I have been investing for 2 years so far. Here is how I believe all people should invest as beginners:

 

401k is a retirement fund. IRA is an individual retirement account (same thing pretty much) You'll more than likely be dealing with a regular 401K or a Roth 401K. Regular 401K (they take the money BEFORE they charge you regular taxes on your check and put it in the account) This reduces your total taxable income for the year BUT when you withdraw from the 401k later in life they take taxes out on the WHOLE amount at the current tax rate.

Roth 401K: (the money is taken AFTER you get taxes regularly, Federal, State, Social Security, etc) The money is then put into the account, when you withdraw later in life it's TAX-FREE as you already paid taxes on it. (personally, this is my option)

 

I believe that the Dave Ramsey plan is the best plan to use if you are just starting to invest your money.

save 500-1000 starter emergency fund 2)list all debts smallest to largest regardless of interest rate, make minimum payments on all debts, and then throw everything you have at the 1st debt when that's paid off-take all the money you were putting towards debt #1 and put it on debt #2 ALONG with that minimum payment....wash/rinse/repeat.

3)build an EMERGENCY FUND of 3-6months of expenses, that's not PAY that's expenses. rent, food, gas, insurance, etc. and NEVER TOUCH IT unless it is an emergency. Xmas is not an emergency, The new iPhone is NOT an emergency

4) Put 15% of income into retirement

5)save money for kids college accounts

6)pay off your house early

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Don't borrow money

Live beneath your means, if you make 30K a year live on 24K.

Don't use credit cards to pay for vacations, TVs, or any of that stuff, only use it for the points in these situations if you have the cash in hand and can pay it as soon as you get home with the new item.

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Be smart with your cash, it may be HARD but it's not Complicated.