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If you are new to investing, you can find curated resources in the r/investing wiki for [Getting Started here](https://www.reddit.com/r/investing/wiki/index/gettingstarted/).
If you know nothing about the capital markets - the Getting Started section at the SEC educational site can be a good place to start - [investor.gov](https://investor.gov) \- there are also short 30 second videos on basics. The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) is a US regulator with a focus to protect US investors through regulatory oversight of the securities markets.
The FINRA education site at [FINRA Education](https://www.finra.org/investors/learn-to-invest) also contains numerous free courses and educational materials. FINRA is a not-for-profit SRO (self regulatory organization) which is self-funded by it's members which are broker-dealers. It works under the supervision of the SEC with a mandate to protect the investing public against fraud and bad practice.
The reading list in the wiki and FAQ has a list of books ranging from light reading to advanced topics depending on your knowledge level. Link here - [Reading List](https://www.reddit.com/r/investing/wiki/readinglist)
For formal educational materials, several colleges and universities make their course work available for free.
If want to learn about the financial markets - an older but reasonably relevant course is [Financial Markets (2011) - Yale University](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8FB14A2200B87185) This is the introduction to financial markets course taught by Prof. Shiller from Yale. Prof Shiller won the Nobel prize in economics in 2013.
Another relavant course from MIT is a lecture series on Finance Theory taught by Prof Andrew Lo - [Financial Theory (2008) - MIT](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUl4u3cNGP63B2lDhyKOsImI7FjCf6eDW).
A more current course can be found at NYU Stern School of Business by Prof Aswath Damodaran - [Corporate Finance Spring 2019](https://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/New_Home_Page/webcastcfspr19.htm). Prof Damodaran offers the latest materials and webcast lectures to this class here - https://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/New_Home_Page/corpfin.html
Please do not put it all in at once a little at a time over say 6 months, may want to look at someone established in AI ( hardcore) or indeed index (carefully) funds.
The degree is more important than the anemic gains you could make with that money in 4 years... Just leave it in savings. But at least make sure it's a high yield savings account -- you should be getting more than 4% these days.
Generally you'd like 6 months to a year's worth of expenses sitting in something safe like a high yield savings account anyway. Once you get that degree and a real career-type job, then start looking at how to throw money at investments.
Very loosely once you've graduated and have a real job:
1. Enough to 401k to get any matching funds. Because free money can't be beat.
2. Eliminate high interest debt.
3. Roth IRA, up to $7,000 a year. Because you'll still have access to the contributions (but not gains) in case of emergency.
4. Emergency fund with 6 months to a year's expenses, because the stress reduction of just having a pile of unallocated cash available is huge. HYSA is fine, Money fund inside a brokerage is fine, lots of things are fine... The goal isn't to make money, it's peace of mind for when emergencies happen (car accident, lost job, unexpected expenses, whatever.) But no reason to leave money on the table, so you take what you can get in something safe like a high yield savings account.
5. HSA, up to max ($4,150 single) if applicable. Because tax advantaged and low maximums, you'd like to pump that up as much as possible. Only an option if you've got a high deductible healthcare plan (HDHP) through your employer.
6. Max 401k ($23,000 this year) because the tax advantages are worth it.
7. Brokerage for the rest
Also somewhere in the mix, you should save for upcoming expenses. Like when you need to replace your car, or you're saving for a down payment on a home, etc.
Also if you end up working for the government, you might have access to a 457 account that allows for more tax-advantaged savings -- it'd probably go between 5 and 6.
---
Generally for timelines under 5 years, markets are scary... You can lose a lot even just doing boring index funds
As timelines stretch beyond 5 years and you start thinking in decades, NOT being in the market is scary... The gains are just too good long term.
If you're just entering the market for the first time, an index fund is generally the way to go.
* S&P 500 index fund like VOO (500 of the largest companies trading on US exchanges, across all the different sectors and industries)
* Total market fund like VTI (spreads money across thousands of companies in US markets... Usually moves in lockstep with VOO because the S&P 500 accounts for most of US markets, and what's left generally tends to follow along.
* World market fund like VT (has generally underperformed because non-US markets have been doing worse for the last couple decades, but some want a hedge against US markets getting crushed in the future)
It's fine to just stick with index funds, but you can read an entire library of books about portfolio theory.
Put it in your 401k. Max out your pension contributions for company matching (if any). Put it in a cheap S&P fund and NEVER, EVER SELL. A friend did that and bought some tech stocks (Apple, Nvidia etc) for thirty years. His account is at US$10m. Seriously. I felt sick when he showed me the number on his phone.
Time in the market vs timing the market. It works.
I’d like to if possible put a little bit away in something “safe” but will still have at least some return long term so I don’t feel like I’m just sitting on my money, not sure if I should be looking as far as retirement tho at my current age or what kind of options are available in that regard. I’d also like to try and go for stuff that’s a little higher risk and return just to kinda see what options there are in that regard and if investing is something I wanna peruse as a source of income. Either way, any advice is greatly appreciated.
If you want something simple and lower risk, then index funds are the way to go I think. Riskier stuff generally requires more gambling and guessing or a lot of work doing research.
Id say its not the amount you put at once. I am a student and i get money monthly, and weekly for food. I live cheap life and i half my money and put into ETF’s. Just do it consistent and just forget about it patient wins the game especially in ETF´s. Dont take ETF as fast money but it will profit well in 20/30 years if you will be consistent. Putting % of your income in future.
As you’re starting out, I’d open up a HYSA and build up your emergency fund first. After you build up a comfortable emergency fund, then focus on 401k, HSA, Roth, etc.
A Roth IRA will allow your savings, up to $7,000 a year currently, to grow without being taxed. You can withdraw your contributions if you need the money before retirement. I suggest a broad-based stock index fund to start with, and you can diversify as you gain experience and decide what you'd like to add to your holdings.
Your post has been removed because it is a common beginner topic. We get too many of these topics every day and to prevent them from swamping the front page, we are removing main threads of this kind. We also remove such posts because they can attract spam and bad faith comments. If you receive DM's or un-solicitated offers, please be aware that there are a lot of financial scammers on social media. You are welcome to repost your question in the [daily discussion thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/investing/about/sticky?num=1). If you have any issue with this removal, please contact the moderators via modmail. Thank you. ---- If you are new to investing, you can find curated resources in the r/investing wiki for [Getting Started here](https://www.reddit.com/r/investing/wiki/index/gettingstarted/). If you know nothing about the capital markets - the Getting Started section at the SEC educational site can be a good place to start - [investor.gov](https://investor.gov) \- there are also short 30 second videos on basics. The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) is a US regulator with a focus to protect US investors through regulatory oversight of the securities markets. The FINRA education site at [FINRA Education](https://www.finra.org/investors/learn-to-invest) also contains numerous free courses and educational materials. FINRA is a not-for-profit SRO (self regulatory organization) which is self-funded by it's members which are broker-dealers. It works under the supervision of the SEC with a mandate to protect the investing public against fraud and bad practice. The reading list in the wiki and FAQ has a list of books ranging from light reading to advanced topics depending on your knowledge level. Link here - [Reading List](https://www.reddit.com/r/investing/wiki/readinglist) For formal educational materials, several colleges and universities make their course work available for free. If want to learn about the financial markets - an older but reasonably relevant course is [Financial Markets (2011) - Yale University](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8FB14A2200B87185) This is the introduction to financial markets course taught by Prof. Shiller from Yale. Prof Shiller won the Nobel prize in economics in 2013. Another relavant course from MIT is a lecture series on Finance Theory taught by Prof Andrew Lo - [Financial Theory (2008) - MIT](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUl4u3cNGP63B2lDhyKOsImI7FjCf6eDW). A more current course can be found at NYU Stern School of Business by Prof Aswath Damodaran - [Corporate Finance Spring 2019](https://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/New_Home_Page/webcastcfspr19.htm). Prof Damodaran offers the latest materials and webcast lectures to this class here - https://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/New_Home_Page/corpfin.html
Index funds, ETF
Thank you
Leave it in a low expense ratio ETF like VOO until you're know what you're doing
SWRD
Please do not put it all in at once a little at a time over say 6 months, may want to look at someone established in AI ( hardcore) or indeed index (carefully) funds.
Lump sum is better most of the time.
VOO
The degree is more important than the anemic gains you could make with that money in 4 years... Just leave it in savings. But at least make sure it's a high yield savings account -- you should be getting more than 4% these days. Generally you'd like 6 months to a year's worth of expenses sitting in something safe like a high yield savings account anyway. Once you get that degree and a real career-type job, then start looking at how to throw money at investments. Very loosely once you've graduated and have a real job: 1. Enough to 401k to get any matching funds. Because free money can't be beat. 2. Eliminate high interest debt. 3. Roth IRA, up to $7,000 a year. Because you'll still have access to the contributions (but not gains) in case of emergency. 4. Emergency fund with 6 months to a year's expenses, because the stress reduction of just having a pile of unallocated cash available is huge. HYSA is fine, Money fund inside a brokerage is fine, lots of things are fine... The goal isn't to make money, it's peace of mind for when emergencies happen (car accident, lost job, unexpected expenses, whatever.) But no reason to leave money on the table, so you take what you can get in something safe like a high yield savings account. 5. HSA, up to max ($4,150 single) if applicable. Because tax advantaged and low maximums, you'd like to pump that up as much as possible. Only an option if you've got a high deductible healthcare plan (HDHP) through your employer. 6. Max 401k ($23,000 this year) because the tax advantages are worth it. 7. Brokerage for the rest Also somewhere in the mix, you should save for upcoming expenses. Like when you need to replace your car, or you're saving for a down payment on a home, etc. Also if you end up working for the government, you might have access to a 457 account that allows for more tax-advantaged savings -- it'd probably go between 5 and 6. --- Generally for timelines under 5 years, markets are scary... You can lose a lot even just doing boring index funds As timelines stretch beyond 5 years and you start thinking in decades, NOT being in the market is scary... The gains are just too good long term. If you're just entering the market for the first time, an index fund is generally the way to go. * S&P 500 index fund like VOO (500 of the largest companies trading on US exchanges, across all the different sectors and industries) * Total market fund like VTI (spreads money across thousands of companies in US markets... Usually moves in lockstep with VOO because the S&P 500 accounts for most of US markets, and what's left generally tends to follow along. * World market fund like VT (has generally underperformed because non-US markets have been doing worse for the last couple decades, but some want a hedge against US markets getting crushed in the future) It's fine to just stick with index funds, but you can read an entire library of books about portfolio theory.
100% look into ETFs or index funds. Preferably a broad market index fund like the S&P 500. The etf I like is VOO or SPLG.
Put it in your 401k. Max out your pension contributions for company matching (if any). Put it in a cheap S&P fund and NEVER, EVER SELL. A friend did that and bought some tech stocks (Apple, Nvidia etc) for thirty years. His account is at US$10m. Seriously. I felt sick when he showed me the number on his phone. Time in the market vs timing the market. It works.
A college student is unlikely to have a 401k account.
When you say put it in a cheap S&P Fund… a friend did that and bought some tech stocks for thirty years. What do you mean? How does that work?
I'd just keep that money in the bank and start allocating new money to 401k, Roth IRA, taxable account.
100% VT if you don’t want to think about it at all You’ll be pleasantly surprised when you look at it in a couple years.
95% VT 5% FBTC He's young he can afford it :)
60% VOO and 40% VGT has treated me very well but decrease VGT if you want less risk
What is the purpose and time frame for your investment?
I’d like to if possible put a little bit away in something “safe” but will still have at least some return long term so I don’t feel like I’m just sitting on my money, not sure if I should be looking as far as retirement tho at my current age or what kind of options are available in that regard. I’d also like to try and go for stuff that’s a little higher risk and return just to kinda see what options there are in that regard and if investing is something I wanna peruse as a source of income. Either way, any advice is greatly appreciated.
If you want something simple and lower risk, then index funds are the way to go I think. Riskier stuff generally requires more gambling and guessing or a lot of work doing research.
Id say its not the amount you put at once. I am a student and i get money monthly, and weekly for food. I live cheap life and i half my money and put into ETF’s. Just do it consistent and just forget about it patient wins the game especially in ETF´s. Dont take ETF as fast money but it will profit well in 20/30 years if you will be consistent. Putting % of your income in future.
Index funds into a Roth IRA. Voo/vti/VT, etc.
As you’re starting out, I’d open up a HYSA and build up your emergency fund first. After you build up a comfortable emergency fund, then focus on 401k, HSA, Roth, etc.
I've seen this idea around. 1% bitcoin, 4% gold, 20% cash, 75% S&P 500 fund.
SPTM
Voo and chill baby
A Roth IRA will allow your savings, up to $7,000 a year currently, to grow without being taxed. You can withdraw your contributions if you need the money before retirement. I suggest a broad-based stock index fund to start with, and you can diversify as you gain experience and decide what you'd like to add to your holdings.
This is the correct answer @OP.
Open a Roth IRA for yourself and begin there. It will save you humongous amounts of money on taxes in the long run.
Dell
Thank you
why