Beginner's Tactics for Investing - Young and Self-Employed

Step one: Pay off student loans
Step Two : Roth IRA with index funds
Step Three/Four: Self Employed Retirement Plan with index funds and rental property.

IRS LINK

Now that will be 2% of all future earning. TIA.

ETA: You'll get some solid advice from people with varying backgrounds in this thread. It's up to you to decide what is best for your circumstances.

I personally do not have any good feedback for the best vehicles to make use of if you are self employed. However I would suggest that you make sure you have your taxes and expenses in line before making a decision on your retirement investment vehicle.

Regarding retirement investing, if your income is expected to grow over the next few years, now might be the time to suggest opening a Roth IRA, and feeding money into it. If your income is at point perceived to only go down from here, you need to be looking at something such as a Traditional IRA. IRAs are a good way to take advantage of saving money on taxes, while also investing in yourself for your retirement years.

I suggest you make two lists. One list of expenses you wish to make over the next 5 years and beyond. Example:
1) Pay off student loans - $20k
2) Purchase a home - $200k
3) Pay for a wedding/honeymoon - $7500
4) Pay for child's tuition - $40k
5) Retire at the age of 60 - $500k

A second list of current expenses and a summary of how much you are spending per month. Example as follows:
1) Electricity/Water - $150
2) Cable/Internet - $150
3) Auto Insurance - $80
4) Grocery - $300

The first list will tell you what your goals are and allow you to come up with some ballpark figures for costs. The second list will tell you how much money you are spending relative to your income. You can then decide the best investment vehicles based on your goals. Short-term goals will require safe investments such as Savings Account or CDs. Long term investments such as retirement will direct you to put money into more risky investments such as stock mutual funds.

Do not blindly put money into something you are not sure about. At the same time, do not hesitate long enough to make your decision and suffer from opportunity costs.

Roth IRA-this is just an account with special tax privileges.
Vanguard index funds are what I would buy and put in it

If you are self employed with NO other employees, look at a solo 401k with fidelity or TD Ameritrade.

It allows you to put away 17500 as an employee and 20% of net profits after that. I think the limit is 52500 total.

If you have employees, SEP or SIMPLE may be worth a look.