Let’s face it, index funds have a bit of a reputation for being boring. After all, if everything goes absolutely perfectly, your portfolio performance for an index fund will be…precisely the same as the market return, less expenses. Not quite as exciting as playing the futures market now, is it?

While it’s true that you won’t enthrall your party guests with stories of fortunes won and lost by buying and holding index funds, that’s exactly what makes them sexy deep down. To put it into a crasser analogy, fancy investment vehicles are a lot like part girls at spring break: fun for a bit, but a terrible choice for the long term. Index funds are more like that quiet girl at your school library: not as exciting at first, but very rewarding to be with in the long run.

While everyone else is out chasing the sexy investments while you settle down with your index funds, you’ll probably find that a couple years down the road, you will be in a comfortable place while everyone else is wondering what in the world they just spent the last 20 years doing. Look into it, get started now, and your financial future will be a lot happier.