They are technically available to the poor but in practice many people can't afford to tie up their money for long periods. If they're forced to take their mon

They are technically available to the poor but in practice many people can't afford to tie up their money for long periods. If they're forced to take their money out of the fund due to their circumstances, then they could actually lose a lot of it (an economic downturn makes both situations more likely to occur at the same time). Whereas someone who is well off only loses money on paper and can afford to hold on to their investment until the economy improves. In short, index funds are a bad investment unless you're well off enough that you won't need the money invested. At least not for a long time.