Looking for advice on how/where to invest.

I'm 38 with hardly any savings, a huge student loan debt, and less than $1k in credit cards. I just signed a 6-month contract job paying close to $1k a week (after taxes) for a company and wanted to start saving for the future. I hope to save as much as I can for these 6 months.

Was thinking of a Roth-IRA and a mutual fund? Any advice or opinions?

My main concern is paying taxes next year because my job is only 6 months and unsure what will happen when the year is up. That's why I decided on a Roth so it isn't tax-deferred.

Also, I plan to do heavily investing in the future, since I plan to start medical residency next year, so my potential salary would dramatically increase to build on these investments.

Thanks in advance.

I would want to have a healthy emergency fund before I started investing.

Is all of your student loan debt at a low rate?

If I were you I would take at least 40% of the gross from your contract job and stash it away in a savings account. You are almost certainly going to owe 15% (actually about 13%) FICA plus at least 20% federal income taxes on what you make. You will also likely owe state taxes.

The income taxes should be paid quarterly during the year as estimated tax payments. But since you have not made much and therefore not paid much in taxes last year (assumption on my part), you will likely escape penalties.

You should at least keep track of how much you are likely to owe in taxes so it is not a shock next April!