Spring has finally sprung. Well, almost. And to kick it off, we’ve once again picked out our favorite and most popular posts from LifeStyler and some other intriguing blogs and websites ’round the web for our March Monthly Mashup.

Investing can be an overwhelming and daunting task when you’re young and first starting out with your investments. But are young people today turned off by investing after seeing our parent’s nest eggs deteriorate in front of our eyes? Or do we live in a world so focused on the here and now, that planning for the distant future seems like a nonessential task.

Investing in your retirement has never been more important than it is now. With the current state of the economy, there’s not much of a reason to have faith that you’re social security payments will provide much stability to you in your golden years. With the rising costs of living and pretty much everything else, social security contributions can’t and won’t keep up with inflation, and what may barely pay your bills now certainly won’t pay them when you’re 65.

After speaking to various older coworkers and family members, I’ve come to the realization that it’s not only the younger generations that need a crash course in personal finance — many of the ones closing in on retirement need a refresher course too.

If you were lucky enough to have a job this holiday season, and even luckier to get a holiday bonus from the boss, then pat yourself on the back. Since funds are few and far between these days, that holiday bonus is even more precious. And precious things should be spent well — or shall we say invested well. We know it’s hard to not spend that cash, but hold out for another week or so when most of the shopping mania calms and the urge to spend dies down. And in the spirit of saving cash and building wealth, we’ve thrown together a few ideas on where to go and what to do to get the most out of your bonus this year.

We hope you guys are taking full advantage of the low in the stock market right now and buying up bargain stocks for your portfolio. But since stock purchasing can be quite the confusing mass of numbers and fees, we’ve decided to throw together a list of fees that you should watch out for — and some — to avoid when possible.

Last Sunday, as I was dutifully surfing the internet for You Tube videos to entertain myself with, I stumbled across an interview with the founders of Thrasher Funds, an investment fund targeted towards the young, trendy MTV crowd.