Investment for Teens?

I am 17 years old and I do not have much money, but I will be working two jobs this summer, and working at least part time for the four years I'm in university. Since I am fiscally responsible (seriously, you'd think I was 60!) I am sure that this money will really add up.

I want to invest this money so that when I graduate from university I can use it to start a homestead. What is a way that I can invest it that has high yield, low tax, and is easy for a teen to understand? I am only going to have the money in for about five years... but I don't really know about stuff like this.
Additional Details
Keep in mind, this money will only be in the investment for 5 years or so.

Also, I don't really want to do stocks, because the market could spoil and I don't want to help companies that exploit their workers or ruin the environment.

depending on where you live, you can start an investment account for yourself, but an adult will have to be on there with you, no big deal..........best thing for you to do is buy what is called a balanced mutual fund, or an equity income mutual fund, they have low risk but on average make 8-10% a year. have to always remember that you are not guaranteed to make money in the stock market but if you buy one of those accounts that will give you a good chance to make some decent cash. call Vanguard.....go out and buy some books about investing....investing for dummies is very good, and it is not for dummies, and start to learn about investing....this is one of the best things you can ever do for yourself, investing can be very complex or very easy, just depends on what you are trying to do for yourself..........good luck

Read plenty of Robert Kiyosaki's stuff...rich dad poor dad...
and focus on working smarter not harder.
If you are committed, you will find a way.

Find a way to buy a house in your college town at least 4 bedrooms and maybe a basement you could use as a bedroom. Live in one room and rent out the other 3-4 rooms. You can probably go through all of college without paying rent and having your mortgage paid for while going to school. Beg and borrow to get into to it. Use your student loan money that you would be paying for living expenses to get into the house. When you graduate you could continue to rent out the house or sell it and get tax free money up to $250,000 if would lived in it for two years. Don't let age or lack of knowledge prevent you from making a smart decision. Like someone previously mentioned read Rich Dad Poor Dad and Rich Dad Success Storied

I suggest you watch Mad Money on CNBC. High growth stocks for 2007 include Apple, NY stock exchange, cisco, halliburton, goldman sachs, and altria.

Diversify your holdings to minimize your risk. Rarely ever is Jim Cramer wrong on stock advice.

Best of luck!

The best thing for you to do at this age is to set up a ROTH IRA. However, it will not help you set up a "homestead". That my boy, will require a lot more income, or doing what some outdoorsy prospecters do: bid on government land auctions (for Bureau of Land Mangement property sales of 20 acre parcels located in Nevada, Montana, Oregon, Wyoming, etc.) The latter just takes a little research and a really low bid (not much). After you get your parcel, you just need to prove you invest at least $100 per year in the property for "improvements". You could put up a "No Trespassing" sign during the first year. To save up enough money to bid on the homestead, I suggest you put the money in safe but good-interest earning government T-Bills. TreasuryDirect.gov has all the details, and the best rates are shifting from the 28-day T-Bill to 6-month T-Bill. The 30-Year T-Bill is also getting better rates, so the 5-year T-Bill may start to edge up soon.

Back to the serious matter of long-term retirement, the Roth IRA is super important for all Americans under the age of 40. Companies like Scottrade allow you to set up IRAs without any annual fees. Check around for non-fee accounts with your local bank/etc, but if you ever plan on trading stocks/mutual funds, a low-commission company like ScottTrade is best.

The reason for the Roth IRA is 2-fold.
1.) It is post-taxes now, and since you are probably not earning that much money, your tax rate is not much so there is not much benefit in writing off IRA contributions (you need to earn at least $25-$40k before writing off IRA contributions even become worth your effort).
2.) With a Roth IRA, you don't have to pay any taxes on the IRA earnings when you draw from it in retirement, when your tax bracket will (presumably) be much higher - especially if you keep saving from a young age! THis eventually amounts to a huge tax advantage.

Unfortunately, you are limited to a maximum of $4000 (perhaps $5000 in 2007) per year. It is still possible to contribute to an IRA for the 2006 tax year... you may do so up until April 15, so I recommend you do so if you set up a Roth IRA... try to contribute up to the maximum.

As far as asset allocation, try to go easy until you take some hard-core financial management courses. Mutual funds and government bonds. In fact, if you have enough money left over after you have fully contributed to the Roth IRA, you can now invest directly into US T-Bills without going through a middle-man. Visit http://www.treasurydirect.gov to register and for more info. SHort term rates have been falling over the past few auctions, but longer-term rates are on the rise, which is good if you are seeking to invest money in a moderate-growth, yet VERY safe investment.

Good luck and keep saving! Try to save at least 15% of your salary each month, or a minimum of $5000 per year.

uhhhhh the stock market

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