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If can set aside $1000 per month, what should I do with it? I only have a checking account right now so I need to open a savings first off. I have checking with a big bank (US Bank), and is it true that savings interest rates are higher at smaller, local, or credit union type things (though your funds might be less accessible/?)

IRA or low risk mutual funds

wish i could help ya here, but i am 21 and am just gettin interested in this stuff, so whoever answers your questions will answer mine as well~

Honestly? Talk to a professional. Find a reputable Financial Advisor and sit down and have a meeting with them. I guarantee, however, that there are much better options than just sticking it in a savings account in a bank. I don't believe anyone on here is a professional in the field, and certainly none of us know your entire situation, so any advice on specific investments, etc. is not necessarily going to be right for you.

-Arlos

thats what dad told me =/ gonna set something up in the next month or so I reckon, seems like a good time in my life to start with that shit.

When you're young, you can afford to lose money.. I'd take some higher risk investments. It's basically like educated gambling and can be pretty fun once you get into it. I've flipped a few stocks on etrade for some nice gains, and lost a bit too. But win or lose, I'm learning quite a bit from the experience.

If you want safety, there is always t-bills and what not. Check out this site: http://www.treasurydirect.gov/

You can buy investments directly from the government there and basically handle everything online.

But yeah, go talk to a professional and buy some informational books if you want to take things seriously (not oen of those MAKE HUGE SHORT TERM GAINS IN BONDS type of books, that's a big no-no). Financial knowledge is absolutely crucial for life. It can mean the difference between living out your days in paradise or in a crowded retirement home with people shitting their pants around you.

Mutual Funds.

http://beginnersinvest.about.com/ Lots of information and helpful links there, just don't pay attention to the advertisements.

First step: get a savings account and put your rainy day money there. By rainy day, I'm not referring to money for your next computer upgrade, but money for if you lose your job or something like that. The ING Orange savings account is a great start (http://home.ingdirect.com/products/prod ... ngsAccount). I use GMAC Bank (https://secure.gmacbank.com/GMACWebClient/logoff.do) ( which pays more and also has checking, but they've been sold so I'm not sure it will be around that much longer.

Next step: if you're not already funding a retirement account then do so. If you qualify, fund an IRA (you have to make less than some threshold per year) and fully fund your 401-K if it's offered by your job. Invest it as proposed by this article: http://finance.yahoo.com/columnist/arti ... rlife/2151

Third: how you invest the money above and beyond that really depends on your risk tolerance. You can't go wrong with a big broad mutual fund like the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index fund: http://flagship3.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw ... IntExt=INT, but I note that it has a minimum balance of $10,000, so you might be better off putting it in Schwab and getting in some other broad index fund.

Hope this helps.

Menlaan

Menlaan is right on the money. (Ha)
Also, pay off all high interest debts (credit cards, department accounts, high interest car loans etc.) first. Menlaan mentioned a rainy day fund. It should be liquid and should cover all your monthly expenses for 3 months (6 would be best). Keep it in a savings account or a large money market account.
401(k) if your employer matches a % put at least that amount to get the match. Depending on your tax bracket, it may be best to put more into it.
IRA - Max out a roth. it's 4k this year (4.5k if you are over 50) and you can pretty much put that in any investment vehicle.
That pretty much sums it up. Good luck.

or.... give me 1000$ a month. seems like a good solution to me!

i disagree on 401k
unless your the kind of perso that cant save money only invest into a 401k the percentage of money your company matches. too low of a return imho
IRAs are excellent, investing in stocks is the safest quickest way to make a little extra.
under no circumstances fiddle with commodity futures unless your willing to lose 20k+ in less than an hour, sure thats where the biggest profits are but you can also lose much more than your initial investment in a heartbeat.

http://www.fool.com is a great resource as well

a great book to read is "cycles of war,cycles of peace"

pretty much lays out the 7 year pattern that the stock market always follows

Thanks guys. I was thinking an IRA from what I learned in highschool economics-- sounds like the best retirement investment, especially if you start as young as I am (21). I don't know about tresury bills, I don't really want to invest in a government that is going bankrupt.

So 4k per year is the most you can put in a Roth? That would work good as I also have the goal of going back to school; I can't tie up all this money. My new job is full time with 401k etc. I will look into the details, but benefits don't start for 6 months or something.

Get hooked up in a pyramid scheme.

Real estate is a good way to go with little money.

Save up for a year, put a downpayment on a house, find some handy people to help fix it up and re-sell it. Or save up for a downpayment on a two family house, pretty it up with a new paint job and rent it out.

CD's are better than a savings account but only yeild about 4%. So if you invested in a 6 month CD using 6 thousand dollars you'd make a wopping $240.00.

Don't know about others but my 401k plan allows me to be as risky as I want to be, it pretty much stops short of allowing me to buy stocks /shrug. Just saying that a 401k plan or to say not a 401k plan really depends on what options your company offers you.

I'd check with someone in the know for sure tho.

Home Depot had amazing retirement plans, but who the fuck wants to work there all their life?

yeah, decide howmuch you want/need to keep liquid, then talk to someone who is a proffesional advisor, with 1000 a month you can begin investing immediately....

my wife and I use her grandmother's advisor whom she has been using for decades, i would talk to some folks who you feel have their shit together financially and find out who they use or would use.

Yeah but you can't withdraw from an IRA unless you are 62 or in low income. I had a friend scam that with large sums of his parents money and he got a job at 7-11 part time and was driving a Lincoln Navigator.

Buy high flying internet stocks.

I'd put it into Google stocks personally.~