Hello everyone and welcome back to Money Girls Quick and Dirty Tips for

our richer life. I'm your host Laura Adams. This podcast is the third in our five-part series about

taking charge of your finances in 2010. We talked about the importance of setting financial goals and saving money in the first

two podcast of the series. Today's topic is about where to invest your money.

Before we get started, I want to make a distinction between the terms saving and investing

we tend to use those words interchangeably but they're really not the same thing

the difference has to do with taking financial risk.

Saving is putting money aside without exposing it to any risk, or at least very little,

like in a savings account, a money market deposit account, or a certificate of deposit in an FDIC insured institution. money

money to an deposit account or a certificate of deposit in an FDIC insured institution. Investing is committing money to an endeavor or account with the expectation that you'll make a certain amount of profit or income.

The risk is that you'll receive less than what you

expect, or worse yet, there's a possibility that you could lose your entire investment.

Increased risk generally goes along with the potential to make more money.

Therefore, taking calculated risk is an important part of your financial life.

Without it, your money probably won't grow fast enough to achieve your goals.

You can keep money safe and cozy in a low interest savings account,

but that stunts its potential and doesn't give it the opportunity

to swell into a nest egg large enough to meet your long-term goals.

The quick and dirty tip for investing is to expose your money to just enough risk to accomplish your goals.

The money you'll need for small short-term needs is well

suited for safe places like a savings account or CD. But the money that you're

counting on to grow and multiply over the long term, like for your retirement, needs to get friendly with

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