<prompt> Human: So first off, Im still in college but Ill be working full time as an intern for 6 months starting this Monday. At the end of it, Ill make about 24,000 before taxes and then go back to college. So heres the thing - I have absolutely no student loans, nor will I have any in the future. Im very lucky to have parents who paid for my college in full, and now Im determined to save at least 50 of what Im about to make. Any pointers as to what I should do and what I should invest in? I realize this post might sound a little vague, but Ive never made any money before and Im about to start earning some for the first time ever, so Im kind of at a loss. I did however make a Charles Schwab account and Im planning to use it as my primary checking account if that helps at all. EDIT: A few more details. Gonna do another 6 month internship next year and make the same amount of money in all likelihood. Graduating in 2019. My expenses are only about 550 a month.  <response>: Flowchart congrats on the internship and college. those are big. I would consider just punting on investing it to heavily right away because you might need it post graduation. If youre comfortable though, consider maybe just doing a Roth for 2017. So thats 5500 into a retirement account, and keep the rest as savings. and then do 5500 more in 2018, etc. You can then buy some reasonable etfsmutual funds inside you roth and get a nice boost before youre even really working full time. 