Utilize your financial knowledge, give your answer or opinion to the input question or subject . Answer format is not limited.

I have $12k in a Chase checking account, but want to start earning interest/saving/investing/etc to make more money. What should I do?
Lets make some assumptions. You are not close to retirement.  You have no other debts.  You have a job.  You have no big need for the money.   You should invest that.  Do not invest with a bank, they are not as competitive on fees as a brokerage account. You can get specific answers that are different from every person, (so you should dig in and research a lot more if you care (and you should).  Personally, I would suggest you open an account with one of the low cost providers. Then, with that new investment account, put your money into a target retirement account.  File your statements away and tend to it once a year.  (Make sure it is there, that you can access it, that nothing alarming is going on).  You certainly have enough to start an investment account.  If you want to get more into it, ask a phone adviser what you should open. Finally, before you start investing, make sure you follow the advice of radix07 and have no debt, saving the most you can for retirement. A rule of thumb is your money will double every 72 months. Congratulations, you are a saver.  Investing isn't for you as the risk of investing is in conflict with your desire to preserver you money. Open a savings account or high interest checking account with a credit union, online only or local community bank.  Shop around no the web for the highest interest.  Don't get your hopes up though, the highest rate you see (that doesn't have strings attached) won't be much here late summer of 2012.