More financial advice needed

[Heath]

Depending on how serious you are about getting involved with your money there are people who are willing to sit down and teach you about the financial world and figure out the best plan for you. If you want to learn, and are willing to take a few hours a week to invest in gaining financial knowledge then you'll be better off than most of the current population and will be setting a solid foundation for your future.
To find someone willing to sit down and teach you how to properly manage money, even with your relatively small 1200 account go to http://www.daveramsey.com/sa/mutualfunds/ and find a representative close to you. For more general knowledge I'd start by looking around http://www.daveramsey.com.

 

[jeremy.king]

Plus, I don't see sitting on it for more than a year or two.

You, my zealous friend, are screaming for a CD of some sort, as others have pointed out. No interest is a very poor decision.

http://home.ingdirect.com/products/products.asp?s=OrangeCD
http://www.gmacbank.com/todays-rates/cd-rates.html

 

[gregdrummeraz]

Right now, the most appealing idea is a low-fare Lufthansa ticket for tomorrow.

Chase (the bank my family uses) is offering 0.1%, or roughly $1 a year. That doesn't seem worth it, except for that maybe I can get United miles in my MileagePlus account.

Pfff... please I returned +%1.05...

EDIT* +%1.46 today *

 

[iMacZealot]

It's interesting that this thread should come up now because I was thinking about it a few days ago. So what I might do is open up a checking account (or see if I already have one, I'm not sure) with a debit card (so if I do want to buy something, I don't have to worry about bringing tons of cash with me). The only thing is, Chase's checking account for teenagers has no interest rate. Should I go with HSBC or one of the others, even though HSBC is 18+ (could my parents co-sign?) and not associated with Chase, the bank the rest of my family uses?

 

[jeremy.king]

It's interesting that this thread should come up now because I was thinking about it a few days ago. So what I might do is open up a checking account (or see if I already have one, I'm not sure) with a debit card (so if I do want to buy something, I don't have to worry about bringing tons of cash with me). The only thing is, Chase's checking account for teenagers has no interest rate. Should I go with HSBC or one of the others, even though HSBC is 18+ (could my parents co-sign?) and not associated with Chase, the bank the rest of my family uses?

The only reason to have a checking account would be your need for the money in the near future. You mentioned earlier this was money you didn't want to use for a year or two and if that is still the case, don't bother with Checking.

Also, please understand you have plenty of choice - by no means should you feel obligated to use Chase just because your family does. Smaller credit unions often give much better interest rates, with online banks giving the best.

 

[7on]

The way the dollar is, you might just buy $1200 of gold and stash it in the closet. Might make more than $1200 of bills

 

[Eric5h5]

How about you do what I do...get a checking account at a local bank for ease of access, plus get an account at an online bank that actually pays a measurable amount of interest. Then keep most of your money where it's earning interest (i.e., the online bank), and you can easily transfer money electronically back and forth using the banks' websites (no charge for that as long as you do it right). You might need your parents to set up the online account; not sure how that would work exactly.

--Eric

 

[CalBoy]

If you don't qualify for high-yield savings accounts like an ING account, then open up a CD. Shop around a bit though, because you can find good rates if you try (eg, WaMu the other day was offering 5%! ).

Just make sure your money is in an FDIC insured account and then let it grow until college, when I'm sure you'll find it useful.