The autopilot investor (7 big perks)
Sep 25, 2025Read time - 4 minutes / Disclosure
The autopilot investor has:
- Low stress.
- Many stocks.
- A simple plan.
Unfortunately, investing is viewed as a complicated thing.
Keeping It Simple
Most people think becoming a successful investor means:
- Making big bets.
- Taking lots of risk.
- Being a stock guru.
Heck, I thought this too at first.
But trying to do these things can take up a lot of time.
And can cost you a lot of money (if making the wrong decisions).
After working in banking for 10 years.
And watching average people go from $0 to $1M+.
I noticed one big thing.
They keep it simple.
Saving $7 a day
— JOHN HENRY (@thejohn_henry_) June 25, 2025
= $210 per month
Investing $210 per month
In the stock market
Averaging 10% per year
= $43,917 in 10 years
= $157,829 in 20 years
= $453,285 in 30 years
= $1,219,624 in 40 years
Small habits. Massive outcome.
But what did they invest in?
The closer I looked.
The more obvious it became.
Most invest in..
Large American companies.
How exactly?
An S&P500 fund.
The S&P500 Fund Cheat Sheet
Most of the self made millionaires I came across in banking invested in a simple stock fund.
One of the largest is The Vanguard S&P500 ETF (it's also called: VOO).
Here's 7 big perks of investing in an S&P500 stock fund instead of trying to pick your own stocks (hope it's helpful).
Let's dive in:
1. The 500 Companies
An S&P500 fund includes:
500 of the largest companies listed on the U.S. stock market.
If you look up the S&P500, you'll see the 10 largest companies plus the other 490 companies that make up the S&P500.
Stock Analysis (dot com)
A quick google search of "S&P500" or using free tools like Stock Analysis will show you 500 of the largest companies listed on the stock market.
2. The Quarterly Updates
Every 3 months the S&P500 changes.
Changes include things like:
A new company is added.
OR
An existing company is removed.
Changes happen for different reasons like:
Removing a struggling company.
OR
Adding a fast growing company.
And the best part..
These changes happen automatically.
The 500 companies that make up the S&P500 is updated 4 times every year.
3. The Low Price
Investing in the S&P500 doesn't take hundreds or thousands of dollars.
Many investment accounts let you start investing in the S&P500 with just $5.
New investors can own part of America's largest companies without needing a lot of money.
4. The Time Savings
Picking an individual company to invest in means researching:
- It's finances.
- It's business model.
- It's management team.
But investing in an S&P500 fund today means:
Every $100 invested = owning
$8.07 of NVIDIA stock
$7.38 of Microsoft stock
$5.77 of Apple stock
$4.12 of Amazon stock
$3.76 of Google stock
+ 495 other companies
S&P500 investors don't need to spend time deciding which stocks to buy.
5. The Easy Access
An S&P500 fund is available almost everywhere.
Most jobs offering a retirement account like a 401k, also offer an S&P500 fund as an investment option inside your retirement account.
Other investment accounts offer an S&P500 fund too like:
- The IRA.
- The Roth IRA.
- The Brokerage Account.
S&P500 funds are common and easy to access no matter where you have your account or which type of account you open.
6. The Auto-Invest Option
Remembering to invest every month can be a pain.
Fortunately, auto-invest tools make it easy.
Turning on auto-invest inside a retirement account at work means:
- Part of your check every month automatically invests into the S&P500 (or whatever investment you pick).
Turning on auto-invest inside another investment account you open means:
- Money from your checking or savings account transfers every month to your investment account and automatically invests into the S&P500 (or whatever investment you pick).
Using auto-invest tools helps you remember to invest every month.
7. The Average Growth
Over the past 30 years, money invested in the S&P500 has grown 10% per year on average.
Some years investments grow slower, and other years investments grow faster.
What investors expect every year:
— JOHN HENRY (@thejohn_henry_) August 12, 2025
+ 10%
+ 10%
+ 10%
+ 10%
+ 10%
Last 5yrs of the stock market:
+ 18%
+ 28%
- 18%
+ 26%
+ 25%
Wild.
$100 invested in the S&P500 has doubled every 8 years on average for the past 30 years.
The bottom line
As a new investor.
I thought I needed to:
- Learn all of the shortcuts and hacks.
- Spend hours studying the stock market.
- Buy and sell my stocks at the perfect time.
But later on I realized none of these things are necessary.
Deciding:
- What stock to buy.
- How much to buy.
- When to buy it.
- What stock to sell.
- How much to sell.
- When to sell it.
Can take up a lot of time.
Time that could be spent doing other things.
S&P500 funds help simplify investing for people that like to invest on easy mode.
That's all for today.
See you next Saturday.
