How I Picked My First Index Fund (and Didn’t Overthink It… Much)

Picking your first index fund feels a bit like choosing a snack box for your kid: you want something solid, reliable, and unlikely to leak chaos all over your future.

The good news? There are fewer shiny unicorns involved.

After setting up my ISK, I stared at a sea of fund names like a tired mum in a toy aisle. Global? Europe? Sweden? ESG? MSCI what-now? I was one click away from giving up and buying another rain jacket instead.

So I made a rule: no funds I couldn’t explain to a tired friend on the playground. If I couldn’t sum it up in one sentence between bites of a half-eaten apple, it wasn’t going in my basket.

Step 1: Start Global

I figured, if I’m going to ride this rollercoaster, I might as well do it strapped to 1,500+ companies around the world.
That led me to:

• Avanza Global – super low fees, globally diversified, and recommended by half the financial blogs in Sweden.
• Länsförsäkringar Global Indexnära – same vibe, slightly lower fees, backed by a name that sounds like it has good insurance.

I picked one, clicked buy, and didn’t look back.

Step 2: Don’t Get Fancy

I ignored the urge to “balance” my portfolio like some finance bro on YouTube. I have kids. They already balance me out.

One global fund was enough for now. I’d learn more as I go. If it’s good enough for pension funds and stingy economists, it’s good enough for my start.

Step 3: Trust the Process

I didn’t understand every single line in the fund factsheet. That’s okay. I did understand:

• It spreads risk.
• It costs almost nothing.
• It doesn’t require me to pretend I know what a bond yield curve is.

That’s a win.

---

TL;DR:

You don’t need to be a genius. You need to start.

Pick one solid global index fund with low fees.
Put in what you can.
Repeat monthly like it’s skincare.

You can always add more later — regional funds, ESG filters, Sweden-specific options. But don’t let perfection stop you from beginning.

I didn’t overthink it.
(Much.)

Want to go a bit further? Here’s how I kept it minimal with only three funds.