>>1040538
>relatively safe

Total Bond Fund at Vanguard is very safe
Total Stock Market Fund is relatively safe

Most people would recommend a minimum 80% in stocks and 20% in bonds because a huge amount of bonds is tax inefficient and only ends up between 1-4% a year.

Stocks are volatile but you take care of that by picking the "total" fund which means you have every stock that exists in one fund. It follows the ups and downs of the stock market. However, keep in mind that while the stock prices go up and down daily, the amount of shares you get increase over time. Stocks flex but your shares are yours until you sell them. You also benefit 4 times a year from dividends (usually reinvested unless you have a ton of stock)

Basically set aside 6 months of cash in a regular bank account then start putting money into the above 2 funds each week, or two weeks.

You can use your savings to buy a poor jobless family a house, then deduct the cost from your taxes. Then you put a lein on the property for the value of the property.

After they go bankrupt and lose the house because the can't afford the property taxes and maintenance on it, you claim your house back using the lein and keep the amount you made from the tax deductions and charity credits.

>>1040561
This.

Then of course bear in mind that index funds are no "quick money" thing. But over time(read decades) they will yield very nicely.