The Secret to Buying Google and Other S&P 500 Stocks as a New Investor

For many new investors, buying companies listed in the S&P 500 is a good place to start. This market index comprises 500 of the largest companies trading on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, and investing in large companies is generally seen as less risky.

But many of the best-known companies in the S&P 500 come with a very high share price. For example, Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG), (NASDAQ: GOOGL) had a share price topping $1,300 as of May 15; Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) was priced at more than $2,400 for a single share.

While investors can gain exposure to the stocks on the S&P by purchasing an exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracking the index, a share of most of these ETFs will also set you back several hundred dollars. For those just getting started, it could take months to save enough to buy just one share of an S&P index fund, and even longer to buy shares of the best-known companies among the 500. And sinking so much cash into a single investment can make it difficult to build a diversified portfolio.