Don't get bogged down in terminology. Lending money to a bank is called saving. Investing is buying something whose value can go up or down. It gets slightly confusing because if you lent a corporation money it would be a loan (saviing?) but if you bought a bond (corporate loan) on the secondary market you could say it was an investment. As I say don't worry about this!

No. You just "park" it in the bank by depositing it into your account. [you will only earn pennies, literally. {But, it is safe there!}

You are too young to invest in stocks,you do not have enough money, and fees and a dip in the value of the stock could wipe out half of your money.

If you are thinking long term (5 or more years) you could put some into a Series I bond - because it is indexed to inflation; and again 100% safe. [do not worry about losing some to inflation. It happens.]

Save it.

"investing" so little, and you are fooling yourself.

I have 140 some odd dollars left of gift money, and I want a way so save it, while also earning a bit of money. Is that called investing in a bank? Or should I put it in stocks? I'm young so I don't know how to do this, but my parents could help me. Advice?