Soooo... an index fund just has a similar shape of one of the major indexes and a hedge fund is personally managed by a broker or yourself? Like I said, I'm just getting into this. To the other point, I've been thinking about this because I want to put my money to the stocks of companies that I like as long term companies - Google, Netflix, Tesla, Blizzard, and so on. That's easy to say, but the reality is that my mini portfolio up there isn't very diverse and I'm no where near brash enough to gamble with a mass of my retirement money. So, I'm trying to figure out how to make moves in stages. I feel like a fake portfolio is a good place to start to see if I'm making some kind of return on my investment, then maybe I can buy a stock or two. I'm trying to learn more about the common pitfalls and whether I really want this responsibility.