Not poor - 2nd lt. newly minted - pssst TSP equivalent of 500Index. Got a good ten years in - till he screwed up and started reading - Four Pillars.
Today - dollar cost average as early and often as you can into the new model - Total Stock Market Index - taxible, tax deferred whatever.
Do NOT Read Books/Investment crap/ watch the market/hang around the water cooler with the guys - or at least talk sex and sports - Not the third S.
DCA for X years and when it's time to retire(trust your bellybutton) - retire and psst Wellesley or Target Retirement.
Of course it only took me forty years and every investment mistake in the book to figure out it is that simple - really!
heh heh heh - keep the faith: 'God Looks After Drunkards, Fools and The United States of America.'
Oh yeah - and sometimes idiots like me who read books, dinked/invested around for forty years - like the blind squirrel with the acorn I didn't notice much - my 500Index DCA'd into 401k got me to ER. Hindsight and a Curmudgeon certificate makes one 'crusty.'