this post was submitted on 23 Sep 2023
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Economics is one of those subjects where the more you undestand the less you feel like you do. I can barely wrap my mind around index funds and compounding interests.
On the plus side, they feel fictional because they're completely made up.
Just because something is abstract doesn't mean that it is fictional. Money is made up and essentially an arbitrary placeholder for the general concept of value, but money isn't a required part of an economic system. Economic interactions would occur whether or not a particular society has money (e.g. a pure barter system is still an economy).
Index funds are fairly easy, just look up the prospectus for the fund looking closely at long term performance-expense ratio and how it matches up with your risk tolerance. If you're still lost just toss your retirement money in a target date fund while you do your research.