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Index Fund Investing

A low-cost index fund portfolio built step by step: platform and fund choice, automatic monthly contributions, the fund checks that matter and a written plan for holding through market falls.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Then open the Marketplace in the app, search for Index Fund Investing, and click Install. It goes into your own files, and works offline from then on.

Before you start: this plan is general information to help you organise your own money decisions. It is not financial, investment, tax or legal advice. Check decisions that matter with a qualified, licensed adviser in your country, and remember that investing and trading can lose money.

What it installs.

1

Pillar

1

Area

50

Projects

202

Starter tasks

📈 Wealth & Investing

Index Fund Investing

Building a low-cost, diversified index fund portfolio, with a simple plan for regular contributions and holding through market swings.

  1. Readiness check before buying index funds
  2. Goals and time horizon for the index portfolio
  3. Sustainable monthly contribution amount
  4. One-page index fund plan
  5. Choosing a platform to hold your index funds
  6. Index fund or ETF format decision
  7. Index fund shortlist with a fact sheet scorecard
  8. Opening the account and making the first purchase
  9. Automatic monthly investment instruction
  10. Index holdings record sheet
  11. Monthly check that contributions were invested
  12. Quarterly index portfolio check-in
  13. Yearly contribution step-up
  14. Annual tracking difference check
  15. Contract notes and statements filing
  16. Reinvesting distributions from income units
  17. Fund notice and change watch
  18. Windfall and bonus investing rule
  19. Market fall holding plan
  20. Uninvested cash sweep on the platform
  21. How market-cap weighted indices are built
  22. History of index returns and drawdowns
  23. Tracking difference and tracking error explained
  24. Physical and synthetic replication
  25. Accumulation and income units explained
  26. Currency exposure and hedged share classes
  27. Securities lending inside index funds
  28. Index investing reading list
  29. All-in-one fund versus a multi-fund build
  30. Lump sum versus phased investing of a large sum
  31. Home market weighting decision
  32. World index versus single-market index choice
  33. Replacing an old active fund with a tracker
  34. Fund overlap check across your holdings
  35. Small fund closure risk review
  36. Moving index holdings to a new platform
  37. Handling a tracker closure or merger notice
  38. First full year of index investing review
  39. Debrief after your first big market fall
  40. Five-year index portfolio retrospective
  41. Restarting contributions after a pause
  42. Starting index investing with a small monthly amount
  43. Starting index investing later in life
  44. Index investing as a couple
  45. Index contributions on irregular self-employed income
  46. Index fund handover notes for a partner or executor
  47. Factor and small-cap tilt evaluation
  48. Comparing index rulebooks between providers
  49. Fund domicile and withholding tax review
  50. Concentration review of the largest index holdings

Where it starts.

Each project arrives with its purpose, milestones and first tasks written out. Here is how the first three read.

Readiness check before buying index funds

Money that might be needed within a few years, or that sits beside a credit card charging 20 percent or more, is usually better placed elsewhere before it goes into a share index fund. A short check of emergency cash, expensive debts and near-term spending plans tells you how much can sensibly be invested and then left alone for at least five years.

First tasks

  • Add up essential monthly spending from last month's bank statement
  • List every debt with its balance and interest rate
  • Write down the large costs you expect in the next five years
  • Record the amount you can leave invested for at least five years

Goals and time horizon for the index portfolio

Index funds reward patience, so the date you will need the money matters more than which fund you buy. Naming each goal, its rough target amount and the year you start drawing on it tells you which pots can ride out a crash and which belong in cash instead.

First tasks

  • Write each goal you are investing for on its own line
  • Give each goal a rough target amount and the year you will need it
  • Move any goal under five years away into a cash savings plan
  • Check goals and years still match your life plans @recurring(yearly)

Sustainable monthly contribution amount

A modest amount invested every month for twenty years usually does more than an ambitious amount abandoned after six months. Setting the figure from your actual spending, with room for irregular bills, gives you a number you can keep paying in through good and bad markets alike.

First tasks

  • Export the last three months of current account transactions
  • Average your irregular yearly bills into a monthly figure
  • Work out your average monthly surplus after those bills
  • Choose a contribution that leaves a buffer below that surplus

Make it yours.

Install Index Fund Investing, then tell Aurum the date you're aiming for. It checks whether the plan fits the weeks you actually have.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Blueprints are general information to help you organise your own work. They are not medical, financial, legal or other professional advice. See the Terms.