What would be the best way to invest my money?

[snafu]

If you were my daughter I'd suggest a low MER mutual fund like those offered by Vanguard, perhps their Emerging Mkt fund because you have so many years to ride the vagaries of the investment market. CDs, bonds, high yields are for seniors who are terrified of RISK vote for safety and not even keep up with inflation.

I think you're fab for looking to grow your money. Once it's earned enough to buy something else diversify into their other products.

[wincrasher]

Investment ideas are like buttholes - everyone has one and most of them stink.

Take the time now to learn about investing. Get some books from the library, follow the gurus like Jim Cramer, Carmen Ulrich, etc on CNBC and others. Some websites even let you create a ficticious portfolio of investments you can track your make-believe earnings or losses. That's the safest way to get your feet wet.

Investing is pretty precarious these days. The markets are volitile right now.

Whatever the market condition, you need to diversity. Don't follow get rich overnite schemes. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Have an exit strategy for every investment.

Remember pigs are greedy, hogs get slaughtered!

At your tender age, just having cash savings is quite an accomplishment. I'd park those dollars in a bank CD or mutal fund and once you've gained some investment knowledge, start pealing off some of those monies into other things you get excited about investing in.

[Broken Arrow]

Uh, Jim Cramer is a stock picker. Great if you want to pick stocks. Bad if you want to invest. My favorite book to build one's investing foundation is the Boglehead's Guide to Investing. It's not the easiest book to start out with, but it is one of the most informative.

And while I'm here, let me also add that with proper asset allocation, market volatility should be manageable, perhaps even through the 2008 recession. Admittedly, I think a lot of things that wasn't suppose to fail did fail, after being subjected to that storm. However, I also hope that we now know better as to what works and what doesn't, such as the importance of having a proper asset allocation.

[zetta]

My dad started me in my first mutual fund at age 13, and I added small amounts to it from after-school jobs throughout high school and college. I think it was a great way to get into the mindset that I was investing for the future.

I blogged about it here:
x-post from Consider starting your teenager in a Mutual Fund: Zetta's Striving to Get Rich Slow

So I would recommend the same for you -- take that $1500 and have your parents help you set up an investing account and buy an index mutual fund (the folks here can help you pick one.) Periodically add small amounts to it from gifts or an after-school job. Don't plan to touch it until you are at least 25.

This money could be the seed that helps you become wealthy someday.