trod, Vanguard's index mutual funds almost all have fees of less than 1%. The lowest is like 0.30% IIRC.

How exactly would I get started in investing? I mean, do I just go to a site and sign up, deposit money similiar to how I deposit to a poker site, and start buying/selling stocks through there? Do I leave my money on the site for the many years it will take to grow and pay dividends on? Can you direct me to a good site that some of you use?

Sorry for all the questions, but this thread is really interesting and investing is something i want to learn more about but have never known where to start.

I deal with Fidelity Investments. Best thing you can do is to read some books. Don't laugh, but Investing for Dummies isn't a bad place to start. Don't focus on individual stocks--diversify. Either try Fidelity (if you have some money to deposit) or Sharebuilder. Sharebuilder is a great site for younger investors to get their feet wet and to learn about the market.

Alright thanks =) Also, what's the minimum amount of $ I should start with?

I agree with Tib on the For Dummies series - get Personal Finances for Dummies, as it covers a lot more ground for someone that is young and has not had to manage their own finances before. The book is a gold mine of information.

There are personal finance websites, my suggestion for starting out would be to follow the Motley Fool. http://www.fool.com/

Remember to take all advice with a grain of salt and a healthy dose of skepticism unless you are confident in the impartiality of the source of the information. Stock brokers are salesmen. For an interesting read on the life of a junior broker at Solomon Brothers, get Liars Poker by Michael Lewis.

I would steer clear of individual stocks for the time being. Mutual funds that are tied to stock indicies generally have very low maintainance fees, and are frequently no-load funds.

Personal Finance for Dummies explains all of this in detail.

I wish I started investing when I was your age. 6 or 7 years can make a huge difference.

Well if it wasn;t for my darn kids I would have reached my target of paying off my mortgage before I was 40 and could have wandered off around the world again ..

nm - I suppose they are worth it really

so now it's a new $360,000 25 year mortgage and I'm wage-slaving til 65 - boo..

lol Kenny I'm 40 this year

I have a wife and 2 young kids (girl of 2 yrs and boy of 4 months)- my wife Karen is 34.

I'm a partner is a corporate law firm here in Manchester UK, and get maybe 10 pretty tired hours play in a week.

If I really was 21, I would be playing poker from a beach in Fiji somewhere for sure