2026 will mark the start of my investing journey. I am excited to dive in. I have done a good deal of research and have a rough idea of what types of assets/classes I'm comfortable investing in. I do have a question about investing in the S&P500 Index.
From my understanding, I have two main avenues for an index investment: Mutual Fund or ETF. I am aware of how the two differ in trading options & somewhat aware of expense ratio differences (for example, does 0.02% vs 0.03% simply make MFs better than ETFs for my purposes, mentioned later below?). I am specifically referring to Schwab-offered index funds, such as SWPPX, etc. versus their equivalent ETFs (like SCHX). I am also interested in how other indices like VOO would factor into my question.
With all that being said, here is my question: if I am to invest in the S&P index, goals being for a long-term retirement fund not to be touched for at least 30 years, which way to invest in the S&P index is best to achieve this? Also, firstly, I hope my understanding is correct – if I have misunderstood something, that should be corrected first. Hope this post sees you well and thank you for any input you can offer.