An estimated 1.6 million students will graduate from college this year. Just don t be surprised if they have one reaction to investing: Forget it.

Indeed, analysts worry the recent market turmoil is scaring an entire generation away from the stock market. Here s how to help new grads get over their (understandable) phobia.

Demystify the markets. In the Jump$tart Coalition s 2008 survey of college students, only 19 percent correctly identified stocks as the investment vehicle that tends to have the highest long-term growth. Many financial Web sites, SmartMoney.com included, offer bite-size investing tutorials.

Investopedia.com covers 60-plus topics, from Basic Financial Concepts to Option Spread Strategies. Book-wise, beyond the Benjamin Graham bible The Intelligent Investor (a Warren Buffett fave), planners recommend Richard Ferri s All About Asset Allocation.

Get discount advice. Some financial planners offer deals for young people.

Janice Swenor, a planner in Westminster, Mass., has a service she calls The Graduate, which includes a comprehensive plan on clients cash flow, credit and debt obligations, and retirement savings for between $550 and $750 more than half off the regular price. Find hourly planners like Swenor at www.garrettplanningnetwork.com.

Try peer counseling. Not all financial message boards are full of pump-and-dump stock hawkers. Planners recommend online communities like Bogleheads.org, where twentysomethings discuss such varied topics as asset allocation and the investment potential of managed timber. Prefer peer-to-peer advice in person? In a pioneering program at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, top financial-planning students give free advice to fellow students and community members.

Start early. Investing smarts can start before cap-and-gown time. The National Endowment for Financial Education has designed a free financial-literacy program for high school students, while Creative Wealth International runs Camp Millionaire programs for kids and teens.