<prompt> Human: I am in college and looking to put a very small amount of my savings into some stocks and slowly become familiar with the stock market and investing. I am new to all of this so any advice would be great!  <response>: My advice would be to build a model portfolio and track your results over time using a simple tool like Google Finance. When you know almost nothing about the markets, buying individual stocks is a great way to lose everything very quickly. Hell, even if you do know lots about it, individual stocks can absolutely blow up in your face. 