<prompt> Human: Hi, I am 18 years old and currently have 8K in my bank. Instead of just letting it sit there and get less than 1 a year on interest I want to invest it so that I can get a better return as well as continued safety of my money. I am currently thinking about using a Vanguard balanced fund but since I am new to this I am open to ideas.  <response>: index funds are your best bet to put in the money and just forget about it for a few years. later in life when you really need some extra cash youll have that 8,000 multiplied and available to you 