Step 5.

Begin with
Mutual Funds or
Exchange Traded Funds
(ETFs)
When you begin investing, you'll be far better
off with mutual funds and ETFs than plunging
right into stocks. Funds are professionally
managed, and this will remove the burden of
stock selection from your plate. All you need to
do is:

1. Open an account with one of the many

commission-free ETF trading apps available
(such as Public.com)
2. Determine how much money you want to
put into a given fund or group of funds, and
then you're free to get on with the rest of
your life.
One of the advantages of mutual funds is that
you also don't have to worry about
diversification. Since each fund holds
numerous stocks, diversification will already be
built into the fund.
Step 6. Stay with Index
Funds
To make mutual fund investing even more
hassle-free, stick with index funds. For
example, index funds that track the Standard &
Poor's 500 index are invested in the broad
market, so your investment performance will
track that index precisely. While you'll never
outperform the market in an index fund,
you'll never under-perform it either. As a new
investor, this is as it should be. Wealthfront is
an excellent robo advisor to handle both your
index funds and ETFs.
Step 7. Use Dollar-Cost
Averaging
Dollar-cost averaging is the process of buying
into your investment positions gradually, rather
than all at once. For example, rather than
investing $5,000 in a single index fund, you
can make periodic contributions of, say, $100
per month into the fund. By doing this, you
remove the possibility of buying at the top of
the market. Instead, you're buying into the
fund at all different times and continuously.
This also eliminates the “when” question, as
in when to invest in a given security or fund.
Even better for you, dollar-cost averaging
works beautifully with payroll contributions and
is a natural fit with mutual funds and ETFs.
You can set up automatic investments through
robo advisor M1 Finance.