Seahawks and Lions should switch coordinators . <| sep |> Have you tried to make it as comfortable as possible . Get something to entertain yourself , some water and such ? <| sep |> I make 3 . 25 hour as a server , and after taxes my monthly pay checks range from like $ 7 . 0025 . 00 . Monthly . I actually like waiting tables so I ' m always trying to give the best service possible , but still I ' ll get a $ 3 tip on a $ 50 check and it really , really blows . <| sep |> If you ' re buying CDs in a taxable account , be aware that you are going to lose some of your return as interest will be taxed as ordinary income in addition to you implicitly making a bet on inflation over the next five years that could significantly reduce the real return of the investment well below the 2 % headline rate . If rates moved up , you ' d be stuck in a low yielding investment and be subject to penalties to exit which I think you would want to avoid . At your age , I would be looking to put some money in an equity index fund or ETF SPY , IVV , etc . and gradually add over time as you get more comfortable with risk . Consider putting 6 months of expenses in a highyielding savings account and then starting to build market exposure over time . Pay particular attention to fees expense ratios for any index fund as these can have outsized impacts on returns over the long run . Given where you are in life right now , I think it would be very difficult to make a decision that would permanently impair your savings or earnings potential even in a severe equity market draw down scenario , provided that you do not panic sell and leave room to continue to invest . I do think , however , that buying very low yielding investments and taking duration risk in an uncertain inflation fiscal monetary policy environment could actually be more dangerous over a 5 year period . Look at how 30 year US govt bond prices can use ETF ticker TLT as a proxy have performed since the election to see how changing views on inflation can drive large principal losses .