Index funds are great for the investor. The only knock against them is a technical one, and that is as the % of the market in index funds has grown, it makes the total market a little more volatile, because all the index funds make pretty much the same funds adjustments at the same time since they all use similar algorithms, so I've seem some market insiders opine against them. But as long as they are available, they are a good choice for a lot of investors.