Getting Rich Slowly is another word for investing. Getting Rich Quickly is another word for gambling. The stock market is rather pricey right now, so you would be just as likely to lose money as make money over a term as short as five years. If you insist on buying into the market (which is definitely better than the lottery) then you should buy a good mutual fund. Good funds can be found by researching at Morningstar.com.

Investing triples your money in a decade.

Gambling triples your money overnight (5 years or less qualifies as overnight)

When "investing" and "lottery tickets" are parts of the same question, I think the inquisitor is either "trolling" or 11 years old.

If you want a stock tip: how about Facebook (FB)? FB is positioned to make a "ton" off of mobile advertising.

They have bought several other companies for billions of dollars that have yet to be "monetized" (monetize is a word that has popped up recently. just like "transparency" did when Obuma picked one word to describe his coming administration. (clever, huh)

FB has many users, which means big bucks. They are adding a "buy" button. Imagine, your sister in CA can see an outfit your sister in NY has just bought. Sis in CA can punch one button, and 2 days later, UPS delivers the same outfit in the right color, and size. If FB earns only a "small commission" with thousands (or millions) of transactions a week or month WOW!

So, go back and read financial articles about FB for the last 6 months and make your own decision.

Good Luck! (and remember if you win the lottery you can get lump sum or annual payments)

I fool and his money are soon parted . . and a broker will be more than happy to take your money, and put it in a high commission structured product and leave you dangling . . better to bone up on investing and not just do something because you want to invest . . the road is heavily laden with pot holes and mines, and there is trickery and treachery along the way at every level

the simplest thing to do would be sort through mutual funds or ETF's that have had the best track record 1,3,5 and 10 years . . and just go for it . . if the money manager has a good record, then you have reasonable expectations that he will continue to do so.

Look into inflation protected bonds from www.treasurydirect.gov

I think a person your age should have stocks. Its time to think long term. Roth ira, 401k, vanguard total stock market index and vanguard europe index.

Think about it...take care

Sure, you can invest on stock market. Of course it is not risk-free, but if you are well informed and get useful recommendations you will be succesful. Follow: https://twitter.com/Valk_Co https://twitter.com/thestreet https://twitter.com/bankinter One of Valks recommendations returned 25% in 2 months.

Looking to invest 10k soon. No debts (except my half of the rent) and I've been at my job 3 years. I'm 29 and I'm from chicago. I'm a noob with investments and I only know the very basics of it. I'm looking for short term growth. I know that may not be possible unless I had inside trader secrets. There are so many ways to invest I don't know which is better return wise and less risky. I thought playing the lottery is better but realized thats a stupid idea. Any help on how I can make my money work for me short term? Less than 5 years.