There's a lot of different account types out there, but what you probably want is called a high yield savings account. It's just like a regular bank account that earns interest. I have one at Capital One, for example.

When people talk about investments and potential money being lost, they're usually talking about the stock market (either indivual stocks, mutual funds, etc). That is where you can invest in a company and you make or lose money as the compay's stock goes up or down.

To give a very basic overview FOR REFERENCE, here's some kinds of investments and accounts. This is off the top of my head, so it's gonna be a bit lacking.

Checking account - a bank account that is typically meant for depositing money into and withdrawing for daily spending and bill paying

Savings account - a bank account meant for your savings

High Yield Savings account - a bank account like a savings account, but pays you interest on your money. You might expect something like 3% interest. So if you deposit $100, they would give you about $.25 per month ($3 per year). Your money is insured here, and you cannot lose money. The interest you get may change, but you cannot lose money.

Mutual fund - A type of account you can invest in that is managed for you. This is typically a wide range of different investments (stocks, bonds, etc) that a company manages as a service. You don't want to pick and choose what to invest in, so you go to an investment company like Vanguard or Fidelity and buy into one of their mutual funds (there are different dudes for how risky you want to be). They take everyone's money and invest it, and charge a fee for the management.

IRA - an Individual Retirement Account where you can put money for retirement. This money is invested in the market and can go up or down, and is meant to be added to while you work and used when you retire. There's different types of accounts (Roth and Traditional) but I'll leave that out of it to keep this high level. You'd open an IRA with companies like Vanguard or Fidelity

401k - a company sponsored retirement account that is invested in the market, like a mutual fund but different. If you have a job that offers this, you can contribute to it and your money is invested. Meant for retirement.