<prompt> Human: I recently stumbled upon this subreddit and have pretty much fallen in love with you guys. The first day I found you guys, I changed my primary citizens bank savings account, which was only giving me a APY of 0.03, to a DiscoverBank High Yield APY with 1.15. I put a starting balance of 3,500 in there and plan on adding about 200 - 350 month into it after bills are paid.Im still a college student, but I dont have much that I need to pay for. I have no loans as Im going to a community college, I live at home, so the only thing I really need to take care of is gas, car insurance, and date nights with my girlfriend. I also have a part time job, so Im getting a decent income flow. I currently have about 5k I want to invest. I use the word invest in quotes because Im not sure if thats the best thing for me to do? I guess what Im really asking is what I should be doing with this money. For the past 6 months they were just sitting in an Alert Pay and PayPal account doing nothing. My first thought is to put around 1,500 - 2,000 into a CD for 18 or so months, but I feel like I could be doing more with it?I would really appreciate any and all input!  <response>: I think it is important to have some cash tucked away somewhere for a rainy day. Like the day someone throws a tree through your car, or whatever. Your Discover Bank account sounds like it is a great emergency fund. Its great that you arent wasting a lot of money right now. I know some people who, in your situation, would just go out every night with friends and feel like they were balling because they could spend 50 to get drunk. If you start a Roth IRA now, and just have it automatically funded with 100 or 200 every month, you can do your homework and figure out what you want to invest in. There are lots of choices. Same with a mutual fund you like. Just starting and putting the money away now is a good move, because you are only going to be more financially savvy as you age. When you feel youve done enough homework, the money will be there for you to make bigger choices with. 