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how best to grow my small amount of money starting at a young age? [duplicate]
user
(congrats on earning/saving $3k and not wanting to blow it all on immediate gratification!) i currently have it invested in sector mutual funds but with the rise and fall of the stock market, is this really the best way to prepare long-term? long-term?  yes! however... four years is not long term.  it is, in fact, borderline short term.  (when i was your age, that was incomprehensible too, but trust me: it's true.) the problem is that there's an inverse relationship between reward and risk: the higher the possible reward, the greater the risk that you'll lose a big chunk of it. i invest that middle-term money in a mix of junk high yield bond funds and "high" yield savings accounts at an online bank.  my preferences are hyg purchased at fidelity (edit: because it's commission-free and i buy a few hundred dollars worth every month), and ally bank.
assistant