Where to put $5,000 now

What would you do with a million bucks? That's easy. But what about five grand? With a handful of broad goals in mind, here are Money Magazine's picks.

Goal: Retiring rich
Best retirement moves at any time:
Up your 401(k) contribution
This is the best move, and yes, you've heard this all before, but it's still true.

As a way to build money for retirement, nothing comes close to a 401(k). Saving by payroll deduction is painless and ensures that you make regular contributions.

You get a tax break on what you put in, and the money grows tax-free until you withdraw it when you reach retirement.

Best of all, your employer probably matches your contributions, typically 50 cents on the dollar (on up to 6 percent of your salary) - for an immediate 50 percent return on investment.

$7,500 in a 401(k) today equals $34,957 in 20 years (assuming an 8 percent annual return).
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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.