Can you suggest a good money market fund to put some money into for first time investor?

I have about 5K. I intend to learn about mutual funds though self-study. But I imagine it's not that complicated. Yes there are a bunch of different fee structures and risk scenarios.
But I want to get started and get some hands on experience.
I do not want to wade through hundreds of documents before I put my money somewhere. I just want to do it, and see what happens. Any suggestions on a respectable money market fund? It is my understanding based on today's readings that
this is the least risky fund. Thanks!

Consider the Vanguard Prime Money Market Fund with a current compound yield of ~5% APR.
https://flagship.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/...
If you are in a high tax bracket you may prefer their tax exempt money market funds:
https://flagship.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/...
Sometimes other institutions will have a higher teaser rate, but Vanguard tends to have the highest yields I've found over the long run. (Vanguard money markets are not FDIC insured, however.)

Article on teaser rates:
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/ba...

ING and HSBC often have rates close to Vanguard, and most of their products are FDIC insured. Bankrate.com provides links to CD's with high interest rates. You can check these at the following links:
http://home.ingdirect.com/
http://www.us.hsbc.com/1/2/3/personal/sa...
http://www.bankrate.com/

Once you have read up on it more, you should invest in a diversified mix of stocks, bonds, and money market funds. You want to buy a diversified portfolio of stocks as individual stocks are too risky. Most folks have a dificult time buying a properly balanced portfoilio of stocks on their own. They will misbalance their portfolio by buying all small stocks or all growth stocks, or some other misbalanced assortment of stocks. Unless you know what you are doing, it is best to buy mutual funds. I like Vanguard.com, other people like Fidelity, TIAA-CREF, and DFA. Buy no-load, low cost funds. If you are like most people you will invest part of your money aggressively in stock funds, and part conservatively in money market funds and bond funds. Vanguard.com has an on-line questionnaire which will give you an idea of how to do "Asset Allocation," determining how much to put in each type of fund.

If your company offers a 401K plan at work, try to invest the most you can. The money grows tax free, and some companies will match your contribution. Investing in a mutual fund IRA is also a good idea. If you have children, you may want to consider a 529 plan or other college savings plan that grows tax free.

I like index funds. Because of their broad diversification, you are less likely to have a dramatic drop in value. They also have the lowest expenses. For stock funds, I would suggest putting ~70-80% of your money in the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund. and ~20-30% in a foreign stock index fund. However, there are many different opinions out there on what the best mutual funds are. Read the links below and form your own opinion.

Believing advice you get on Yahoo answers can be risky, so read these websites for further information. If you find it too confusing, contact a professional financial advisor. They will charge you significant commissions, however.

Sources:

http://www.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/planni...
http://www.fool.com/school.htm
http://sec.gov/investor/pubs/assetalloca...
http://www.diehards.org/readsites.htm
http://finance.yahoo.com/education/begin...
http://finance.yahoo.com/funds/basics

Asset Allocation Calculators
(Determining how much to put in stocks and how much into bonds and money markets is a personal decision depending on your financial status. These Asset Allocation questionaires give you a rough idea how to do this. I like Vanguard best, but try some of the other sites as well.)
https://flagship.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/...
https://ais2.tiaa-cref.org/cgi-bin/WebOb...
http://www.ifa.com/SurveyNET/index.aspx

Web forum: http://www.diehards.org/
(Many investment web forums are overrun by scam artists. This one seems the most legitimate site.)


529 plans: http://www.savingforcollege.com

You can search by interest rate on bankrate.com

Look at the Vanguard and Fidelity families. Anyone would be a fool to recommend a specific fund without doing a financial analysis for you.

Have you a 401 K, is it fully funded, Ira?

money market unds are basically risk free,,,,,to be sure get a government money market fund.........i

The most user-friendly site I've found is Vanguard.com. Everything is broken down quite simply there. You might lean towards their European Stock Index Fund (VEURX) as a hedge against the falling dollar.

Be sure to read their free lessons on investing on their website. Also read about those funds that interest you on Morningstar.com. It's also free, and they have some great lessons for free, too.

Poor choice if you want to make money. In long run you will learn more and earn more by playing stocks. See what stocks Crammer is recommending on CNBC, buy one or two, set back and see what happens. Playing stocks is a fun and educational game. I have been doing it for 44 years, started with $400 and now have seven figures.

Vanguard's Prime Money Market fund - low-cost (to you), and it has no exposure whatsoever to the subprime mortgage mess like several others. It has a $3k minimum so that won't be a problem for you and its yield (the interest it pays to you) is usually always higher than its competitors because it doesn't charge its shareholders very much to invest. Good Luck!