In today's edition of "Ask a Fool," one of our senior banking analysts answers the question: "What investments should 20-somethings be making?" Analyst Anand Chokkavelu provides clear advice to pay down any high-yielding debt you may have first. Given a 20-something's long time horizon, he recommends being heavily invested in the stock market. There are a few ways to do this. One is to buy index-tracking exchange-traded funds, which are a low-stress way to be invested in "the market." The other is of course to buy individual stocks, which is our specialty here at The Motley Fool.

If you already have a nice core of index ETFs and want to diversify and grow with a few individual holdings, I suggest you read up on "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2012." We've compiled a special free report where you can uncover this pick today, and in it, our chief investment officer identifies his favorite company for the year. To access the report before the rest of the market catches on, click here -- it's absolutely free.