ActivTrades

You are right on the execution speed part. Their engines and infrastructure are totally legit in terms of not letting you down whenever you put some orders in. Everything realizes in the blink of an eye at your price. It's great.

Actually I didn’t have to create an account at activtrades to recognize a top-tier forex broker in it. It is seen just from the website of the company and as long as you get acquainted with the trading conditions.
I mean, c’mon who else gives the opportunity to get the insurance for your deposit with a $1,000,000 compensation?
I know that you have to obtain some kind of trading experience to understand that. But at least read some reviews about the broker and you’ll see pretty much similar praiseful opinions.

I know nothing about its eco-system and I don’t care about it, but I appreciate their trading conditions so much.

Actually the absence of commissions is what drew my attention initially to this broker, and eventually became the deciding factor to start trading here.
I haven’t seen the broker that would provide this high quality execution and won’t charge commissions per trade simultaneously.

Exchange traded funds as you say is a great way to invest into your own future and financial freedom for the long term. Personally, what I do is, alongside my short-to-medium term trades which I open and close, every month I try to put aside some money and put it into good companies and some themes via ETFs. My aim is to implement a buy-and-hold strategy, so that they pan out great for me financially in years to come. I have enough patience, so I know for a fact that this is the money that is going to send my children to good schools or cover our important bills as a whole family in, say, 15 years from now, or even later, but those days will come. In this market, the longer perspective you have, the more chances you have to win.