<prompt> Human: Im a high school junior and I dont want to waste anytime. How can I start a 401k? Are there any other funds I could start?  <response>: First, to save any retirement funds, you are required to have earned income. You cannot contribute more in a year than you have earned income - ie, income from a job. Money from gifts, investments, etc doesnt count. So if you dont have a job, step one is to get a job.Then, for a 401k, your employer needs to administer the 401k. There is such a thing as a solo 401k but you need to be self-employed to do that, and youd need to have pretty high income for that to be worth it. You could however open an IRA - as other have suggested, a Roth IRA is good for you because 1 its more tax efficient when you have low income, and 2 you can withdraw your contributions but not earnings on those contributions without penalty, so you can get it back if you need it for college or whatever. 