Unfortunately in order for him to make any kind of investment that will make a difference there is a huge learning curve, and his learning resources need to be devoted elsewhere. Like aeronautical engineering and German.
When he’s is a little older and a couple of years into his career his learning curve will diminish and he can then decide if investing is still interesting. At that point he should invest in companies he understands and enjoys being involved with, like aeronautical engineering for instance.
Until then just slap the money in a CD a hold out a little for pizza.
If he really feels the need for something a little spicier now, take a look at Ultra Pro Shares (derivative based ETFs, double or double inverse sectors and indexes), or Everbank has some CDs based on FX or metals.
Investing is a wonderful hobby but damn he’s got a lot on his plate already.
My father got me started on Dividend Re-Investment Plans (DRIPs). Pick a company and contact them directly. You can invest minor amounts ($200 or so), they automatically re-invest any dividends into the account, and you can add even smaller amounts at any time ($25 or so). I started with PG and a few hundred dollars. When I left college, I had a pretty good down payment on a car.
This was over 20 years ago, so things may have changed a little. A quick google search on DRIP does show they are still an active investment option.
If he’s interested potentially in finance, what I recommend is that he buys whatever the minimum lot size in something he likes. I would also recommend buying again the minimum no load mutual fund that mirrors the S&P or the Dow. It will force him to start paying attention to the market, economics, interpretation of events and effect on the market, etc. A lot of stock market stuff seems counter-intuitive until you really start to understand the game. The whole "buy on rumor, sell on fact’ type effect. It’s a variation of the Economics 1 class stock picking homework theme, but much better results.
a year later he’s going to have a much better idea of where to invest the rest of his money (if he has any after going to college).
Don’t know nuffin’ bout no stocks, but what’s going to happen to him in Germany on his sophomore year?
I mean, I’d agree that flexibility is good, but I’m curious as to why his heading to Germany (of all places) might be a concern. Presumably he’ll have a functional knowledge of German before he goes there, as he sounds like a pretty responsible and organised sort of guy. Is there any specific concern about this?