Advise on savings?

Okay so I want to know whether I made the right move or is there anything else I can do to improve my current situation.

I have $5000 in a savings account. with very little interest rate.

I have about $4000 in form of unit trust which i bought when the price per unit was a bit high and its now lower which means i risk losing my money. and the interest paid to me is about 16 percent per year (excluding the service charge of 5.5 %)

And I have about $2000 in form of bonds.

I plan to venture into the stock market but im still learning on how to do so. I just turned 18 and those money comes from my allowance and summer jobs. I have a part time job at the moment and I make about $600 per months and my parents still give me allowance.

What can I do to make the money grow more? Should I keep saving in the form of unit trust?

I have a feeling Im not saving enough after i came across huge numbers here in Answers.

actually, you are doing well for a person who just turned 18 and who appears to be handling your own financial decisions. how you invest you money depends on both your long-term and short term goals. do you plan on further education? it is generally one of the very best investments you can make. it increases your earning potential and enriches your life. if you are planning on college or some other near term major purchase, the $ you have in savings is fine. if you aren't planning on such a purchase, you probably have a bit too much in savings. the common thinking is that a person your age can stand the risk, hence the potential for higher earnings on investment, of the riskier stock market. why not purchase a thousand dollars of stock? mix of blue chip and lesser known stock---maybe in a company whose products you personally use and like. you can learn the stock market in purchasing and tracking your own investments. makes for very vivid learning experience. i don't know what unit trust you have, but the 16% return seems fine in this day and age. the 5.5% service charge is probably standard, but why not look at some no-load mutual funds. after college, i'd look to make some sort of real estate investment: a home, or maybe a rental property. the big word for investments is diversification. don't put all your eggs in one basket. you are making an excellent decision to start to save and invest at your age. the "huge numbers" you allude to are probably possessed by people quite a bit older than you, but who began to accumulate their savings just as you are doing now. are you investing a certain percentage of your income each month? sounds like you probably are still in high school and living at home with minimal expenses for now. so more money to tuck away in investments. but even after you leave home and money becomes tighter, keep adding to your pile with by making regular, even if small, contributions to your investment choices.

With the markets being as rough as they are currently, it may be a great time to snatch up some deals on stocks if you have any interest in the market. If that seems too risque, perhaps you should look into speaking to your local bank and create a mutual fund portfolio. Either way, a high interest savings account is the safest way to have your money grow, but it is also the slowest and your returns are minimal.

Whatever you do, don't put any one large amount into any one type of savings. Diversify. How about CDs? Does your bank have independent financial advisors? They usually offer their services for free and can pool you into funds with other savers for better rates. Consumer Reports does good articles on investments - maybe you could borrow them from your library and see what they have to say? Good Luck - it's wonderful to begin investing at a young age. Great move.

Forex

http://yarcofin.wordpress.com

Open an acct with a discount broker like Schwab, Janus, I prefer Fidelity. You can keep all your stocks, cash, bonds in one acct and also get a debit card and checkbook to use with it. You can go to their web sites and check them out, then call them if you need help. They all have on line tools to help you plan if you want.
Most likely you'll do something like put $2,000 in a money market acct where you can get at it any time you want. That can be the beginning of your emergency fund for when you need to buy something or loose your job. $5,000 in a mixed mutual fund for long term growth. Then, grow the emergency fund till it's 6-18 mos. living expenses while steadily depositing into the long term fund.
Buying into a mutual fund is like hiring a professional to buy stocks for you. Buying individual stocks on your own is a very, very bad idea.