here is what i would do. Let's say you can invest $2500 monthly.
1. plan for your retirement at the age of 65. that's 30 years of serious compounding. Set it for 65, but you can always retire early. try to max your 401k out so you can get tax advantage. if you just have IRA then commit $500. and i pick my own stocks, but you don't have to. you can just do 3 fund portfolio. 401k max is like 18.7k i think. it changes every year. IRA is $6000 last i checked.
2. plan for accumulating wealth for next 10 years. - create M1. if you have 401k then commit $500 monthly toward this account. if you have IRA then put $1000 toward m1. pick your own ETF and auto invest.
3. start saving for your emergency fund. This is actually more important than #1 and #2. you have to do this before you save. because shyt always happens. save and don't spend. nikkas don't have enough $ and that's why they can't do #1 or #2. if i don't work right now, i can survive next 12 months without getting unemployment check. you should at least save up to 6 months. so after #1 and #2, you have about $500 monthly to save toward your emergency fund. this should be a separate savings account.
4. Get rid of your debt - Even more important than #3. Get rid of your bad debt first. mortgage is fine, even though i consider mortgage is evil. there's nothing you can do. but you can get rid of your credit card debt, student loans, and car payments. so if you got a debt then use your $2500 toward this.
and after all that you still have have extra money to invest? then you can open up trading account.
i know this will sound tough for most nikkas here. because shyt ain't easy. but it's the truth. when you have no debt, and have enough emergency fund built up then accumulating wealthy is easy.