To The Moon

What if your child started investing in the stock market before learning to walk?

That’s the idea behind Trump Accounts, a new government-backed investment program designed to give American children an early start.

In October, the U.S. Treasury completed automatic enrollment for eligible children under 18. U.S. citizens born between 2025 and 2028 can also qualify for a one-time $1,000 government contribution, provided a parent or guardian claims the account and meets the program’s requirements.

Here’s the interesting part: The default investment isn't Nvidia, Tesla, or another high-flying stock. It's SPYM, a low-cost ETF tracking the S&P 500.

Why the S&P 500?

The answer comes down to a simple investing principle: You don't have to pick the next big winner to build wealth over time. And some Tiger investors are already seeing that strategy pay off.

• Congrats to the @Or who is up US$15,396 on $iShares Core S&P 500 ETF(IVV)$ .

• Congrats to the @ @YG_TAN666 who is up US$7,741 on $SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust(SPY)$ .

Those returns may not grab headlines like a triple-digit options gain. But they raise a question worth asking: With the S&P 500 near record highs, is it still a good time to start investing?

Why Warren Buffett has long favored the S&P 500

Warren Buffett has spent decades making the case for simple, low-cost index investing.

In his 2013 shareholder letter, Buffett outlined instructions for the money he would leave in trust for his wife: 90% in a low-cost S&P 500 index fund and 10% in short-term U.S. government bonds.

His reasoning was straightforward. Most investors don't need to beat the market. They need a sensible strategy they can stick with.

The S&P 500 tracks roughly 500 leading U.S. companies, including Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon, alongside major names in healthcare, financials, energy and consumer goods.

Instead of betting on a single company, investors can gain exposure to a broad basket of American businesses through one ETF.

The S&P 500 is up 14% this year. Is it getting too expensive?

As of October 13, the S&P 500 had gained roughly 14% in 2026 and remained near record highs.

According to Reuters, more than 40% of S&P 500 companies were still down for the year as of October 12. The median stock had gained just 4%, with AI-related companies driving much of the index's advance.

It also highlights a risk: If enthusiasm around AI cools, the market's biggest winners could become a source of pressure for the broader index.

So should investors wait for a correction before buying?

Let's look at what actually happened to SPY in 2026.

Imagine you started the year with $9,000 set aside for the S&P 500.

You had two choices.

• You could invest the entire $9,000 at the end of January, or spread your purchases out by investing $1,000 at the end of each month from January through September.

• SPY closed January at $691.97, fell to $650.34 by the end of March, and then recovered to $762.63 by September 30.

Using actual month-end closing prices and valuing both strategies at SPY's October 13 closing price of $778.01, here's how the two approaches compare:

Assumes fractional shares. Excludes dividends, transaction costs and interest on uninvested cash.

Surprised?

The lump-sum investor actually came out ahead by about $435.

That's because the market recovered after its March decline, giving money invested earlier more time to benefit from the rally.

But there's another side to the story.At the end of March, $1,000 bought roughly 1.54 shares of SPY. By September, the same investment bought only about 1.31 shares.

This is the appeal of dollar-cost averaging, or DCA: Investing a fixed amount at regular intervals, regardless of what the market is doing.

When prices fall, your money buys more shares. When prices rise, it buys fewer.

It won't always outperform investing everything upfront. But it can make the process easier to manage, especially for investors who don't want to spend every day trying to predict the next market move.

Now imagine doing that for 18 years.

This is where the Trump Accounts story becomes particularly interesting.

Suppose a newborn receives the $1,000 government contribution, and their parents add just $100 a month until the child turns 18.

Over 18 years, the family would contribute $21,600 of its own money, bringing total contributions, including the government deposit, to $22,600.

Now assume the investments earn a hypothetical 7% annual return, compounded monthly.

By the child's 18th birthday, the account could grow to approximately $46,585.

That's more than double the money contributed.

And here's how the outcome changes under different return assumptions:

Illustrative calculations assuming fixed returns, monthly compounding and $100 contributions at the end of each month. Excludes taxes, fees and inflation. Actual market returns will vary and losses are possible.

Of course, the S&P 500 doesn't deliver a steady 7% return every year. Stocks can fall sharply, and even long investment horizons don't guarantee a profit.

But the example shows why starting early matters.

You don't necessarily need a large amount of money to begin. Consistent contributions and time can make a meaningful difference.

SPY, IVV, VOO or SPYM — which ETF should you choose?

There are several ways to invest in the S&P 500 without buying hundreds of individual stocks.

Four of the most widely recognized ETFs are:

All four track the same index, so their long-term returns tend to be very similar.

• $SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust(SPY)$is particularly popular with active traders because of its liquidity and options market.

• $iShares Core S&P 500 ETF(IVV)$ and $Vanguard S&P 500 ETF(VOO)$ are often used by investors looking for low-cost, long-term exposure.

• $SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF(SPYM)$ , formerly known as SPLG, has the lowest expense ratio of the group. It's also the ETF selected as the default investment for Trump Accounts.

For long-term investors, fees matter. So do liquidity, trading costs and the ability to stay invested through market downturns.

So, is it too late to start buying the S&P 500?

That depends on what you're trying to achieve.If you're looking to make a quick profit over the next few months, today's valuations, concentrated AI-driven rally and uncertain interest-rate outlook all deserve attention.

But if you're investing for the next 10 or 20 years, trying to buy at the exact bottom may matter less than having a sustainable plan, sufficient cash reserves and the discipline to stick with it.The lesson from 2026 isn't that dollar-cost averaging always wins. It doesn't.

It's that you don't have to predict every market move to build a long-term investment strategy.

Trump Accounts are putting that idea into practice for a new generation of American investors.And for everyone else, the same question remains: Is waiting for the perfect entry point worth the risk of never getting started?

If you have $10,000 to invest in the S&P 500 today. What's your move?

A. Invest it all in SPY or IVV and hold for the long term.

B. Invest a fixed amount every month, regardless of market conditions.

C. Keep the cash and wait for a 10% correction.

Share your thoughts in the comments, and feel free to show us your S&P500 positions and gains!

For educational purposes only. Not investment advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

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