If you have some money saved and are ready to get in the financial game of growing your savings, now is the time. Once, you've saved some cash and are ready to plunge into the market, you may ask yourself what should you buy and how do you protect yourself?

Think about diversifying. Don't put all of your eggs in one basket. Buy some stocks, buy some bonds and some mutual funds.  My one bit of advice would be to stick with products you know and are comfortable with. It could be laundry detergent, cars, food items, or diapers. Review your own consumption habits and patterns.

If you work at a company with a 401(k) plan you should be running to it - Don't walk. The company I work for has a company match program where they will match your investments to a certain point. I have the money deducted out of my pay each pay period and so I never even miss it.  The is the best way I know of the grow your money quickly.

You can let the company choose your investments or you can manually choose your own stock. I choose some myself and let the company choose some. This worked well for me.

It is not to late if you haven't utilized your company's 401(k) plan, but do it TODAY. It is like getting free money.