20 yr old needs help getting started

Hello. I am 20 yrs old and I currently still live at home, work, and go to school. I need help on advice as what do with the money I am currently holding in a money market account that pays roughly 2%. I am looking to invest $5,000-$10,000 in something for the long term. I am a blank slate that is extremely eager to learn about investing. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Roth IRA!!! It's too bad you didn't ask this question prior to April, when you could have put all that money in the IRA ($5k for last year's contribution, and $5k for this year's).

If you are interested in "doing it yourself", I recommend a low-cost mutual fund company like Vanguard, Fidelity, or T-Rowe Price. They have a wide variety of funds to choose from, including targeted retirement funds, which are good if you don't know what to do just now. Index funds, like the Vanguard 500 Index (which tracks the S&P), are also good for starting out, until you become a more educated investor.

Meanwhile, read the magazine that sponsors this forum, and you'll get all kinds of ideas.

Welcome to the forum...I am also new here!

it is nice to know the an early stage your planing to invest your money ...that's nice and i wish you all the luck..

Hi, New here, too. Started a blog (http://money-funk.blogspot.com) to track my execution of 81% percent bad-debt-to-income-ratio. Got myself in a mess. Family is finally facing it. And feeling the pressure. Yuk! Sharing with the world to see 1) is it possible to meet my goal, 2) to keep track, and 3) to see how long this misery I got myself into is going to take to get out.

If you offer advice/suggestions...thank you in advance.

Max out your 401k, if you have one avaiable at work or open a Roth IRA and max that out. Also, be more specific on your timeline. Do you need this money in 5-10 years or can you wait until retirement? If it is a shorter time period, invest in either CDs or mutual funds.

-EJP-
www.rmicsi.com