Where to start ?

[Kennstro]

books...half.com, electronic books from your local library

I suggest you try to figure out your risk ratio. You need to be able to sleep at night in spite of investments that rollercoaster up and then down. It takes around $ 3K to start an initial mutual fund investment program. You need to learn and understand fees which are often hidden but paid by you [investor] whether your are making a profit or taking a [paper] loss. Boggleheads offer terrific discussion.

The new project seems to have potential, learning Web Design moves you forward but doesn't it require an accredited program to give recognition?

for which mutual fund requires $3,000? And as far as web design and development goes I taught myself at age 11 to do most things at age 13 I had made $3,000 in a month without knowing I made anything 4 months later. However that quickly ended. I don't believe you need to go to school to learn web related topics to profit from it all you need is an idea and knowledge to make it successful now I'm not saying where you make hundreds of thousands but coming out on top every month is nice.

[Kennstro]

Could you possibly buy a house and get a roommate to pay part of the mortgage? How is your credit score?

That's the goal to buy a house and rent rooms out that could pay for the mortgage and then leave some extra income for other things however I'm aware that comes with pros and cons. The next question I had was do you have to pay taxes on the money you get from your "roommates" or how does that work? I don't recall anyone saying they pay taxes for renting their rooms out but I'm not 100% sure. As far as credit cards I think I don't have any I tried to sign up for credit Karama but I guess they couldn't find me. I plan to apply for a credit card or gas card soon however to start building credit and no I will not get my self into debt because I'm not that stupid 😜

[Kennstro]

Being your age saving and accumulation is very important, i would concentrate on accumulation and a CD would work for me for liquidity. Once you build a nice amount then it can be used for producing some income, my favorite income producing asset is real estate

How much do I need to make any income worth obtaining ? Rates are so low right now I don't want to take out 2-5 year CDs if the rates happen to go up during those. My banks current rates are 0.90% normal savings is 0.50% which I was told you shouldn't go for a CD if it's below 1.00% of your banks savings interest I think I wouldn't mind taking some risk if the chances of a successful return are higher than losses. But I guess that plays in to how much are you wanting to risk.

[Kennstro]

It sounds like you are off to a solid start in terms of finances at your age. Becoming more educated and putting a solid plan in place will position you nicely as you grow older.

I will echo someone's suggestion of reading a financial guidance book such as The Millionaire Next Door.

If I was in your position, I would start out by taking the following actions.

1) Put 6 months of living expenses into an online savings account, which should earn close to 1% interest. This will act as your emergency fund and should only be used for unexpected expenses life will inevitably throw your way.

2) Put 15% of your gross income into a Roth IRA account (up to $5500 per year). You should dollar cost average your investments, so plan on putting in about $450 per month. If you are looking for a hands off investment with low expenses, I recommend opening a Roth IRA account at Vanguard and investing in their Target Retirement 2060 Fund.

3) Put all excess savings into your online savings account. Build up these savings for a house down payment, car purchase, or any other big ticket items in the next 5 years.

Try to stay out of debt as much as possible, and when it comes to housing, buy something that is no more than 3 times your annual income. Good luck.

How does vanguard work exactly ? Also I would be looking more at 10 year goals than 5 year goals short goals to me like that don't draw much interest to me long term goals however do. I have lots of patience with my money at my age the only issue is people begging me for $$$ every other day because they found out I have X amount which in reality to me is no where near a lot but everyone has their own opinions on that but I don't give out since I don't carry much cash usually $100 at the most. Also I guess I'm confused on IRAs can you have more than one ? Let's say I open one at van guard and then later on my job offers 401k are those technically the same thing or? I understand with 401ks your job matches X amount but what happens if you leave that job where does that money go?

[autoxer]

Also I guess I'm confused on IRAs can you have more than one ?

You can have as many ira accounts's as you want, but there is a limit on the total amount you can put into ira's each year.

Let's say I open one at van guard and then later on my job offers 401k are those technically the same thing or?

401k's are different and they have a different limit on how much can be contributed.

I understand with 401ks your job matches X amount but what happens if you leave that job where does that money go?

It depends on the 401k plan rules, some allow you to keep it in the plan and some would force you to roll it over into an IRA. Unfortunately most people just cash it out when they change jobs, don't do that.

[ZachRosh23]

You can always concider making money online. There are tons of sites that allow you to make money on the side while working. They often require little effort.

[parafly]

Also I guess I'm confused on IRAs can you have more than one ? Let's say I open one at van guard and then later on my job offers 401k are those technically the same thing or? I understand with 401ks your job matches X amount but what happens if you leave that job where does that money go?

An IRA and a 401K are two separate retirement vehicles or account types.

An IRA is independently opened and owned by an individual (you) and has a contribution maximum of $5500 per year. A 401K is opened through an employer and has a contribution maximum of $18000 per year.

A generally good strategy for retirement savings is to contribute to a 401K up to the employer match, then contribute excess amounts to a Roth IRA. A good rule of thumb is to save 15% of your gross income for retirement. If your employer has a match up to 5%, you would save 5% in the 401K and 10% in the Roth IRA.

If you ever leave your job, you can leave your money in the 401K, but typically you will be charged an extra monthly fee to keep the account open since you are no longer an active member of the plan. Instead, you can roll the 401K over to a Rollover IRA at an institution of your choice such as Vanguard. The rollover does not count toward any annual limits for an IRA, and gives you full control over your investment options.

[Kennstro]

You can always concider making money online. There are tons of sites that allow you to make money on the side while working. They often require little effort.

I already do this however i don't make anywhere near as what i use to when i was 14 sadly.

[Kennstro]

An IRA and a 401K are two separate retirement vehicles or account types.

An IRA is independently opened and owned by an individual (you) and has a contribution maximum of $5500 per year. A 401K is opened through an employer and has a contribution maximum of $18000 per year.

A generally good strategy for retirement savings is to contribute to a 401K up to the employer match, then contribute excess amounts to a Roth IRA. A good rule of thumb is to save 15% of your gross income for retirement. If your employer has a match up to 5%, you would save 5% in the 401K and 10% in the Roth IRA.

If you ever leave your job, you can leave your money in the 401K, but typically you will be charged an extra monthly fee to keep the account open since you are no longer an active member of the plan. Instead, you can roll the 401K over to a Rollover IRA at an institution of your choice such as Vanguard. The rollover does not count toward any annual limits for an IRA, and gives you full control over your investment options.

Thanks for the response i will keep this in mind

[james.hendrickson]

I already do this however i don't make anywhere near as what i use to when i was 14 sadly.

Um...how much did you make when you were 14?

[Kennstro]

Um...how much did you make when you were 14?

in the original post i stated i made around $3,000 / $4,000 in about 3 months time when i was that age so i was making around $1,000 per month give or take it was pretty random at times however it didn't last more than a year before it got saturated so i left that behind. I'm currently in the process of starting up some other stuff though