<prompt> Human: I always wanted to trade, and Im starting college this month. I dont live in a wealthy household, in fact were on the lower middle class end. I made all my money freelance writing and I want to grow it.  <response>: pf doesnt advocate for active trading of stocks. The preferred method in the FAQ is holding a little bit of everything all at once. Its a broad investment in the overall economic action. Its not terribly sexy, but its as or more reliable than picking individual firms. And it tends to be cheaper. That said, you should probably hold on to the 3k for now. If you dont have a car youll want one eventually, and youll want a small emergency fund in case something bad happens. Otherwise you would need to borrow money to take care of things. 