Portland Investing Dreams

[JT Goulet]

Good morning all, new to the forums and like the other millions have dreams for a comfortable retirement in a short 20 years.  

I've been listening to the pod casts and reading as time allows and the "rule of thumb" like the 1% theory just seem to be complete pipe dream in this area so I'm in an analysis/paralysis mode.  Currently i have $40K liquid for my first investment and am very hesitant to look out of state on my first venture.

Are there other options locally to at least dip my toe into the investment world or do i just keep socking money away and wait for the market to cool?