In this episode, Nathaniel and Tim discussed what the S&P 500 index is, its performance, and does it truly represent the overall stock market. From January 1 to June 20, 2023, the S&P 500 increased 14.3%. That's well above the 10-year and 20-year averages through that same time period of 3.6% and 3%, respectively. "The markets must be doing really well this year then!", you may think. But why are your 401(k)/retirement accounts not doing as well? Did you know that the top 9 companies of this index (Apple, Microsoft, Amazon.com, Nvidia, Tesla, Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Berkshire Hathaway, and UnitedHealth Group) accounted for almost 31% of the market capitalization? And if you exclude these top 9 stocks, the index would be up about 3% in the same time frame, making it a very mediocre year. Nathaniel talked about what drives the 2023 jump, and the volatility of the short-term market.