I have $10000 sitting in the bank and I am 17, what would be a good investment for that money?

(It is my own money which I have saved through working etc.)

Real estate - learn how to leverage your money. The key is buying right. Pick up and study the books listed below and you'll learn some great stuff. I wish I had started earlier.

Congrats on your savings!

Put half in a certificate of deposit, and half in an indexed mutual fund that mirrors the stock market.

send it to my house

Put it in a CD earning %5 interest. It is safe and guaranteed FDIC.

I would put some in an IRA and put the rest in some kind of a mutual fund. With that much money let professionals handle it because if you do something hi risk you could loose it all so play it safe.

take what you will need for college and keep it there in a standard bank account...
take the excess and put it in a CD (certificate of deposit) at your bank...
do not fly by the seat of your pants and invenst in stocks and mutual funds.. take it slow.. in your spare time read about investing/ investments/ stockmarket/ brokers until you feel comfortable enough to make an investment..

It is good that you know the value of work and money. GMAC online banking offers 4.5% interest if you plan to make deposits and withdrawls, CD's come in at a higher 6-7% but the money can't be touched without penalty, If you look to the market mutual funds offer an average 12% return over an extended period of time. You can obviously gamble in the market but but big reward=big risk. Possibly the safest would be to use it to pay for your first semester at college.

Inflation runs at 3-4% (don't believe all you hear about the "falling dollar", it really isn't bad), so either way you'll more than break even.

Dont do an IRA ..

you're too young to put your money away for retirement ... lol .. live first. If you put some of your money in an IRA .. you wont be able to touch it until your 65 i think.

i'm 24 and wont be getting an IRA for many several years..

.. Just go to your bank and ask to make an appointment to speak to someone about investments. They will explain to you all of your options and which they think would be best for you. which will most likely be a CD .. and hopefully at 5%
you can choose to put it in a cd for 3 months, 6 months, 1 year or 2 years. Once you put your money in a CD .. you cant touch it for that amount of time. Well you can if you need it for an emergency or something but then you wont get your profit .. or there might be a fee for taking it out early.

While your money is sitting in a CD making interest for you .. if you work .. you can be putting that money into a savings account (if you dont already have one) ... and once your cd expires .. you can take the money you've been placing in your savings and add it with your 10,000 to start a new cd.

The longer and more money you have in your cd.. the higher your interest.


good luck

Horrible advice by the person who said you are too young to think about retirement.

That is insane, especially with the way the economy is headed.

You are extremely lucky to have this money at such a young age. Open a Roth IRA now, and put as much as you are allowed into that.

Take maybe 1,000 and buy yourself something great - downpayment for a car?

But the bulk needs to be placed in an IRA with some mutual fund investments.

You are too young to play it too safe with bonds or CD's. You can be somewhat aggressive and you can do your own research as to what to buy in the IRA. Be sure to diversify and don't pay anyone to invest this for you.

Why pay them for their retirement when you can do this by yourself? The best investment you can make is $10 a year on Money Magazine subscription. Start reading it now and you will be a millionaire by age 40.

Open a brokerage account at Zecco and buy the ETF DDM.