Mogul City Media & Entertainment Group

Two 22-year-olds are just starting their careers and beginning to save and invest. One devotes half his salary to quickly paying off student loans , with the goal of saving money to travel the world. The other dabbles in stocks, while planning to buy a home. Which one is starting out on the right foot? Neither? Both? Learning to invest is hard enough. Now try doing it during the worst recession in a generation and the biggest financial crisis in a lifetime. If you're a young person with money to invest, however, you can consider yourself lucky. You have income at a time when the jobless rate is rising rapidly. If you're just starting out, you avoided -- so far -- huge losses of the sort that drastically changed the retirement plans of many baby boomer parents. No Easy Answers But the current environment naturally leaves a beginner confused about how to invest. The tough housing market means real estate looks ...