[Toneonymous]

just looking for advice on what to get or to do to have encrypted messaging whether it be IM or some other form of messaging

[Minimal.]

http://www.gpg4win.org/

You'll have to generate a key-pair, consisting of a public and a private key.
You will use other people's public key to encrypt the message you send them and they will use their private key to decrypt it.
PGP is used in various... Places, where encrypted messaging is very important, so that's definitely the way to go.

[chick3nman]

http://www.gpg4win.org/

You'll have to generate a key-pair, consisting of a public and a private key.
You will use other people's public key to encrypt the message you send them and they will use their private key to decrypt it.
PGP is used in various... Places, where encrypted messaging is very important, so that's definitely the way to go.

This is probably the best option. PGP encrypted emails are considered to be unbreakable if you use a key size of 4096. If you need help setting up or if you want to test it, my public key i available in my signature. Just email the embedded address when you load the key.