After earning money,

Thirteen-year-old Chelsea DeShetler works hard at baby-sitting to earn money. 

Now, she's looking for ways to make her money work hard for her. 

The seventh grader from Eureka has joined thousands of young people across the country who are turning to stock-market investing for help. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal says more young Americans own investments than another other generation of kids in history. 

Chelsea said, "At first, I made a bank out of a plastic jug and put my money in it. But, in the middle of my first year of baby-sitting, I had so much money I didn't want to keep it at home.

"I was afraid that I'd either lose it or spend it." 

First, she opened a savings account at her family's bank. Her baby-sitting earnings amounted to $300. But, she felt the interest the bank paid on her account was too low. 

About three months ago, her father, Steve DeShetler, contacted broker Jeff Risley of the Edward Jones Co. He showed Chelsea how to get started with a mutual fund investment. She needed only a small opening payment.

In her first month, her mutual fund grew by $23. That's nearly four times as much as the bank interest for a full year. 

Then, in August, her investment plan got a really big boost. Her grandmother in Florida gave her $10,000 invested in another mutual fund. That's to be kept for her college education. 

Also, her father agreed to put $25 a month into Chelsea's own mutual fund.

Chelsea is now starting to gather information about how the stock market works. She's got a three-ring binder to keep reports on her mutual funds. She also collect and studies other information about investing. 

She knows her mutual fund investment can go down if the stock market gets weak. But, she's sure she'll be ahead by keeping her money invested for the long term. 

Chelsea doesn't plan to touch her money for several years. "I'm saving for when I get older. It's for college, a car or maybe a house," she said. When she goes to college, she wants to study to be an orthodontist.

This year, Chelsea is taking part in program at LaSalle Springs Middle School in the Rockwood district that will teach her more about money. 

The "dream dollar" program lets students earn play money for doing good things in class and around the school. Each student has a "savings account" where the play money is deposited. 

At the end of the year, the school holds a festival where students can use their "savings" to buy tickets for games, food and other activities. 

Chelsea wants "to be the person who keeps track of the 'dream dollar' accounts,"  That will give her a way to learn more about money and practice her math. "I've got a 98 in math so far," she said.

Lots of financial companies are taking note of young people like Chelsea. Young people control more money than their parents did when they were young. For many companies, that looks like a chance to do business. 

The big brokerage house, Merrill Lynch and Co. has 200 financial consultants visiting schools with videos and comic books to teach about investing. More than 700,000 students participate in an investment competition called Stock Market Game. 

Chelsea is having success in her first try at investing. She's about to get some good luck in her future baby-sitting efforts. 

When she started baby-sitting, her family lived in south St. Louis County. Her best customer was a family with four pre-school kids who lived next door. Then, Chelsea's family moved more than 20 miles away to Eureka.

However, she continued to baby-sit for the other family. She did full-day baby-sitting two days a week during the summer. 

"They're sweet kids. I really love them," she said. 

Just recently, Chelsea found out that family is also moving west. They'll soon be very close to where Chelsea lives. She'll have only a short trip for future baby-sitting jobs.