Just say no to mutual funds. ACK
I'm not a fan of most advisors because they just peel off some of your potential gain (still get $ in losing years too) and get paid by the amount of assets under management, most of the time. n Most every "investment advisor" never beats the market over the long term, especially after their fee is deducted. Just do it yourself and don't get emotional if the market takes a hit.
12K... buy 200 shares of SPLG and sell covered calls against it. SPLG is a low fee SP500 index that is around $60/share right now. With the proceeds from the covered call, buy more shares or QQQ (nasdaq100) shares.
With whatever you can do monthly buy qqq until you get 100 shares and start selling a call against it. Not sure if there is a low cost alternative to QQQ that has options.
If you have access to a 401k/IRA that allows stock/etf choice go in that too. A roth IRA is good for after tax investments if you have the funds available.
The old wall street selling a bill of goods that "It's only a loss if you sell" is not true. Your account balance says otherwise. It's only a loss when you sell is in regards to tax reporting. If you buy something for $10 and it's now worth $1, do you have a loss... of course you do. It's just not recognized under certain circumstances.