You can open a Roth IRA if you qualify, the withdrawals at retirement are tax free. See link to max contributions below,

https://www.irs.gov/retirement...n%20for%20the%20year

You can open a Roth or regular IRA

I like Fidelity the best out of the ones I have

https://www.fidelity.com/

I like Charles Schwab for brokerage services.

I am very impressed, so far, with JEPI and JEPQ. These are two ETFs actively managed by JP Morgan. JEPI is based on stocks in the S&P 500 while FEPQ is based on stocks in the NASDAQ 100. The innovation is that they sell short term covered call options on the underlying securities. That option premium is distributed to unit holders monthly. These ETFs currently yield over 10%.

These are new ETFs, JEPQ has only been around since May 2022, JEPI since May 2020, so long term results are not available. But writing covered calls is an excellent way to reduce risk and generate cash flow, and with these funds you can do it with a minimal investment. The fund only charges a .35% management fee.

The first four minutes of this video explains the concept. The guy's spreadsheet is a joke.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNiHemrpraw

I don’t buy single stocks anymore. I had an experiment with my traditional IRA to see if I could beat the S&P 500. I was naive. I invested in three tech stocks. The first one went bankrupt and I lost everything. The second one didn’t gain or lose in the decade I owned it, so I sold it. The third stock was a lucky one where I got to watch the company turn their operation around and capture a bigger market share.

Why do I mention it? Because I have an important question: what would bother you more —- losing all $1000 or losing the opportunity to make gain? The idea is to assess your risk tolerance. It’s only $1000, but it’s a hard earned $1000.

For me, I learned my lesson and I have focused more on index and mutual funds. If you must invest in single stocks, there are groups that watch how politicians invest. I’d say it’s a pretty safe bet to buy and sell to mirror them.

FYI my uranium stocks were up 5-12% yesterday. Get some while you can.

For what it’s worth, SPY is one of my worst performing purchases. I’m glad I only put a bit of dividend money into it.

There is an ETF I like XLG it’s the top 50 S&P companies all mega caps. They are the ones driving the S&P. Not as concentrated as a single stock. I really wouldn’t fall in love with any single stock including your employer. Ask Silicon Valley bank and first republic bank and signature bank employees about that. Awesome stock performers right up until they weren’t.

If you don’t like the top 50 stocks and think it’s too concentrated there’s another ETF which is the top 100 companies ( by market size) Still all very large companies.

Relatively bland investment if you want to set and forget for a decade.

thanks fellas, I obviously have a LOT of research and learning to do. As to what I can "manage" to lose , no the 1k is not an asset that I am going to feel if I lose it.