Second Best Answer: By techbankguy

Yo Bro… no brainer, seriously. I’ve worked in banking and have been investing for years. Everything from stocks, bonds, real estate, and mutual funds. The key is getting started and then not worrying to much about it. Depending on how much you have, here are some immediate “to -do’s”

Do you work and does your company have a 401k? Does it match? If so, SIGN UP NOW and start putting a % of income into a retirement account. If you don’t do that, you’re not getting money the company is willing to give you for Free. Let’s say someone makes $30,000 and the company will match 100% of anything they put in up to 3%. If you simply start by putting in 3%, you will invest $900 per year and your company will GIVE you $900 per year so you’ll invest a total of $1,800 per year. That’s an immediate 100% return on your investment!!!

If you are living in a area with stable real estate prices and don’t own a house, then buy one. The tax advantage, the home appreciation etc are an important second part.

After that, it’s mutual funds. If you have enough to start (you need $3,000) them go to http://www.vanguard.com and open up a mutual fund account. Start with one investment: Vanguard Life Strategy Growth Fund. This kind of fund is intended to allow you to invest and not worry about diversity. It’s the perfect “one fund”. It invests in a broad range of products that keep you from being overly committed in one area. It has good track record of between 8 - 12% over the last 10 years.

If you don’t have that much, try Wells Fargo Advantage Funds. They require a minimum of $1,000 to get started and have a similar fund; Wells Fargo Advantage Lifestyle Portfolio - Moderate.

I would not suggest going beyond mutual funds until you have built a decent portfolio in the 6 figure range.

I hope this is what you were looking for and that it was helpful.

Take Care,

TBG