You have a couple of choices. You can either make your own decisions on where to place your investment money or alternatively get a professional to do it on your behalf. Whichever one you decide on it is always a good idea to paper trade first. That is where you decide on a particular stock and only place the order on paper. The second way to approach the market is with a view that you are young enough to gamble a little on the hares of investing. If these go wrong you will still have the time to recover and rebuild your portfolio. Of course the third way may be best of all. You could apply a certain percentage on the riskier hares while placing the majority of your cash with the safe and steady tortoises. To help you start understanding the stock market you need to think of what makes it work. Very simply the market is driven by supply and demand. That means that if there is only a very limited number of shares in a particular company available the demand for them will be far greater than if the market place is awash with them. The LSE even today is acknowledged as the leading stock market in the world. It was to London that the first American Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, turned when he wanted to begin development of economic power in the New World. Hamilton founded the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street in the late 18th century where it was joined around fifty years later by what is now the American Stock Exchange. You should also bear in mind that while they might be non profit they still have to pay for their expenses. While they may not have the swanky offices their commercial cousins have they still have to fund their employee's salaries. Or to be more accurate you, their clients will be the one funding it. Consult the Better Business Bureau and speak to your state consumer affairs representatives. One final point to keep in mind when you start to make your enquiries. All these organizations stand to benefit by having you as a customer. That means some, if not all, will try to get you to sign up straight away.