<prompt> Human: Im joining the National Guard in my state Florida, for one it pays 100 of my college education. Sets me up for my future military career Planning to go Officer route after college. or lets me see if Military life is the life for me. Its pretty solid money while Im in high school as Im even receiving extra because I scored high on my ASVAB. Im getting a 20,000 dollar signing bonus. This is a lot of money and I dont want to waste all of it. I need to buy a car, so Im planning on spending something like 5-10 grand on a decent car. I may or may not raise or lower that. I heard that getting an nice car is also a good investment because you can turn that car in. However, I dont want to waste too much of it on a car either. I also would like to buy many luxuries but I dont think thats very smart either. Im 17 years old and Im entering the big world of money management. shudders  <response>: Youll notice most folks in the military are not currently fighting a war. Theyre on standby - ready and waiting for when the moment of action comes. That 20K works just the same way. You dont need all of it now. But you will eventually. So keep it handy in a savings account, or if you have earned income stick the maximum amount in a Roth IRA - where the principal can be withdrawn anytime. Cars are bad investments, since they lose money over time. The more you pay, the more you lose. A reliable brand in that price range is ideal. 