<prompt> Human: 24f that has 5,000 saved for a house later in life. Would like to invest the money until I am ready to search for a house. Probably about 3-5 years. Busy traveling and seeing where my career in food service takes me before I make this large purchase. Any advice?  <response>: If you are investing with a particular return in mind youre doing it wrong. If your 3-5 year time frame is firm you should only be looking at safe investments - savings accounts, CDs, or US treasury bonds. If your time frame is flexible, ie you can afford to wait out a market meltdown, you might think about things like bond or stock funds. 