INTRODUCTION TO INDEX FUNDS
Learn even more about this topic with the Encyclopedia of Personal Finance™

The securities markets have measurements to which you can compare your own securities. For example, you can consult the Standard and Poor's 500 Stock Index or the Dow Jones Industrial Average. These will give you an idea of how well your security is performing compared to the market "average." If you would like to achieve the same results as an index but do not want to buy and sell to match the index, you can invest in a type of mutual fund that does that work for you. That is the subject of this tutorial.

We will cover these three topics:

• How Index Funds Are Structured
• How Index Funds Work
• Tax and Expense Advantages of Index Funds
• SUMMARY OF INDEX FUNDS

You have already guessed that these funds are called index funds. On the next screen, you will learn how they operate.