A Roth is the way to go. You don't have to pay taxes on your gains. I put the maximum in
every year. I turn 50 this year, so I was able to put in $6K.

start a roth ira first. the stocks will always be there. you have the semester breaks
and summer to do homework, read books. the roth ira is for your retirement when you get
old. you will be glad you started it at a young age. by the time you are ready to retire
if you only put $100 a month into it you will have over $1 million in it if you only had a
fixed rate. i am a retired teacher and know how important annunities are in ones later
years.

I wrote an article about investing after college-
http://www.campusstocks.com/content/pay-student-debt-or-invest%3F

Also, Admitted self-aggrandizing here- but check out the site, it's geared only toward
student investors - it includes some of the things you're looking for.

Very good suggestions all around, it really depends on your devotion and risk appetite.

Like Jim says in Stay Mad for LIfe, being a young person you should put a significant
portion (not all) of your investment capital in Ken Heebner's Focus Fund.

It is certainly more risky than your standard mutual fund, but Ken Heebner has proven over
and over to be a phenomenal fund manager through good times and bad, consistently
producing great returns. Because you are young and can afford to take some risk, you
should do some research and check it out.

as for books, i have too many.lol. i really like rev. Shark who writes for thestreet.com,
Ken Fisher, William J. O'Nieal.

i also dont like the idea of investing differently because you're young. its whatever your
style is. if youre an aggressive and risk taking individual, then you'll be that 5 years
from now so invest your style. if you're conservative at 21, you wont be a huge risk taker
at 27. it CAN happen, but thats usually not how people work. so know you yourself, and
position your risk taking accordingly.

Last edited on: 01-24-2008 08:46 pm

Split the difference if you can. Put some into a Roth and by something that's low
maintenance and pays nice dividend (like MO).

Establish the Roth first if can't afford to split the difference. You'll want to
establish a system of putting in a set amount monthly. I did this when I was 25 into
mutual funds. Though they haven't performed as well I'd hoped, I'll still be fine when I
retire.

The normal account requires you to take profits more often because Uncle Sam takes his
cut, and thus more "homework".

Lastly, if you still can't find time for HW, then piggyback on someone who's done most of
it for you (you should do some also). Stockpickr features Warren Buffett's portfolio. He
just upped his stake in BNI which most agree is a good one to own.

For a good book, start conservative: Rule #1 (Phil Town) spells out what all the numbers
mean. An easy read. Based strongly on Warren Buffett philosophy.

You should read more beyond this. Take your time though. The market isn't going
anywhere.

Last edited on: 01-24-2008 08:27 pm

i like Ira's advice on low fee ETF's (not about truing a blind eye though). i always
recommend SPY (tracks S&P 500)and EFA (tracks Morgan Stanley's world index). however, if
you make those 80-85% of what you have, then i think you could do the homework for 1 or 2
individual stocks (2 hours a week).

i realize everyone isnt the junkie that i am for stocks but ive gotten it done through
college. even though thats partly because im on my laptop in class trading.lol gotta love
wi-fi.

as for putting it in an IRA, i do both and maybe you could argue put the funds/ETF's in
the IRA and trade individual stocks on a regular account. until you get into a higher tax
bracket its kinda tomato tomAto.

Last edited on: 01-24-2008 08:24 pm

Should I have these stocks in a Roth IRA or just in my normal portfolio?

In Cramer's book he says to worry about retirement first...

There's always time for homework.

After you buy the stock, the amount of work decreases significantly. You just monitor
after that. If the stock hits a price target or if bad news comes out, then you sell and
wait for it to come back down. For example: Pepsi isn't going to change much between now
and next year. Once you decide you like it and have researched it, you buy it. It
reaches a target, you sell and wait for it to come back down. Buy it again.

Most of the homework is in deciding whether or not it's good to buy. After that,
"homework" can be done at a leisure pace.

Choose only the ones you have time to research. Easy ones like Coke require little time.
Altria, you can buy and forget about it. A bank on the other hand requires constant
monitoring

I'm a teacher, don't make much more than you will expect to make, and work far more than
40 hours a week. I do most of my "homework" on the weekends. Practice lots and you get
quick at it

Last edited on: 01-24-2008 08:00 pm

noload mutual fund since you have no time to do homework for stocks