<prompt> Human: So for the first time, Im going to be getting a tax refund this year. I thought this would be a good time to get into mutually traded index funds. I know about them in the general sense and I understand the concept of how they work, but beyond that Im clueless. I was wondering and hoping if anyone could explain where I can start in buyingtrading them and any details I need to know about and look out for.  <response>: You dont trade them. You buy and hold them for decades. And you only want to own total market funds. Read an investment book or two. 