Robert Brokamp, CFP®

speaker

318 appearances 2 recordings 1 series first heard Mar 2026 last heard 4 Apr

Robert Brokamp, CFP®’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

Trend

recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 2 in all, peaking in Apr 2026 with 1.

Appearances

newest first · ▶ plays the moment

Motley Fool Hidden Gems Investing · Which Types of Investments Should You Own and Where Should You Own Them · 4 Apr 2026 podcast

Yeah, and it really is a set it and forget it investment.

I mean, when I started investing back in the 90s, one of the first things I bought was an S&P 500 index fund.

And I haven't really looked at it since then.

You could just hold on to it pretty much forever.

And the evidence is clear that it's tough to beat a relevant index fund.

So why not have a foundation of that?

We at The Motley Fool, we love our individual stocks.

But if you know our history, we have been fans of index funds from the very early days.

So totally fine to have at least a foundation of index funds.

Now, why, Stephanie, would you consider not doing index funds?

What are some of the downsides?

Yeah, and you do have to be careful, right?

Because there are many index funds out there that track maybe more smaller industries or sectors or even country index funds that are actually not all that diversified.

They're pretty much dominated by two or three stocks.

So you do need to look at the index fund to determine whether it makes sense for you.

And you still have to choose which index funds and you have to choose the right mix of index funds.

So it's not completely set it and forget it.

Despite what we're saying, you still have to make some decisions about which ones to buy and how much to have in each.

If you love the idea of funds in which you make one purchase, but then get diversified exposure to all kinds of investments, the competition to index funds are actively managed funds.

And these are investments in which there's a team of managers and analysts who actually pick the securities in the fund rather than just mimicking an index.

Showing 21–40 of 318 · page 2 of 16