Investing Assets & Markets Mutual Funds What Is the Difference Between Stocks and Index Funds? By Joshua Kennon Joshua Kennon Joshua Kennon is an expert on investing, assets and markets, and retirement planning. He is the managing director and co-founder of Kennon-Green & Co., an asset management firm. learn about our editorial policies Updated on January 17, 2022 Reviewed by JeFreda R. Brown Reviewed by JeFreda R. Brown JeFreda R. Brown is a financial consultant, Certified Financial Education Instructor, and researcher who has assisted thousands of clients over a more than two-decade career. She is the CEO of Xaris Financial Enterprises and a course facilitator for Cornell University. learn about our financial review board In This Article View All In This Article Investing in Stocks Investing in Index Funds Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Photo: 10'000 Hours / DigitalVision / Getty Images Do stocks or index funds make more sense in your investment portfolio? For some, their belief in index fund investing runs so deep, it's almost like a religion. They'll tell anyone willing to listen to buy index funds. Others sleep better at night knowing their portfolio consists of individual companies they researched in-depth and chose by hand. Here are some benefits and drawbacks of each to help you determine which option is right for you: Investing in Stocks When you buy shares of stock in individual businesses, you become a part owner of the company. That means you get a share of the profits or losses, based on how well the company does. Suppose the McDonald's Corporation earned $4.5 billion after taxes in profit, and the company's board of directors decided to issue $2,46 billion of that to the company's stockholders in the form of a cash dividend, because 1,010,368,852 shares are outstanding, this works out to $2.44 per share. If you owned 1,000 shares, you'd get $2,440 in cash. If you owned 1,000,000 shares, you'd get $2,440,000 in cash. Investors who have bought ownership in successful companies in the past have grown wealthier. Imagine if you had become part owner of Amazon, Google, Berkshire Hathaway, Coca-Cola, Nike, Tesla, Target, or Disney when their stock prices were small. As their profits grow, you benefit based upon the total ownership you hold. Note A $10,000 investment in Walmart when the company first issued stock to outside investors in 1970 has now grown to more than $150,000,000 with stock splits and dividends reinvested. Sometimes companies fail. They may slowly decline or end in a catastrophic meltdown, like Enron. If you own stock in these companies, your shares might be worthless. It's comparable to being a local bakery owner and being forced to shut your doors. Investing in Index Funds When you buy an index fund, you are buying a basket of stocks designed to track a certain index, such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average or the S&P 500. In effect, buying shares of an index fund means you indirectly own stock in dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of different companies. Someone who invests in an index is saying, "I know I'll miss the Walmarts and McDonald's of the world, but I will also avoid the Enrons and Worldcoms. I want to make money from corporate America by becoming part owner. My only goal is to earn a decent rate of return on my money, so it will grow over time. I don't want to have to read annual reports and 10Ks, and I certainly don't want to master advanced finance and accounting." Statistically speaking, 50% of stocks must be below average, and 50% of stocks must be above average. It is why so many index fund investors are so passionate about passive index fund investing. They don't have to spend more than a few hours each year looking over their portfolio. A stock investor needs to be familiar with a company's business: its income statement, balance sheet, financial ratios, strategy, management, and more. Only you and your qualified financial planner can decide which approach is best and most appropriate for your situation. As a general rule, index fund investing is more advantageous than investing in individual stocks, because it keeps costs low, removes the need to constantly study earnings reports from companies, and almost certainly results in being "average," which is far preferable to losing your hard-earned money in a bad investment. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) What do you look for when picking a stock? When picking stocks, most investors and traders use some combination of fundamental and technical analysis. Fundamental analysis relies on comparing business fundamentals and stock prices to find valuable stocks at a cheap price. Technical analysis involves studying stock price movement, momentum, and market psychology to determine probabilities for various market scenarios. Many market participants use elements of both methods, but they may specialize in one over the other. What does it mean to invest in an individual stock? Investing in individual stock gives you partial ownership of a company. Index investing also gives you partial ownership in companies, but you'll have to look up the fund's portfolio to learn what you own (and in what proportion to your total ETF position). One difference between individual stock ownership and fund ownership is that owning an individual stock may give you the right to vote on company issues (if they are voting shares). Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit Sources The Balance uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. The Motley Fool. "If You Invested $5,000 in Walmart's IPO, This Is How Much Money You Would Have Now."