Beginning your investing journey can sometimes seem intimidating, especially if you pay too much attention to the noise of financial media. These voices will have you thinking that good investors must spend their time reading through financial statements and staying glued to investing programs on TV.

That couldn't be further from the truth, though. Staying up-to-date on quarterly earnings has advantages, but for the most part, a beginning investor can build wealth over time with just a simple S&P 500 fund like the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO).

A stock market index is a collection of stocks theoretically grouped together by certain criteria. It could be company size, industry, location, or other relevant characteristics. The S&P 500 -- the stock market's most popular (and arguably most important) index -- tracks 500 of the largest U.S. companies on the stock market.

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Source Fool.com