How should I invest? Single, 30 and ready to save!?

I'm 30 and ready to invest and save money to buy a home in a few years. Do any of you have experience with EE bonds? I hear it immediately doubles your money and can be cashed after 2-30 years?? Please advise if this is a good investment. Any tips on WHERE to save would be appreciated! I'm estimating $500-$800 per month Thanks!

Open up an IRA, traditional and Roth. Contribute to your Roth IRA as much as possible. Place it in a diversified program with 6-7 different mutual funds, each of which cover their respective exposure to large cap, small cap, international, fixed income, alternative, and money market.

If you want to dial up your risk you can invest in more aggressive mutual funds or go into individual stocks. The number one rule before making an investment is always do your research and make sure you know about the hidden charges and the performance of the fund historically. Understand management and their ability to control risk and generate cash. This is a good basis for a start and always know if you have a 401k available to you that offers a match. Not taking advantage of a company sponsered retirement program is like throwing away free money.

If you can afford to save that much, check into your employer's benefits to see if they offer a 401(k) with matching funds-it's for retirement, but it's free money. Sock half of your savings amount in that and watch it grow.

EE bonds do not immediately double your money.

If you don't know what you're doing, I'd suggest talking to a financial advisor.
You should also check out fidelity.com and vanguard.com
Their lifestyle funds (where you choose a retirement date, and stick all your money in that fund) are a good choice for beginners.

Just remember if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If people could double their money immediately and cash it after 2 years, everyone would be doing it and becoming rich.

A good place to start investing for a newbie is stock mutual funds. Instead of individual stocks, you pick groups of stocks that an investing company has chosen. For instance, an 'international' fund is a bunch of up and coming international company stocks. (international has been doing pretty well, by the way).

go to www.clarkhoward.com and look for investing tips there.

Also "Investing for Dummies" is a good starter book that will help you understand the market.

A good way to save is through an IRA. You can save for retirement, and put the money in when you are ready. This is a retirement account. EE bonds are a great way to save also, but you do not double your money immediately, that is just not true.
If you are planning on saving for years to come and IRA is something to look into.

I like stocks better. u should do stocks rather than bonds.