Do you have any suggestions about savings accounts/mutual funds/money markets.?

have immigrated 9 months ago. need advice

i make around 48,000 a year after taxes

Welcome to whatever country you are in.

A savings account is a bank account that is FDIC insured up to $100,000. You will pay taxes on any interest every single year. Interest rate on savings are between 1-3%.

A mutual fund is an investment company that invest in multiple companies. They are professionally managed, your investments are diversified, they are easily liquidable, and they are affordable to invest. Mutual funds are long term investments if you want to see any gains in them.

Money market accounts are short-term investments that invest in debt securities that has a maturity of less than one year. These are offered by the government, banks, and financial institutions. They are very safe investments and are easily liquidable.

Anyway, if you are thinking about saving for retirement, get a Roth IRA and pick mutual funds to fund the account.

I don't suggest a Roth IRA through a bank.

My yearly maintence fee was 2X higher than the interest they gave me last year...

That made me mad!

I am changing it today actually into something else... Or closing it if they can't come up with something better, either one?

I'll let you know when I get home...

Make sure whatever you do coincides with your tax return as you get a discount on your taxes for opening an IRA that yeilds interest. (I may not have worded that right as I am no accountant.) Ask yours about the tax break for opening an account?

I have been investing in mutual funds for a long time. After taxes and capital gain you might as well put your money in a CD. You can make over 5% now.

I suggest Vanguard. They have many funds to choose from, low account fee's, online access, very big and very reliable.

http://vanguard.com

Never put all your eggs in one basket.
For a savings account I would use ING Direct.
For mutual funds - American Funds.
Maybe some I-Bonds.