Index funds are one of the most powerful stocks to buy. Contrast to average stocks which represent a single company and can be very volatile, index funds represent many groups of companies together and have generally smooth trends because of it. These smooth trends are due to the fact that even if one company within the index fund drops, the other other companies within the index fund will keep the average amount high. Because of this, index funds are very low-maintenance as stockholders do not have to be worried of their stock suddenly plummeting.
There are many different types of index funds that are available to the stock market, each geared towards a different purpose. For example, an index fund could be filled with many small and new companies which have the potential to grow and be largely successful. Additionally, index funds could be focused on certain topics such as science or technology and include companies within those fields. In the case that there a new scientific method or a new technological groundbreaking were to be discovered, investors could buy these science/technology index funds to invest in hundreds of companies at once knowing that their stocks would go up due to the recent developments in the field.