Do not have 10,000 to invest?

But I have 4000..Are there any accounts i can sign up with that will allow me to take out the interest if i wanted too?
Additional Details
I am a college student, I don't think I am ready for realestate yet :)

If you want to invest in an account that accrues interest there are many choices, http://www.ingdirect.com offers an FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) insurance for accounts upto $100,000, currentl offering 4.35% and http://www.geinterestplus.com while not being FDIC insured but is backed by General Electric (GE) is offering 4.8%. The nice point of accounts like these is that you can withdraw your principal and/or interest at anytime.

Another option is to buy goverment bonds or an annuity that pay out interest on a monthly basis. The principal would be locked in either case for a predetermined amount of time. If you sell a bond prematurely you can experience either a gain or a loss in the principal depedning on whether interest rates have gone up or down since you purchased the bond.

Opening up a brokerage account such as www.etrade.com or www.tdameritrade.com is yet another choice, you can buy mutual funds, stocks, bonds, electronically traded funds etc. in this type of account. TDAmeritrade for example doesn't charge any fees outside of thier commision for a regular account. The buying of any investment in this type of account without proper knowledge can result in large losses - so learn as much as you can before you execute any order. Depending on what you buy you can get monthly dividends. My current favorite closed end bond fund is Debt strategies Inc (DSU) as they pay out dividends monthly which total about 10% annually but the prinicipal is not gauranteed and if the market goes the wrong way you CAN lose money.

I won't go over the IRA (individual retirement account) option as you mentioned that you need to have access to the interest monthly as once you invest into an IRA account you cannot take out money until you are 59 1/2 year old without paying a 10% penalty. Once you have enough capital that you want to save for retirement put money into an IRA.

The key is to figure out what you want, how much risk you can afford to take, and do your own research. Do not hire a financial advisor as they have thier own interests at heart and not your. Feel to talk to them for ideas, then do your research and you will usually find better investments with better returns and cheaper fees.

Another thing to remember especially when starting out, is that fees are your enemy, even small ones can kill the yield on an investment.

While I own a bt investment real estate, i do not recommend you buy real estate now, many markets are overpriced and with long term rates probably headed higher prices will come down proportionaly to the extent they are over priced (ie Miami, NYC, San Francistico the most, smaller midest cities like OKC the least). Many banks will loan you 100+% of the house price but all that means is if the price comes down you owe more than you own. Also with $4k you dont have a cushion incase something bad happens. Real Estate is great once you have about $25-$30k to start for a downpayment plus a cushion of $6-9k incase you don't get renters or if you have extra income every month to pay the mortgage for the same reason. In any case when you are ready for real estate if the deal isn't generating positive cash flow good with a fixed rate mortgage, don't go anywhere near it.

$4000 may not sound like a lot of money and you may be tempted to put it all in one investment and unless you choose the safest/ most conservative route, US goverment bond or and account like geinterest plus/ ingdirect then you want to split your money in multiple investments (Don't put all your eggs in one basket!!!!!)

This post got longer than i intended but it wouldn't be complete without my number 1 rule. "If everyone is going one way then it most likely is the wrong way". DO NOT follow the current trend portratyed in investment magazines, comemricals, tv or by friends/neighbors. Make your decision based on research and noy hype.

Invest in real estate. Real estate never goes away, goes bankrupt, it is solid and tangible and REAL. Stocks are risky.
Real estate, when you pay it off, you can always use the equity to reinvest.

Go to ING Direct and get an online money market.

yes i know a good reliable source that can give you 15% return per month and you can withdarw the interest each month

From all I've read on the subject of investing, the first thing you need to focus on is your retirement. I know it's not as glamorous as buying the next hot stock and doubling your money in a few months, but it's a heck of a lot better than buying the next bomb and having $2,000 in a couple of months instead of your $4,000. If you're not sure what to get, one of the best options out there now are "Life Cycle Funds" or "Target Retirement Funds". These funds automatically take your money (no matter what the amount) and diversify it based on when you think you will retire, so there's one for all ages. There's more on the source link at Vanguard (almost any mutual fund company has these too). The next step is to contribute to it every paycheck - no matter what amount. The key is to get in the habit...the habit of saving and the habit of living without that extra money.

Of course, this doesn't allow you to take money out. If you want to be able to take money in and out, the next best option for $4,000 is to open an account with E*Trade, Ameritrade, or whatever online brokerage (if you are skeptical of these, try Scottrade, they have online and brick-and-morter stores). Invest in a mutual fund first unless you have about $10k to spread between 5 or more stocks. Otherwise commissions will eat your profits. There are several mutual funds that will track whatever you want to invest in (gold, foreign, growth stocks, dividend stocks, etc). Pay attention to fees...you shouldn't pay more than 1.5% to 2.0% in fees for a basic mutual fund.

Plenty of accounts, of the kind you desire, are available, but consult from within your family, preferably, an experienced and expert finance specialist, before taking any concrete action.

You have $4000 dollars in a saving account and your a college student. Your grammar is bad and so is your spelling. You should spend more time on your studies instead of trying to figuring out what to do with your money.

Compunding is a very powerful tool in investing. If you have $4,000, at 5%, after 1 year this becomes $4,200. After 2 years this becomes $4,410 etc. This gets better and better. In investing, as a general rule risk goes with reward. There are higher return instruments e.g. equities. Naturally the risks are greater than the above example. However the principle of compounding remains the same. In investing, it is not "timing the market that is importtant but the time in the market.

Kiddo, you have 4k to invest! That is great! Be conservative in your investments

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