What is a total stock market ETF?

A total stock market ETF is designed to give broad exposure across a country's equity market, often including large-, mid-, and small-cap companies. In the U.S., these funds are often used as core portfolio building blocks.

Because they're broad, they can be simpler than mixing multiple style or size ETFs. You get diversification across sectors and company sizes in one product.

If you're choosing one, compare expense ratios, tracking difference, and index coverage (some are "total market" but still have different small-cap depth). Overlap with an S&P 500 ETF can also be high, so hold both only if you want that tilt.