Alana Benson is an investing writer who joined NerdWallet in 2019. She covers a wide variety of investing topics including stocks, socially responsible investing, cryptocurrency, mutual funds, HSAs and financial advice. She is also a frequent contributor to NerdWallet's "Smart Money" podcast. Alana has appeared on FOX Houston and the "PennyWise" podcast and has been quoted in MarketWatch and The Sun. Before joining NerdWallet, she wrote two books on identity theft and several young adult nonfiction titles. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Associated Press, MSN, Yahoo Finance and MarketWatch. She is based in Wyoming.
- Education: Dual B.A. in English and classical civilizations from the University of Vermont
- Previous experience: Writer at LexisNexis, writer at Rosen Publishing, writer at the Lander Journal
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How to Build a Low-Cost Portfolio With Index Funds
Building the best investment portfolio for you can be challenging. There are lots of investment choices — how do you know which is the best? That's where index funds come in, which can help you build a well-diversified portfolio instantly while still allowing you to take advantage of stock market returns. 
