just another thought here.
mutual funds is a good way to go also. but it is like buying houses. you want to make sure you are willing to go long term. most mutual funds have a history of returning anywhere from 10-20%. but if you decide to go into them you need to look at least 5 yrs before you touch the money.
you are better off with mutual funds then with playing the stock market. you can diversify and buy whatever funds you want.
Fidelity is a good company to go with. you can request a prospectus for each fund you are wanting and it will tell you the history of the fund and the returns on it. of course it isn`t a guarentee that it will do the same amount of return in the future but for the most part they are very stable. even if the market takes a down turn and you don`t have to touch the money you will do ok. and if you can afford to do a monthly amount it can even be better. due to you "buying low, selling high" type of deal. just my .02 worth.
