval share
- 68%
Recommended in 11 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 28 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2.2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 11 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Beats stock picking and crypto
“They made me more comfortable buying the S&P 500 knowing I'm not buying pre-revenue companies.”
Comment from 14 May 2026 in “New York, California pension leaders oppose 'extreme' SpaceX control structure” “And it works. Everyone picking the S&P 500 over its competitors chooses that.”
Comment from 5 Jun 2026 in “SpaceX, Other Mega IPOs Denied Fast Index Entry by S&P” “isn't the best investment option for the non-professional investor”
Comment from 20 Aug 2026 in “Does the S&P 500 always go up?” - Comment from 27 May 2026 in “Private Equity Bought America's Essential Services”
- Comment from 1 Jun 2026 in “No Raise, No Promotion: 1 in 4 White-Collar Workers Are Stalling Out”
Strong long-run historical returns
“buying assets is the way to keep up; an investment of $100 in the S&P500 in 1990 and never touched would be worth $4,120.93 today”
Comment from 30 Mar 2026 in “72% of the dollar's purchasing power was destroyed in just four episodes” “Of the investable markets, the US one still generates the highest returns.”
Comment from 21 Jan 2026 in “Swedish Alecta has sold off an estimated $8B of US Treasury Bonds” “Investing in the S&P 500 for 10 years will on-average double your money”
Comment from 3 Dec 2025 in “Netherlands – Capital Growth Tax and Capital Gains Tax for Box 3” - Comment from 22 May 2026 in “AI is killing the cheap smartphone”
- Comment from 19 Mar 2026 in “Austin’s surge of new housing construction drove down rents”
Buy and hold without much work
“The most sound finacial advice for all Americans has always been "buy S&P 500 and forget about it" for 200 years.”
Comment from 13 Sep 2026 in “The tab is coming due for America's borrowing binge” “The answer is don't worry about it if you're buying S&P 500. Just keep buying, leave it go, and don't touch it.”
Comment from 8 Nov 2025 in “$1T in tech stocks sold off as market grows skeptical of AI” “has done this and will continue to do this without any work or investments of time”
Comment from 29 May 2026 in “I Am Retiring from Tech to Live Offline” - Comment from 1 Jun 2026 in “No Raise, No Promotion: 1 in 4 White-Collar Workers Are Stalling Out”
Simple diversified low-cost index fund
“dead-simple, low-fee, market-indexed funds are a generally good place to put the surplus fruits of your own little economic engine”
Comment from 17 Apr 2026 in “The "Passive Income" trap ate a generation of entrepreneurs” “Buffett himself tells everyone who will listen to buy and hold a diversified index fund for a long period of time.”
Comment from 31 Dec 2025 in “Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades” “for the average consumer to invest in diversified index funds, like the S&P 500”
Comment from 3 Feb 2026 in “Revisiting ChatGPT's financial advice, 15 months later”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Index rules and weighting criticized
“Profitability is an arbitrary rule for an antiquated index. Let it die.”
Comment from 4 Jun 2026 in “Your 401(k) is about to become Elon Musk's exit liquidity” “Amongst other things the weighting is not even based on the market cap.”
Comment from 5 Jun 2026 in “SpaceX, Other Mega IPOs Denied Fast Index Entry by S&P” “There are much better ways to build indices than the one they've built.”
Comment from 8 Jun 2026 in “S&P 500 rejects SpaceX, also blocking entry for OpenAI and Anthropic” - Comment from 5 Jun 2026 in “SpaceX, Other Mega IPOs Denied Fast Index Entry by S&P”
- Comment from 5 Jun 2026 in “SpaceX, Other Mega IPOs Denied Fast Index Entry by S&P”
- Comment from 5 Jun 2026 in “SpaceX, Other Mega IPOs Denied Fast Index Entry by S&P”
Too concentrated in a few firms
“When 10 companies make the other 490 irrelevant in producing the annual return of the index, the index itself is no longer serving the diversification purpose.”
Comment from 31 Mar 2026 in “The Hateful Eight is 85% of S&P 500 Decline” “you're getting a relatively concentrated, high valuation investment”
Comment from 2 Jun 2026 in “Ask HN: What is your opinion on index rule changes to accommodate Mega-Cap IPOs?” “even 500 companies is too much of a bias towards one group”
Comment from 3 Dec 2025 in ““Captain Gains” on Capitol Hill” Excludes SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic
“the (current) rules for S&P500 inclusion exclude companies like SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI”
Comment from 5 Jun 2026 in “SpaceX, Other Mega IPOs Denied Fast Index Entry by S&P” “it has (antiquated) rules that exclude large-cap US companies”
Comment from 5 Jun 2026 in “SpaceX, Other Mega IPOs Denied Fast Index Entry by S&P” Can fall sharply in crashes
“leave it in the S&P 500 and be aware that one day it will blow up”
Comment from 8 Feb 2026 in “The AI boom is causing shortages everywhere else” “That can go very poorly like in 1929, 1965, 2000, etc.”
Comment from 3 Dec 2025 in ““Captain Gains” on Capitol Hill”
Other index funds people recommend
The four most recommended other index funds, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 index fundThis page | 28 | 13 | 68% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Invesco QQQ Trust | 11 | 10 | 52% | 7 | — | — |
| Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF | 11 | 4 | 73% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Vanguard S&P 500 ETF | 10 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Vanguard S&P 500 ETF | 9 | 2 | 82% | 7 | — | — |
What people said
40 of the 47 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“While imperfect, it is a very good and ambitious start!”
“In the last 10 years, their returns are nearly identical.”
“The most sound finacial advice for all Americans has always been "buy S&P 500 and forget about it" for 200 years.”
“isn't the best investment option for the non-professional investor”
“There are much better ways to build indices than the one they've built.”
“My investment philosophy comes directly from Warren Buffett: "Never bet against America".”
“The whole thing is disgusting and the financial sector should be collectively ashamed of themselves.”
“then S&P is doing a poor job at what they claim to benchmark”
“your benchmark is inaccurate by my book”
“the (current) rules for S&P500 inclusion exclude companies like SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI”
“Amongst other things the weighting is not even based on the market cap.”
“it has (antiquated) rules that exclude large-cap US companies”
“And it works. Everyone picking the S&P 500 over its competitors chooses that.”
“The 500 is/was a good balance.”
“Profitability is an arbitrary rule for an antiquated index. Let it die.”
“you're getting a relatively concentrated, high valuation investment”
“I get way more of a return for far less effort.”
“has done this and will continue to do this without any work or investments of time”
“the SnP500 is much better/safer for most people than COIVs”
“Never lost money over any 20 year period”
“They made me more comfortable buying the S&P 500 knowing I'm not buying pre-revenue companies.”
“dead-simple, low-fee, market-indexed funds are a generally good place to put the surplus fruits of your own little economic engine”
“25x expenses in s&p 500 works ok”
“When 10 companies make the other 490 irrelevant in producing the annual return of the index, the index itself is no longer serving the diversification purpose.”
“buying assets is the way to keep up; an investment of $100 in the S&P500 in 1990 and never touched would be worth $4,120.93 today”
“The S&P 500 beats real estate over time.”
“the odds of you losing all your money in SPDR or VFINX are nearly 0%”
“leave it in the S&P 500 and be aware that one day it will blow up”
“for the average consumer to invest in diversified index funds, like the S&P 500”
“Of the investable markets, the US one still generates the highest returns.”
“Buffett himself tells everyone who will listen to buy and hold a diversified index fund for a long period of time.”
“standard deviation on Berkshire is lower than the SP500, so the second is riskier.”
“It is perfectly reasonable to just buy the S&P if that aligns with your financial goals.”
“Except the S&P 500 will give you a return.”
“Investing in the S&P 500 for 10 years will on-average double your money”
“even 500 companies is too much of a bias towards one group”
“Holding index funds seems reasonable”
“That can go very poorly like in 1929, 1965, 2000, etc.”
“The answer is don't worry about it if you're buying S&P 500. Just keep buying, leave it go, and don't touch it.”
“DCAing into an index fund is actually the recommended savings strategy”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.