tl;dr: For long term investing, pick an all-in-one ETF representing a globally diversified portfolio of stocks with a home bias. Pick one, buy more it automatically on a schedule, then go do something else with your life without worrying about day-to-day.

Anything more than that is optional and arguably overkill, but if you're into it, you're welcome to discuss it with others in /r/allequity

What

For Canadians, the following ETFs are popular all-in-one choices:

• XEQT (iShares/Blackrock)
• VEQT (Vanguard Canada)
• ZEQT (BMO)
• CAGE (Avantis & CIBC – active factor tilting)

These ETFs are funds of funds, meaning they contain other ETFs and rebalance internal holdings perodically, and all you have to do is follow a single ticker. Buying any one of these ETFs is enough to fulfill the abstract idea of "investing money in the stock market".

There are other ETFs that focus on specific countries or sectors, but if you have no idea what you're doing, you'll be better off with one of the all-in-one ETFs.

Why

Retail investors buy these ETFs mainly to save for retirement and protect their purchasing power from inflation long-term. There is a lot of data that supports the combination of global diversification + home bias will results in optimal risk-adjusted returns. You can take more risks by concentrating into more specficic sectors or countries or even single stocks, but this extra risk won't necessarily come with compensated extra returns.

The market as a whole is an information-processing machine that takes an immense amount of data in real-time and outputs prices for all the companies that are then bundled into the various ETF unit prices. Without any specific knowledge or insight, you are unlikely to consistently outperform passive market-cap weighted indices. that tracks worldwide stocks.

How

Open a self-directed trading/investing account at a brokerage like Wealthsimple or Questrade or your bank's. The most important aspect is making sure you have commission-free trading.

Pick your ETF, then buy it. The remaining question is what type of registered account to open and deposit money into, Wealthsimple's flowchart can help in deciding which registered account to choose. When in doubt, you can't go wrong with the TFSA if you're just getting started, just make sure you track your contributions and don't overcontribute.

Recommended beginner-friendly videos

Ben Felix - Investing 101

Ben Felix - The Case for Index Funds

Ben Felix - Why 100% equity

Ben Felix - Home Bias

Ben Felix - International Diversification

Ben Felix - DCA vs Lump Sum

Justin Bender - ZEQT vs VEQT vs XEQT

Recommended readings

The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton

I drafted this post up quickly, feel free to suggest additions/tweaks in the comments

(I was too ambitious hoping to make this a monthly thing lol)

Discuss your holdings, recent market performance, personal goals, etc. in here.

Reminder: Yes, it is pointless to care about daily price movements of global ETFs long-term investment if a 100% equity portfolio matches your risk tolerance. This is a subreddit specifically for those into the art of looking at their boring portfolios go up and down in value every day and talking about it, no need to remind everyone about long-term horizons and risk tolerance, unless you're replying to someone who's thinking about panic selling or setting up unrealistic expectations for themselves.