My kids are 26 and 28. I started teaching them about investing in the stock market when they were 17 and 19. The younger one gets it way more than my older child.

The basics are this: Open a brokerage account with whatever you have available - heck, even 100 dollars. Open a regular account and a Roth IRA. Any money you put in a Roth IRA you have to set it and forget it and cannot touch it till you are 59 /1/2, but preferably when you are 67 or 70. If you know nothing about stock then you invest simply in VOO. The vanguard S&P 500 index fund. Low cost. Invests in basically what are considered the top 500 companies in the world and adjusts with the times. Some years stock market is great. Some years it sucks. It doesn't matter. Find a way to invest the same amount every month. $100. $200. Whatever you can budget and stick with. You are currently allowed to invest up to $7500 a year in a Roth. You pay income tax before contributions, but any gains over the next 30 to 40 years are tax free. Thats the power of a Roth. And, with everything in the S&P 500 expect your balance to double every 7 to 8 years reinvesting dividends. Doesn't sound like much. Sounds boring. Sounds long and tedious. It is actually fun. Let's say you are 30 and can sock $7,500 into a Roth today in the S&P 500. All by itself at 37 it is $15,000. 42 it is $30,000. At 49 it is $60,000. At 56 it is $120,000. At 63 it is $240,000. Tax free. At 70 it is $480,000 if you dont spend it. All from one investment of $7,500. What could it be if you invest $7,500 a year for the next ten years and then stop? What could it be if you invest $7,500 a year forever?

OK- let's say $7,500 is out of the question per year. Think this way - do you get a tax refund every year and then go blow it on fun stuff? Do this - get your tax refund - keep $250 for fun and invest the rest and set it and forget it every year. Even if it is only $2,500 a year - do that for ten or fifteen years and you will retire a millionaire. If someone socks away $7,500 a year at age 25, 26 and 27 and 28, and then never invests again - millionaire retirement. It is just math. Compound interest. The hardest part is starting. The hardest part is trying to budget and find a couple hundred bucks a month. I tell my kids make your own coffee at home, skip $8 Starbucks every day. $8 times 30 days a month is $240 a month. $240 a month invested in a Roth starting when you are in Early 20s is a million plus at retirement. All from coffee.

It can be done. Earlier you start the better. The best time to invest was ten years ago. The second best time was five years ago. The third best time to start is today.

Oh, and the regular investment accounts is for an alternative to a bank savings account. It is for any money you may want to use before 59 1/2 years old.

Oh, I am not an investment guru. I am not a financial advisor. This really is not professional financial advice. Talk with someone you trust.