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Originally Posted by Charlatan
Put the money you have in lower risk venutres... it won't be too long before you are into the following:
marriage
house buying
kids
These three things require lots of money. If you can sock some away now you will be ahead of the game. A GIC might be more conservative BUT your principle will always be there when you need it.
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I could not agree more with Charlatan about future stituation, but I disagree with the low risk approach.
This is the time in your life when your expenses are as low as they will ever be.
Take it from me, when the house and family and all that is required to just to keep up, savings will not be you first priority.
You are young and the earlier you start the better off you'll be.
Pay offthe car, but you should still be socking away everything you can now. When it comes to risk, just try to find any 10,20,or 30 year period of time when the markets as a whole are down more than inflation, it's not likely to be found.
Remember this investing can pay college expenses for children (at least 20 years off) or an early retirement ( at least 30 years off).
When starting, find low cost mual funds, until you have saved enough to invest in stocks. That way you own several hundred stocks at once without having the money to do it yourself. When your investments grow to a sizable amount then you can look at stocks.
Be careful and don't react to trends. Also have an exit strategy for all your investments. Meaning if something does well for you short term that does not mean they can keep it up, grab gains when you can and find new places to put those gains, that way you continue to spread out your risk.
Good luck.