The days of banking your money under your mattress are over. A smart investor no longer works hard for her money, but let's her money work for her. So how do you get the biggest bang for your buck, literally? It means stepping out onto the ledge and taking a risk.

Traditional savings accounts are the next step up from the mattress but are not going to provide you with a substantial yield and certainly will not make you rich overnight. However, such accounts do provide financial security because they are backed by the FDIC for up to $250,000 per person. So the question is do you want to play it safe and yield lower returns in a traditional savings account, or venture into the world of high yielding investments, thereby maximizing on your dollars?With over 682 million shares publicly traded every day from 63,000 companies worldwide, making the first move could be a little overwhelming. So here are some tips to get you started:

1) Don’t bite off more than you can chew – Never invest so much money that if something were to happen, your other financial obligations would be at risk.2) Start off by saving small amounts - If you are serious about seeing long term growth, save $1 every day for the next year. This will create discipline for long term engagement and give you a more solid foundation to start investing.3) Don’t try to “time the market”- If you are new to investing, you’re more likely to be successful if you put your money towards something that will grow over time (15-20 years).4) Check out sites like ShareBuilder and E-trade – These companies have little to no deposit restrictions.5) Diversification - Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, but create a portfolio of a range of investments. In doing so you’ll reduce the risk of one investment hurting the return of your overall investments.Tune into the Michael S. Robinson Show this Saturday at 10am, November 16th. We will be discussing the topic of Investing Wisely in the Stock Market.