For many novice investors who try timing the market and fail, they immediately move on to stock selection. This investment ‘method’ is equally as risky as timing the market, but rather than focusing on getting in and out of stocks as before they rise and fall, stock selection focuses on trying to predict which stocks you think will outperform a certain index. While this may sound simple on the surface, and just like with timing the market some individuals do experience success with stock selection, it’s important to keep in mind that they are the exception – not the rule. The big problem with using stock selection as a tool to grow your portfolio is that even professional money managers cannot consistently have success at this. And they spend all of their time studying stocks and the market conditions that cause their value to rise and/or fall. When you stop to consider this, it’s easy to understand why the average Joe (or Jane) doesn’t have a chance to have lasting success with picking great stocks. You might have more luck if you put a bunch of names of stocks on a wall and throwing a dart, blindly buying what it lands on! All joking aside, investing in the S&P 500 is your best choice, also known as the Standard & Poor’s 500, this is an index of the largest 500 stocks in America and is the most commonly quoted gauge of the United States’ economic state. You can purchase shares of the index as an exchange traded fund (similar to a mutual fund) with the symbol SPY or IVV.