Nothing's really making any money right now. You have a little bit of money and you want to put it somewhere to get it going. You don't have enough for real estate. Roth IRA is always the first stop. The theme of the Roth is - put it here and leave it here, contribute as much as you can as soon as you can and let it sit. Don't worry too much if it drops a bit, or even a lot. Just leave it alone and by the time you're ready to pull, it's grown. Gold is good, everyone should have some. If you treat it like a Roth and leave it alone, it will grow nicely. Just look at where gold is now and where it was, say 40 years ago. Nice gain. Gold goes up and down with the dollar. When the dollar's down, gold is up and vise versa. So, gold is a bet on the down and Roth is a bet on the up. Diversify. These are two that you can get into that don't require you to have a huge amount to start with. Both are long term investments that will gain in the end. Real estate is good if you buy a property to rent out. Houses do not appreciate. You need the property to pay you. If you live in it, you pay it - a lot. Good Luck!