[warrensway]

I recently came across a list of the top ranked financial websites for 18- to 34-year-olds for the year 2007. Hitwise, an Internet data tracker, listed Forbes.com as the top ranked destination followed by discount online brokerage ShareBuilder and Fidelity Investments’ 401k.com.

It would seem obvious that there are vast differences between the money management needs and interests of an 18-year-old versus a 34-year-old but I won’t argue that Forbes, which is associated with the similarly-named personal finance magazine, provides excellent editorial content and interactive tools. However, the website mostly targets high income earners so I can’t imagine too many college-age users falling in that category.

I understand why young investors would be drawn to ShareBuilder since account holders may purchase partial shares of stock, thus allowing new investors to try their hands at investing. As a Young Money advertiser ShareBuilder also markets special offers for young adults. However, the website is solely dedicated to investing which leaves out a lot of other important financial topics. The same criticism can be said for 401k.com.

So what are the best financial websites for 18- to 24-year-olds? Well, there really aren’t much to choose from. There’s Young Money which focuses mainly on careers, entrepreneurship, investing and credit and debt. I think we do a nice job with limited resources but our website could use more frequent content updates and better interactive financial tools for users.

There are other good financial websites geared for young adults such as the Wall Street Survivor stock market game (enter the promo YOUNG and get a 5,000 point bonus for signing up), and FastWeb.com, a scholarship search engine. Brass is another website worth checking out. But those sites are limited in the topics they cover. Unfortunately, most of the youth-oriented financial websites I found are actually targeted at young teens.

It’s hard for me to believe that there aren’t more quality sites targeting the college-age market. Are there some good financial websites I don’t know about? If so, please share the ones you recommend with our readers.

[jasaunders]

The Wall Street Journal is by far the best financial publication available, I would say regardless of age. The reading will be more difficult for younger people, but if you can learn to understand the WSJ, you're way ahead of the game.

[RLorenzen]

I second the Wall Street Journal. Also, the next best is Investor's Business Daily.

[warrensway]

fool.com is not bad either

[Jay Brass]

I definitely recommend brassmagazine.com. They have so many great things for a young entrepreneur. I'm gonna check out fool.com in a second as well.