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How to Invest in Index Funds (Australia 2024)

By Will Ellis

Last Updated on April 14, 2024

Mutual funds that attempt to replicate the performance of a market index are known as index funds.

As index funds are low-cost and low-risk, financial experts suggest them as the ideal investment vehicle for most individuals.

By pooling resources from several participants, an index fund may acquire a broad range of securities.

There is usually not much of a threshold for entry into an index fund, and investors enjoy high levels of liquidity due to the fact that shares may be redeemed at any time. An investor’s holdings in an index fund are equivalent to a fractional share of the fund’s underlying assets and the income generated by those assets.

Shares of index funds may be acquired via many types of investment accounts, including ISAs and brokerage accounts. Find out how to begin investing in index funds below.

Table of Contents:

How Do ETFs & Index Funds Differ
Step 1 – Achieving Success with Index Funds
Step 2 – Choose the Best Index Investment Approach
Step 3 – Find Possible Index Funds
Step 4 – Start a Trading Account
Step 5 – Buy Your First Index Funds
Step 6 – Rebalance
Step 7 – Plan Your Escape Route
Takeaway

How Do ETFs & Index Funds Differ? 🔗

The trading structure is the primary distinction between an index fund and an ETF.

An exchange-traded fund may be bought and sold during the trading day, just like a stock. Every purchase or sale of an index fund must be made at the closing price.

Similar to index funds, exchange-traded funds pool capital from several participants before investing it in a wide range of securities. A participant in an investment pool who purchases shares does so in exchange for a claim on the pool.

Unlike index funds, exchange-traded funds do not issue or redeem shares on demand. Shares in ETFs are not exchanged between themselves, but rather on stock exchanges at market values throughout the day.

The returns on different assets, including the stock market, are often compared to market indexes. Index investing has gained popularity because, historically speaking, it has outperformed more active investment strategies, particularly after accounting for fees and taxes.

Self-indexing, index derivatives and index-tracking mutual funds and exchange-traded funds are the only direct routes to index ownership.

Step 1 📕 – Achieving Success with Index Funds

Determine Your Investing Objectives

You should know what you want and when you want to have it by before you start investing in index funds.

According to some experts, shorter time horizons mean a reduced ability for risk, which causes you to weight a bond index more than for longer time horizons, which allows you to increase your risk and, probably, boost your stock allocation.

Remember that the bigger potential rewards from riskier investments, such equities-based index funds, come with more risk. You may be compelled to sell at a loss if you remove your money before the market recovers from a downturn and don’t have enough time to ride it out.

During the short to medium term, bond index funds and other conservative investments are preferable. They provide steadier value, although with lower rates of return. If, on the other hand, you’re looking to invest for retirement, which may be a number of years away, stock index funds can be a terrific method to increase your returns over the long run.

Step 2 📗 – Choose the Best Index Investment Approach

Determine Your Timeframe 🦕

After you have decided on your objectives and timescale, you may choose the appropriate index fund strategy.

Depending on how long you have to invest, determining what proportion of your portfolio should be in stocks and what percentage should be in bonds is the first step in establishing an index fund investment plan. No matter how long you want to hold onto your investments, you should always assess your tolerance for risk.

For example, if the thought of even a little loss is too painful, you could choose safer investments for a long-term aim. Instead of depending on investment growth to get you there, you’ll have to put in more of your own cash, which might be a sacrifice you’re willing to make for the sake of your own sanity.

Step 3 📗 – Find Possible Index Funds

Determine Your Fund 🗺️

Investing in hundreds or even thousands of stocks and bonds is a daunting task, but index funds simplify the process. Rather of focusing on choosing individual successful stocks, you may instead reap the rewards of the market’s or industry’s expansion by investing in a fund that tracks it.

Hence, study up on the specific indexes and index funds that interest you before putting any money down. If you’re looking for some indices to invest in, you may narrow your choices down depending on your tolerance for risk.

Higher risk. Indexes tracking the performance of a wide range of stocks, such as the S&P 500 or the NASDAQ 1000. If you want to take advantage of the exponential growth potential of tiny firms, you may choose to invest in small-cap indexes that follow the Russell 2000 or S&P 600. Due to the increased volatility of less stable nations, international stock indices such as the MSCI Emerging Markets Index and the MSCI All Country World Index may also be classified as high-risk investments.

Lower risk. Bloomberg Barclays Bond Index is one such bond index you might consult. The Bloomberg Long Treasury Bond Index and the Bloomberg Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index are two government-bond-focused indices that may be a safer option.

Funds that aim to replicate the performance of an index often invest in the same securities as that index, although the exact amounts may vary.

Index fund expenses, such as loads and expense ratios, are something to keep a watch-out for. Expense ratios account for a mutual fund’s overall management expenses, whereas sales loads are charged just when a trade is executed.

You may steer clear of load fees by researching other investment options, but you will almost certainly have to pay an expense ratio no matter where you put your money. Choose assets with proven track records of success and the lowest feasible cost ratio, since expense ratios may vary widely even among otherwise similar funds.

Always check whether there are any required minimum investments. In order to get started with certain index funds, you may need to put down a few thousand dollars. After you’ve met the first investment requirement, further investments may be made in whatever quantity you see fit.

If you’re having trouble finding an index fund with a low enough minimum beginning investment, you may want to look at exchange-traded funds, which follow the same index but often have no minimum initial investment.

A fund rating agency like Morningstar or your intended online brokerage both have resources accessible to help you get started with your index fund research.

📚 What is a Financial Plan?

Step 4 – Start a Trading Account

Determine Your Trading App 🗺️

Before purchasing shares of an index fund, you will need to create a brokerage account. Several kinds of accounts tailored to certain objectives allow you to invest in index funds:

Savings plans for college expenses, such as the popular ISA.
Accounts set aside for retirement and pensions.
Accounts set up with a brokerage firm that charges taxes regardless of the account’s purpose.

Account-opening costs are something you should look into before deciding where to create an account. Would your chosen brokerage, for instance, charge you a commission for each deal you make? You may want to look for a brokerage that doesn’t charge commissions if this is the case.

Step 5 📙 – Buy Your First Index Funds

Determine Your Trade ✔️

You may buy index funds when you’ve opened an investing account and deposited the necessary funds. Verify any required minimum investments into the funds you’re considering.

You will be asked to fill out a trade ticket with your broker’s instructions for where you want your money invested. You may choose whether you wish to buy shares at the fund’s spot price, or at a reduced “limit price”, which is often lower than the market price. The value of the fund must fall to or below your limit price before your purchase order is executed, if you specify a limit price when placing your transaction.

Once a trade is finalised, the client’s funds are immediately invested in the managed account.

Step 6 – Rebalance

Construct a Schedule 📆

An index fund purchase is often not a one-and-done occurrence. Rather, it’s a consistent aspect of a plan to put money aside and grow it over time. What this implies is that you should establish a schedule of automatic purchases to ensure that you maintain investing.

There are a few advantages to establishing a monthly buying plan for your investments. The first benefit of establishing a routine of recurrent purchases is the opportunity to benefit from the mathematical phenomenon known as dollar-cost averaging.

If you don’t want to waste time attempting to time the market, you may just invest regularly without worrying about the current value of the market. Buying fewer shares of an index fund over time might reduce your overall investment and protect you from the possibility of paying a premium. Investing on a regular, routine basis also helps to ensure that you never lose sight of your savings objectives.

You should also establish a periodic evaluation of your index fund investments to evaluate their progress. Rebalancing your portfolio during periodic reviews (which should be done no more than twice a year) will assist you to make sure your asset allocation remains on track to help you achieve your objectives.

If you’d rather not be responsible for these day-to-day tasks, a robo-advisor may manage and rebalance a portfolio of low-cost, diversified index funds on your behalf. Even though their fees are a quarter of what you’d pay a human financial counsellor, robo-advisors are more expensive than investing in index funds on your own.

Step 7 – Plan Your Escape Route

Determine Your Time In…

Everyone eventually cashes out their investments, therefore it’s prudent to plan your exit strategy. Consider the length of time you’ve had the index fund you plan to sell if you have it in a taxable brokerage account and will have to pay capital gains tax on any profits you’ve made from selling it.

Short-term capital gains on investments held for less than a year are taxed at the same rate as your salary or wage income. But if you hold on to an investment for more than a year, you’ll only be subject to long-term capital gains tax, which is often lower than your personal income tax rate. Delaying the time at which you cash in an investment until after you’ve held it for at least a year might help you save money on taxes.

As long as you don’t take money out of your retirement account, you won’t have to pay taxes on any capital gains you make in index funds. With a 401(k) or an Individual Retirement Account, you are free to purchase and sell investments as often as you choose without paying any taxes on the gains or losses.

Pulling money out of these accounts presents a tax problem. A financial planner or tax expert should be consulted annually to plan retirement disbursements to reduce the amount of taxable income.

Takeaway 📚 🤠

Only via indirect investment is exposure to an index possible, although index mutual funds and exchange traded funds are highly liquid, inexpensive to purchase, and often even have no associated charges.

They’re great since you can just set them and forget about them as an index. DIY indexing needs work in the form of research and portfolio construction, and it may be expensive to execute.

To succeed in derivatives trading, you need to have specialist expertise, a margin account that allows futures and options trading, and the ability to roll positions when they expire.