The entire financial industry has a trillion-dollar incentive to convince you that investing is complicated. It isn't. The evidence has been in for decades: a simple, low-cost, diversified portfolio beats the vast majority of professional managers over any meaningful time horizon.
Here is the whole strategy: a total stock market index fund, an international stock fund, and a bond fund, weighted to your risk tolerance. Rebalance once a year. Automate your contributions. That's it. That's the article, except for the part where I explain why you won't do it.
