Index fund styles of investing is probably the best option for most people. It’s very difficult to consistently outperform the major stock market indexes over the longer term by being an individual stock picker. Sure, you can sometimes get lucky but the problem is you have to stay lucky.

For example, 40% of stocks lose 70% of their value while only about 7% strongly outperform the major stock market indexes over the longer term. So, it would be very difficult to consistently avoid the 40% while selecting the 7%. As such, it’s probably best for most people to play the odds instead of the exceptions by investing in index funds. You can see how the index funds I consistently track compare by scrolling down the following link: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/investment-tools/. I’ve added this post to that link as well for easy future reference.

Here’s a good data source for the above information:
https://advisor.morganstanley.com/david6.miller/documents/field/d/da/david-j–miller/Why_We_Diversify_-_WEBr1.pdf

You can learn about all of my investing techniques via my “Invest Like a Pro in 10 Minutes a Day!” series of 4 books where you can learn the “end to end” process to investing: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/published-books-and-life-coaching-services/.

Also, you can follow all of my stock market activities here: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/stock-market-activities

I wish you much investing success for 2026 (and beyond!).

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