Where does a 26yr with no current investments put his 1st 50,000US$?

I'm 26yr old, with no current investment holdings. I have about 50K in liquid assets and I am looking to start a comprehensive investment strategy (near, mid, and long-term)

Near-term:

Money-market, savings account or something else? Need to stay liquid here

Mid-Term:

Mutual-funds or ETF? Index or managed? Any suggestions on specific funds? Also, need to stay fairly liquid

Long-term:

I have no employer to match my 401K so should I go with an IRA or a 401k? Tax implications? Early withdrawal penalities?

Finally, is there anywhere that I can get all these things done in one place so I don't have to manage relationships with 4 different banks?

Thx!

Think about what it is that you want. What are your goals for this money?

Do you know anything about investing, mutual funds or the stock market?

Diversify. Do not put all your eggs in one basket.

Investing tends to only get exciting when you make money quickly or you see the end result of a good investment over a fairly long period of time 15 - 20 years or longer.

The more risk we are prepared to take, the more we can expect to make. That is why the stock market will generally return more than a savings account.

To be successful you will need patience, discipline, and wisdom. But most importantly you need a plan and you need to define your goals.

It may prove expensive to acquire that much needed wisdom on your own. Learn by other peoples mistakes. Learn from other peoples successes. Read some books. Visit your local book store and find a book that you like and feel comfortable with.

Some of the titles I have on my bookshelf include:
One Up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch
How to make money in Stocks by William J. O鈥橬eil (Founder of Investor鈥檚 Business Daily)
The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J Stanley and William D Danco

Check out web sites like fool.com and yahoo finance.
Investigate trading strategies with a proven track record over 3, 5, 10, and 15 years.

Pick something that you understand, find easy to use and will help you realise your goals. Pick a strategy where you can take responsibility for your investments and be in full control of your capital.

Systems like the Stocks Monthly system are definitely worth investigating once you are up to speed with the nuts and bolts of investing.

Ur money should wark as hard as u do.

Dont invest in others' business.Plan ur business,and invest in it.
Ur money should work for u and only u 100%,and not for others.

In terms of stock investments I would suggest sticking with mutual funds or ETFs (unless you really enjoy picking stocks). Try investing in index funds which hold all of the stocks in a given market index (such as the S&P 500 which tracks the 500 main US stocks). This allows you to invest in the market quickly, easily, and (since you'll effectively own 500 stocks) reduces the risk that you'll accidentally decide to invest in the next Enron. Two S&P 500 ETFs (basically mutual funds that trade on stock markets like stocks) are the iShares fund (IVV) and the SPDR fund (SPY). These are good core holdings for your portfolio-- you might also want to stick some cash into international funds or something that is likely to grow quickly like a biotech fund. iShares has a range of funds (just google iShares). Good luck.

It's all very well having a short, medium and long term investment strategy - However, you need to define what your investment objective is first. How much money do you need to have immediate access to? What %age return do you want from your medium and long term investments? Until you answer these questions it is useless looking at particular investment vehicles. If you want to be lazy - as your question suggests, you'd be as well off just to put the amount into the highest interest giving savings account you can find.

where do you live?

Stick to the Three Pillars of Wealth - cash, property and equity (in that chronological order)