Agree with the guys saying pay off debt first. Then, if you do not have a 401k through your job, I would suggest a Roth IRA. I have a 401k with match through work. My wife, now retired from Navy, did not have that option so a friend set her up with a Roth. She pays taxes on each deposit (mine is pre-tax) but she pays today's taxes and when she retires, she has already paid the taxes at today's tax rate and not the current tax rate when withdrawing. With the Roth or any IRA, you can spread out your investments over a wide variety of options and change as you see fit. You can also just pick what age you plan on retiring and there are options to choose, by year of retirement, that will automatically pick your investment options. You can go with Principal(who I use), American Funds (wife), Prudential, Vanguard, etc. to get started.