Okay I'm a 21yr old mother of two and I'm in the army. i will be getting my enlistment bonus piece by piece over the next 5 years. ,000 each year for 4yrs and ,000 the 5th year. i don't want to spend this money on crap but i don't know how to begin investing or where to start. these are some things i would like to do: start a college fund for my 3 and 1yr old, and yes i know it might be early but i want to begin a retirement plan. any others ideas about what i could do and how would i go about it. how much money would help me get started?