<prompt> Human: I recently received a letter from my mothers bank about a CD thats in my name. Over the last 12 months it grew from 980 to 982. As a college history major I have a very basic understanding of investing and business topics in general, but still that seems like an extremely low yearly yield to me. So I talked to my mom and suggested that we invest this somewhere else, and she agrees. The only problem is that I have no idea where to start. Im hoping that some of you can point me in the right direction to some relatively safe investments that will still pay out pretty decently.I would like to add, that I have a good job and am fairly financially secure right now, so I dont mind taking on some risk. Also I have a handle on my student loans, so please dont just tell me to put it directly towards.Thank you in advance for any advice you can give me!  <response>: 1k sounds more like an emergency fund than an investment fund to me. If you dont already have an emergency fund with 3-6 months worth of expenses in a bank account, then put your money there. You might need it if you lose your job, get in a car accident, etc. Youre a recent college grad with student loans. If your loans are about 6 or so, I would just pay them off sooner. Paying off loans at X interest nets you the same return as investments that return X. If you already have an emergency fund saved up AND you have very low interest student loans, then opening a Roth IRA or contributing to a 401k through work would be a good choice. The FAQ can help you pick specific investments. 