Should I invest in stocks? I'm only 20.?

I currently have ~$5.5k saved. However, $5k of it is currently stuck in a CD for 5 months @ 7%, which matures @ Feb/19. My question is, once it matures, should I start investing?
I have several obstacles that are hindering me from going:
1. 5.5k (will be a lil more in 5 months) doesn't sound like a large enough amount to inveset.
2. a lot of adults are telling me not to invest.
3. my professor recommends that i invest in mutual funds instead of stocks, but I dont really know what mutual funds are, and how to invest in them?

thanks anybody who has experience with brokerage.

Investing in stocks is like anything else, it's something you have to learn. A rilly, rilly, hard way to learn would be to jump in with your hard-earned 5.5K and lose a lot of it. You'll learn a lot, but damn, will it ever be expensive. First, a guaranteed return of 7% is damn good. Not glamorous, but risk free which makes up for a lot of glamour. Mutual funds is an excellent way to invest, but what you want is a "no load" mutual fund. That means you don't have to spend any money to get into it. If you don't know how to find one, ask your prof. He will explain to you the difference between indexed funds and actively managed funds. As you can see, there is a lot to learn. But total, total congratulations to you for asking these questions and realizing that saving is the way to go. Did you know that if a 20 year old put $1,000 in the bank, and never touched it, they would have more at age 65 than if you waited until you were 40 and put in $1,000 a year? Pretty impressive. Now, start on your learning curve. Take some personal finance classes...your prof can help you there too. Also, take $5,000 and pretend to invest it. Keep charts. Find out how much you would have gained or lost had you done it for real. Investing is tricky, it's often counter-intuitive. Also, there are lots of ways to invest without risk. Ask your banker about a banker's acceptance note. What's the rate of return now? Learn, learn, learn. Best of luck

OMG im 11 and have already invested with stocks, i get help frum the 'rents

Yes.

But make sure that your transaction costs are low.

The easy solution is to stick to index funds.

Take a look at

http://www.fool.com

it has lots of good, free advice.

I would consider the mutual funds. It is slightly safer than individual stocks. ( a bunch of stocks managed by fund managers.) Get advice when you are first starting out. I did and it grew to double! I have 85 stocks in my portfolio and it is only 1/4 of it.
Nothing beats good advice AND knowledge.
p.s. 68 years old.

If you can renew your money at a guaranteed 7%, do that instead.

If that's your entire savings, I suggest keeping it liquid, because you might need it.

If you really want to invest in the market, your professor is right. Start with mutual funds, especially index funds. Schwab offers index funds with low minimums.

Warren Buffet had already made millions by the time he was 20 -- through investing. Take a look for 4 or 5 star funds mutual funds with low expense rate, and consistently good returns. Invest a little every month (at least one tenth of your earnings). Learn more about the market, about ways to save and make money.