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Background:

I am 17 years old, finishing school and turning 18 in 3/4 years. I'm planning on going to college/university directly after school. I have a private Giro with ~1000€ (0.2% interest) and a savings account of which I will get full control of when I turn 18 (0.1% interest).

Now to the question:

I'm sick of the low interest rates, as they are way lower than the inflation (around 2% in the moment).
Some options I thought about:

I recently received an e-mail from my bank, proposing to invest in a building loan contract. But I'm not sure whether this is such a good idea. With today's interest level, it will most certainly pay off, as they can't really get any lower. But I'd rather like it to pay off earlier, to increase the money. Plus there will propably a fee for the conclusion (dt. Abschluss) of the contract. I sure want to buy my own property quite early in life, but I'm not sure if such a relatively small building loan contract will help with that.
Another option would be investing in index- or managed investment funds. I'd also like the idea of trading stocks, doing something more actively. But I'm not sure if I (who knows nearly nothing about stock trading) would be able to get a good/any profit.

All in all, I'm asking what to invest in as 17/18 year old (or in general investment strategies), and if the options above are good ideas.

I read the answers to this question, but the "invest in yourself" answer isn't really appliable, as I live in germany, and the costs for university/college are not that much (my parents will pay for (most of) the running costs).

p.s. It must neither have a minimum risk, nor low maintenance, but shouldn't be to high either.
I apologize if there may be some nonsense in the question, my knowledge in this field is limited, as is my english.

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    As mentioned in your link, your priority is to get a good education (academic or vocational) so that you can obtain a job (or business) that will provide for you and yours (future family?) for a lifetime. When time permits, become financially literate so that you have a better chance of investing wisely. Anecdotally, over 90% of wanna be get rich quick day traders blow out their account within one year so the odds are definitely against you. Given that you "know nearly nothing about stock trading" do you think that you even have that 10% chance of succeeding? Be patient grasshopper ;->)
    – Bob Baerker
    Jul 22, 2018 at 21:35

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For beginning investments, choose low management mutual funds with long term track records. Check out the advice of John Bogle.

Unless you become a full time investor, and your day job is to track and manage your investments, you will rarely beat the market average, and the management fees on a managed fund will eat you alive - you pay those whether or not you actually make any money.

Ironically, John Bogle's advice also applies to sophisticated investors. More than one newly promoted fund manager has commented that following his plan saved their fund (not to mention their job).

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  • Would you recommend index funds, too? For example the TecDAX. And do you mean books with "advice of John Bogle", or general statements of him?
    – user35734
    Jul 22, 2018 at 19:25
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    In order, "yes" and "yes" . A "index" fund describes the strategy of choosing a set of companies that the fund manager believes represent a sector of the economy and investing in those. Mutual fund describes the strategy of pooling the funds of many investors to reduce the cost of fund management . My preferred investment instruments are index mutual funds, with a spread between large cap, small cap, mid cap, and international funds.
    – pojo-guy
    Jul 22, 2018 at 19:47
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    You might find some useful infos on index funds on this site: finanzwesir.com/specials/etf-fonds-passiv-geld-anlegen (in german)
    – deflomu
    Jul 31, 2018 at 11:42

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