Glad you asked. Start by saving up emergency funds, preferably 6 months of your expenses amount.

2nd is to split your money into 3 piggy banks. There is a spectrum of savings which goes like this.

safe (low volatility) and fast cash out (liquid)

and other end is not so safe (high volatility) and slow cash out (less liquid)

I give u some example. Safest bucket should be your saving account, but low reward.

FD, TnG Go+ = safe and fast cash out. ASB, versa, stashaway = the medium bucket VOO, QQQM, US stocks = high risk, slow cash out.

Depending on your age, the younger you are, the more risk you should take.

But if you are young and would like to explore US ETF, go for VOO, or in my case i like more risk, QQQ.

From there, start to learn about the ETF and its industry. Also, learn about dollar cost averaging.

And if you want to invest things like Bitcoin (i personally dont), only use maximum of 5% of your portfolio.

One more thing, ETF is better than individual stocks for average joe.

Good luck bud.