<prompt> Human: Im maxed out on all my retirement contributions, I put 100 a paycheck into a special 7 interest account through work for retirement, I put away 300 a paycheck to a rainy day account, and today Ive just hit 40,000 in my savings account. I feel Im at a point where I feel 100 safe and comfortable financially, and Id like to begin to invest my money, but dont know where or how to begin. Any advice, pointers, general rules of thumb? EDIT : After reading some responses, Ive realized Id like to do a low fee, invest and walk away type deal. That is until I can learn the ins and outs of the stock market, and start doing more high risk moves. Thanks for all your responses so far, Ive already learned quite a bit from your responses, and a corresponding Google search to figure out what youre talking about lol. EDIT 2: This is getting a lot more attention than I ever thought. Who browsing this has properties and rentals? Id rather dabble in landhousing than markets. Did you remodel an old home, and now rent it? Or did you just buy a home and immediately turn around and rent it out?  <response>: Index fund. Billion dollar banks with 100s of employees with degrees have their full time jobs be using billion dollar AI software trying to beat the stock market. They average about 1-2 better than Index funds. Good luck doing better than the index fund by yourself. 