The thought of low risk investments makes many people feel comfortable about their money.
I remember the first time I stood at the top of the high dive at the rec center pool, I was a nervous wreck.
Until that moment, I never realized how afraid of heights I really was.
For many that have never invested before, they feel this same apprehensive feeling about where they place their money.
With the rising cost of living, it's imperative that we invest, whether that be investing $10000 or the best way to invest $100000 (preferably with the lowest risk possible) to generate high yield returns.
High rates of return on your investments are wonderful because it means you don't have to invest as much capital to reach your investing goals. Yet, the higher return you want, the more risk you'll have to accept.
As you get closer to retirement (or if you are managing investments for your high school senior's college fund), your appetite for risk drops precipitously. You simply cannot afford to see a huge drop in the market right before the time you need to begin withdrawing funds from the investment accounts. Though with this anticipation of investing, it really has never been as easy with such online brokerage accounts to help you know what is best for your financial situation, such as Betterment Investing, to help you take your next steps.
If you find yourself in this camp, you may need to shift a large portion of your portfolio to low risk investments – or even look for ways to earn a decent return with no risk at all. Low risk investments will generate a lower return because you aren't taking as much risk, but you might be okay with that at this point in your life. When you're nearing retirement, capital preservation is more important that astronomical growth rates. You need to know your account won't drop 25% in a year and severely impact your investing goals. Check out some of our great reviews to help you get a better grasp on what will meet your investment needs:
Best Low Risk Investments
When it comes to investing with a low appetite for risk, you will face a wide array of options – each of which can be confusing on their own. Here are a few of your best low risk investment options to consider for your portfolio – along with some ideas to earn cash with almost no risk at all.
1. Peer to Peer Lending
P2P Lending is a completely different type of investment, it is also one of our highly recommended short term investments as well. Instead of buying shares in a company (and its future profits) you are lending your money to someone else with the hope they will pay you back. If you screen your loans poorly, peer to peer lending can be extremely risky. However, screening properly and choosing only the best rated loans is a great way to secure a decent return with little risk on your part.
For example, one of the most popular peer to peer lending platforms, Lending Club, is averaging a default rate of just over 5%. If you screen your loans well and avoid some of these defaults, then you can earn some really nice returns.
Fortunately, peer to peer lending companies have worked to offer screening tools and portfolio settings for your investment gain. Instead of having to go through every single loan (which you can still do), their online tools allow you to target a certain rate of return and search only through loans that fit the bill. I have been investing in Lending Club and Prosper for several years and have had less than 3% default rate while getting a total annual return (after defaulted loans) of 8.33%.
What is even better is that you can invest as little as $25 in a loan to get started. So, if you want to avoid the bulk of potential risks – or simply spread it around – you can spread your investments out over hundreds of different loans if you want. I had one friend make a 5,000 dollar investment in Lending Club and was able to buy into 200 different loans. Now that is diversification!
If lending money on the internet sounds scary, you can rest assured it isn't. This is mainly due to the superiority of the company's collection process. Lending Club in particular has done a great job in setting up their collection practices in order to protect their investors. (Lend Academy did a great interview with LC's Head of Collections.)
Learn more about how I did with P2P lending in my review of LendingClub or Prosper or get started with Peer-to-Peer Lending with companies like Lending Club and Prosper. Depending on your appetite for risk and how much capital you have to invest, you could score some decent returns without the stress that comes with high risk investments.
2. Credit Card Rewards
The idea that credit card rewards could provide a low-risk return on your money might sound preposterous, but it's not that off the wall when you really think about it. By picking up a cash back credit card, you earn “points” that translate into real money. And in reality, the “rewards” you earn with some of the top cards are far more lucrative than anything you might earn with a Certificate of Deposit or online savings account.
Here's how these offers work:
Let's say you picked up a Chase Sapphire Preferred® card and put your regular spending on it to earn the signup bonus. Once you spent $4,000 on your card in 90 days, you would earn 50,000 points worth $500 in gift cards or cash back. If you spent that $4,000 on bills you would normally pay like groceries, daycare, or utilities, and paid your card off right away, this is the closest thing to “free money” you'll ever find!
Here are a few cash back offers that come with the lowest risk:
Chase Freedom® – The Chase Freedom® card offers $150 in free money after you spend just $500 on your card within 90 days. In addition to the signup bonus, you'll also earn 5x points on your first $1,500 spent in categories that rotate every quarter, plus 1x points on everything else. Redeem your point for statement credits or gift cards, or use them to shop directly on Amazon.com.
Chase Freedom Unlimited℠ – The Chase Freedom Unlimited℠ offers an alternative to the traditional Chase Freedom card. With this new card option, you'll earn an unlimited 1.5% cash back for every dollar you spend. In addition, you'll also get a $150 signup bonus after you spend just $500 on your new card within 90 days. If you don't like keeping track of rotating categories, this card is an excellent alternative. Best of all, there is no annual fee.
If you want to learn more about the easy money you can score with credit card rewards, check out our guide on the best cash back credit cards.
Very, Very Low Risk Investments
These investments are probably some of the most boring things you can do with your money, but if you are looking for the lowest possible risk, then this is where to go.
3. Certificates of Deposit
No matter how hard you look, you won't find an investment more boring than a Certificate of Deposit. If you're in the market for one of these low-risk investment vehicles, you can get one through your bank, credit union, or even through your investment broker.
With a Certificate of Deposit (CD), you deposit your money for a specific length of time in exchange for a guaranteed return on your money.
With a CD, you get a set interest rate for that period of time that will not change no matter what happens to interest rates. You are locked in until maturity of the term length, although you can usually choose to withdraw from the CD early for a penalty that is normally equal to 3 months' worth of interest.
As long as you get a certificate of deposit with an FDIC insured financial institution, you are guaranteed to get your principal back as long as your total deposits at that specific financial institution are less than $250,000. The government is guaranteeing you cannot have a loss, and the financial institution will give you some interest on top of that. How much interest you earn is dependent on the length of the CD term and the current interest rates when you purchase your CD. Interest rates are generally fairly low at the moment, but you can usually get more interest if you get a certificate of deposit for a period of at least 1-2 years.
4. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS)
The US Treasury has several types of bond investments for you to choose from.
One of the lowest risk is called Treasury Inflation Protection Securities, or TIPS. These bonds come with two methods of growth. The first is a fixed interest rate that doesn't change for the length of the bond. The second is built-in inflation protection that is guaranteed by the government. Whatever rate inflation grows during the time you hold the TIPS, your investment's value will rise with that inflation rate.
For example, you might invest in a TIPS today that only comes with a 0.35% interest rate. That's less than certificate of deposit rates and even basic online savings accounts. That isn't very enticing until you realize that, if inflation grows a 2% per year for the length of the bond, then your investment value will grow with that inflation and give you a much higher return on your investment.
TIPS can be purchased individually or you can invest in a mutual fund that, in turn, invests in a basket of TIPS. The latter option makes managing your investments easier while the former gives you the ability to pick and choose with specific TIPS you want.
5. Money Market Funds
A money market fund is a mutual fund created for people who don't want to lose any of the principal of their investment.
The fund also tries to pay out a little bit of interest as well to make parking your cash with the fund worthwhile. The fund's goal is to maintain a Net Asset Value (NAV) of $1 per share.
These funds aren't foolproof, but they do come with a strong pedigree in protecting the underlying value of your cash. It is possible for the NAV to drop below $1, but it is rare.
More from GFC, Below
6. Municipal Bonds
When a government at the state or local level needs to borrow money, they don't use a credit card. Instead, the government entity issues a municipal bond. These bonds, also known as munis, are excempt from Federal income tax, making them a smart investment for people who are trying to minimize their exposure to taxes. Most states and local municipalities also exempt income tax on these bonds, but talk to your accountant to make sure they are exempt in your specific state.
What makes municipal bonds so safe? Not only do you avoid income tax (which means a higher return compared to an equally risky investment that is taxed), but the likelihood of the borrower defaulting is very low. There have been some enormous municipality bankruptcies in recent years, but this is very rare. Governments can always raise taxes or issue new debt to pay off old debt, which makes holding a municipal bond a pretty safe bet.
7. US Savings Bonds
US Savings Bonds are similar to Treasury Inflation Protected Securities because they are also backed by the United States Federal government. The likelihood of default on this debt is microscopic which makes them a very stable investment.
There are two main types of US Savings Bonds: Series I and Series EE.
Series I bonds consist of two components: a fixed interest rate return and an adjustable inflation-linked return. They are somewhat similar to TIPS because they have the inflation adjustment as part of the total return. The fixed rate never changes, but the inflation return rate is adjusted every 6 months and can also be negative (which would bring your total return down, not up).
Series EE bonds just have a fixed rate of interest that is added to the bond automatically at the end of each month (so you don't have to worry about reinvesting for compounding purposes). Rates are very low right now, but there is an interesting facet to EE bonds: the Treasury guarantees the bond will double in value if held to maturity (which is 20 years). That equates to approximately a 3.5% return on your investment. If you don't hold to maturity you will only get the stated interest rate of the bond minus any early withdrawal fees. (Another bonus to look into: if you use EE bonds to pay for education, you might be able to exclude some or all of the interest earned from your taxes.)
8. Annuities
Annuities are a point of contention for some investors because shady financial advisors have over-promoted them to individuals where the annuity wasn't the right product for their financial goals. They don't have to be scary things; annuities can be a good option for certain investors who need help stabilizing their portfolio over a long period of time.
If you're in the market for an annuity, however, be aware of the risks and talk with a good financial advisor first. Annuities are complex financial instruments with lots of catches built into the contract. Before you sign on the dotted line, it's important to understand your annuity inside and out.
There are several types of annuities, but at the end of the day, purchasing an annuity is on par with making a trade with an insurance company. They're taking a lump sum of cash from you. In return, they are giving you a stated rate of guaranteed return. Sometimes that return is fixed (with a fixed annuity), sometimes that return is variable (with a variable annuity), and sometimes your return is dictated in part by how the stock market does and gives you downside protection (with an equity indexed annuity).
If you are getting a form of guaranteed return, your risk is a lot lower. Unlike the backing of the Federal government, your annuity is backed by the insurance company that holds it (and perhaps another company that further insurers the annuity company). Nonetheless, your money is typically going to be very safe in these complicated products.
9. Cash Value Life Insurance
Another controversial investment is cash value life insurance. This insurance not only pays out a death benefit to your beneficiaries when you die (like a term life insurance policy), but also allows you to accrue value with an investment portion in your payments. Whole life insurance and universal life insurance are both types of cash value life insurance.
While term life insurance is by far a cheaper option, it only covers your death. One of the best perks of using cash value life insurance is the accrued value can not only be borrowed against throughout your life, but isn't hit with income tax. While cash value life insurance isn't for everyone, it is a clever way to pass some value onto your heirs without either side being hit with income tax.
Some Middle Risk Investments to Consider
If you don't want to go “all in” on the riskiest class of assets, you can still generate higher returns by taking a few steps in that direction. Here are a few investments to consider to add a bit more risk to your portfolio.
10. Dividend Paying Stocks and Mutual Funds
One of the easiest ways to squeeze a bit more return out of your stock investments is simply to target stocks or mutual funds that have nice dividend payouts. If two stocks perform exactly the same over a given period of time, but one has no dividend and the other pays out 3% per year in dividends, then the latter stock would be a better choice.
Of course, picking individual stocks isn't easy (use some of the trading tools at Scottrade or E*TRADE to help you target dividend stocks) and comes with risk that the company may falter and take your investment down with it. A safer bet would be to invest money into a dividend stock mutual fund. With this type of mutual fund, the fund company targets stocks that pay nice dividends and does all of the work for you. You also get diversification so that one or two stocks can't tank your entire investment.
11. Preferred Stock
Adding on to the dividend stock theme is preferred stock. Preferred stock is a type of stock that companies issue that has both an equity (stock) portion and a debt portion (bond). In the hierarchy of payouts to forms of investments, preferred stock sits between bond payments (which come first) and common stock dividends (which come last).
Preferred stock are not traded nearly as heavily as common stock, but do have less risk than the common stock. It is just another way to own shares in a company while getting dividend payments.
Best No Risk Investments to Consider
Now that we've talked about some low risk and middle-of-the-road investments to consider, let's look at a few investments that come with absolutely no risk at all. While you may not earn a ton of interest with any of these options, you won't have to worry about losing a cent of your initial investment. And if you're nearing retirement or already there, that extra peace of mind might be worth it.
No Risk Investment #1: High Yield Savings Account
If you're looking for a risk-free way to earn some interest on your money, a high yield savings account might be your answer. With these accounts, you'll earn a nominal amount of interest just for keeping your money on deposit. Other than opening your account and depositing your money, this strategy requires almost no effort on your part, either.
The best high yield savings accounts offer competitive interest rates without charging any fees. When choosing an account, you'll also want to look for a bank with a good reputation for providing quality customer service, easy access and online account management, and easy deposits. If you're interested in my thoughts on which bank to go with, check out this post:
No Risk Investment #2: Online Checking Account
Just like high yield savings accounts, online checking accounts let you earn small amounts of interest on the money you deposit. If you're going to park your money in the bank anyway, you could surely appreciate earning some interest along the way. Best of all, many online checking accounts charge zero or minimal fees to get started.
When looking for an online checking account that actually lets you earn interest, look for a bank with excellent customer service, a user-friendly online interface, and competitive interest rates. If you want utmost flexibility, it's also important to seek out an account that doesn't impose account minimums or deposit requirements. And if you want to withdraw money frequently, you'll want to make sure you have access to local, no-fee ATMs as well.
If you want to learn more about our suggestions for the top online checking accounts, check out this post:
No Risk Investment #3: Bank Bonuses
If you have some extra money you won't need for a while, you can occasionally earn some free cash with a bank bonus. Most banks will offer a bonus as an incentive for you to sign up, and these bonuses can be worth several hundred dollars on their own.
Bank bonuses are sometimes regional, however, and can depend on the local banks in your area and the products they offer. I have seen Capital One offer bonuses worth $50 or more, and Chase Bank is almost always offering a $150 or $250 bonus for individuals who open a new checking or savings account.
In exchange for your bank bonus, you'll be asked to keep your money on deposit for anywhere from 6 to 18 months. In addition, you may have to set up direct deposit to your new account, or use a bank-issued debit card for a certain number of transactions within the first few months. Just remember to read through all the fine print to learn about any fees that might be levied and how you can avoid them.
By jumping through these hoops, you can usually earn a few hundred dollars for your efforts. Best of all, you won't have to worry about losing a single cent of your deposit. And if you decide not to keep the account for the long haul, you can always close it once you earn the bonus and meet all of the bank's requirements.
The Bottom Line
As you get closer to retirement, it's important to reduce your risk as much as possible. You don't want to start losing capital this late in the game; since you have many years of retirement ahead of you, you want to preserve your cash.
The best low risk investments can help you do just that. By letting you earn nominal amounts of interest on your money with little risk, you can help your nest egg keep up with inflation without losing your shirt. Just remember to read the fine print and educate yourself along the way. And if you're ever in doubt over an investment product or service, speak with a qualified financial advisor and ask as many questions as you can.
I’m a part time student. I work and save in bank without interest. Please can someone tell me where to invest around the world without risk or low risk. ( the website of the investment).
Hi Godwin – You might seriously look into high yield accounts with online banks, like Ally Bank. You can get 1% with no risk whatsoever.
Jeff,
Your website is excellent for those who has no much idea like me in investing money. Thank you very much. Clay
You’re welcome, Clay!
Jeff,
looked into P2P a while back. I think it was Lending Club. Seemed to me that you could not invest more that $25,000, or some limit like that. Or did it mean you could not invest more than $25,000 in a single loan, but that you could invest more through more loans. Can you help with this? What if I wanted to invest 50k, 100k? Is that possible with P2P? And I think some states were excluded, but not mine.
Hi Sen – That limit is a state law limit, not a Lending Club limit. This page from Lending Club says the following:
“Certain states have particular limitations on the amount that you may invest, but under no circumstances are you permitted to purchase Notes in excess of 10% of your net worth (exclusive of the value of your home, home furnishings, and automobile). Please see our State and Financial Suitability Policy for more details.”
So if you disclosed $250,000 in net worth, you’d be limited to $25,000 on Lending Club, or any other P2P platform in your state.
I am truly astounded to see cash value insurance on here. There couldn’t be a bigger rip-off. You fail to mention that you’ll pay a hefty interest rate on anything you borrow. You also fail to mention that cash value is lost upon payment of death benefit or visa versa. If life insurance is needed it’s ALWAYS better to pay the lower premiums of term and chose almost any of these other options.
Hi James – I said it’s controversial, and it’s not for everyone, but it does have a purpose. For people who need life insurance, but aren’t good at saving money (which describes millions of people!), cash value life insurance functions as a forced savings plan. Not the best vehicle, for all the reasons you’ve pointed out, but not entirely without use either.
I am so confused! I am a doctor who cannot get ahead of the interest on my education loans. The amount I owe is snowballing and it wakes me up at night in a cold sweat. I have very little money to invest at the end of the month but would like to do so with the goal of paying down/off my loans in large lump sum(s).
Where do I begin?
Hi Monica – Since you are earmarking savings to payoff debt, you should be as conservative as possible with your investments. CDs would probably be the best choice. You don’t want to have any risk of loss, since that would hurt your ability to use the money to payoff debt.
Jeff,
What’s the most i should be paying for a fee based account for asset management. I’m seeing all of these online options and a local person was telling me i would pay 1.75% to get my money managed-is that too high?
Hayes
@Brent I think it really depends if that is the “all in” cost. What I mean that is the advisor could be quoting you 1.75% as their advisory fee but that doesn’t include the cost of the actual investment holdings like as mutual funds or ETF’s which can drive up the cost even more.
Jeff,
Are you a broker yourself? None of my business but I am curious to ask this question. I am looking to invest with a handful maybe less of trusted individuals so that we could all capitalize equally and distribute the take when reached at a certain amount goal. What would be the best option to take here? I am looking to invest and have a generous return from the market in which I invest. The point of this is however, who or what or where do I (we) invest the funds in to seek back a return? For me personally I am looking to pay off some debt I have and invest in buying a home in the next 5 years.
I am currently 31 years of age and wished that I have done this years ago.
Hi Tim – You really need to sit down with that group of individuals and have a consensus as to where you want to invest. On in individual level with a five year time horizon, I’d probably go with an equal mix of peer-to-peer lending for higher return, and CDs for safety. But that’s just an opinion. I don’t know what your personal situation and risk tolerance are.
Hi Hayes – I’d say not more than 1% for a personal investment manager. But you can do a lot better than that. For example, Betterment will manage your account for as little as 0.15%.
Peer to Peer lending is the best utilization for your money if you are investor and best source of funding if you are Borrowers. It provides a platform where an investor can fund the borrowers without going through the traditional banking system.
Hey Jeff,
Thanks for sharing
I’m not sure if it was this episode or not but I have the same issue with wanting to jump head first into things. I need to do a better job with due diligence some times.
Frank
i think your main problem is that you are treating less than 5 years of good performance as your ‘EDGE’ while people can be lucky 5 years in a row.
Sometimes we have to concede that we are just not good enough active managers around.
@ Kyith I guess I’m not following you. Did I mention something about this in the podcast? I was sharing some of my bad investments not anything I made money on in the past 5 years.
Hi Jeff, there is a relation to why i reference 5 years. I listen to all your podcast not just here but at Todd Treissder and Entrepreneur on Fire and that i know you are pretty big on active management and peer to peer lending.
while highlighting caveats like this is extremely good, there is a concern that even for those more successful deals can originate because more of a luck factor (due to a rising tide) rather than the “EDGE”
by only doing it more than 5 years consistently gaining good result perhaps we can lay it down to competence.
the same for peer to peer as the better default result can be a manifestation of folks facing less problems. that could be rather different when another receission comes.
it will be good also to cover the different time cost required to gain a certain level of competency to consistently not make such problems.
Nice post and a helpful list. As I’m guessing that you might concur the message I convey to folks in or near retirement is that the biggest risk they face is not a loss from their investments its being too risk averse and running the risk of outliving their assets. I sure you noticed but TIPs funds really got slammed in Q2, a bit of an over reaction to the Fed, but none the less TIPs have done better over the past several years than the underlying economics of the instruments might suggest.
I too am interested in P2P lending. I guess I will have to get up off my butt and give it a chance vs. dragging my feet.
I didn’t know that there are as many low risk investments that can give high returns available before, I only knew mutual funds and money market funds and I don’t have any idea about the rest. Really helpful post, thanks Jeff!
I really need to start with P2P lending. It has just been tough for me to stop putting money into the stock market the last couple of years.
Good day sir,
I have been following your post for quite some time now and honestly speaking,am beginning to have a better understanding about the world of investment.
Sincerly speaking,am a newbie to the world of investment and I think that’s the reason I have made so many financial looses online.I realy want to ask “which Low risk investment would you recommend for some one like me with little capital” that grows steadily within a year or less?please do reply because I realy want to get out of the “rat race circle” Thanks alot
You mentioned steady growth within a year or less. The reality is that’s not how investing works. You can try to pick individual, undervalued stocks and sale when the price goes up, just beware of the risk involved and manage your account with any one of the many online broker site that were designed for such things. Aside from that, you should get in the habit of saving and not living beyond your means. If you’re not really saving now, start with what you can. $5 then turn it into $20 etc. Long term goals and then working backwards to put a plan in place to achieve those goals is the name of the game. It doesn’t happen in a year, it’s discipline and sound principles that stretch over the course of twenty, thirty years plus. Diversify and protect yourself along the way. Hope this helps.
US SAVINGS BONDS via http://www.TreasuryDirect.com
Sad to see the ease in purchasing a paper bond at local bank has been discontinued.
With the “intricacies” of having to purchase online via TreasuryDirect, move paper bonds to on-line account, I fear far too many grandparents gifting will eventually cease. Even the parents tend to shy away from using as is so complicated.
Should you pursue, ensure you read & I recommend print a copy of the 13 page instructions; even then all is not clear when multiple changes are being made. I must adminth The Wizard was of benefit in capturing the data.
However, if a wrong date of purchase is entered, Treasury Direct is not set up to detect this. Though it will detect if Bond # does not match the Type or Denomination. Interesting! If not identified at entry point, then might it be overlooked at time of “cashing in”? USE CAUTION WHEN ENTERING YOUR DATA.
I’m a big fan of P2P lending. So far this year, my net annualized return is over 15%. I’m really hoping I can maintain those numbers over the long term.
I have been looking at this as well, however, since I’m in Michigan, I can’t do it!
Jeff, I am glad you included p2p lending on this list as a middle risk investment (and thanks for linking to my article by the way). With Lending Club hitting $1 billion and becoming cash flow positive I don’t think it should be considered a high risk investment. I think it is the best risk/reward investment available today – one where double digit returns are quite possible.
@ Peter The more I dig into p2p lending the more I get excited about it. Especially considering the recent pull-back in the market. My Lending Club account has returned a consistent > 9% return since 2008. I’m also going to open an account with Prosper, too; just haven’t had the time.
For my clients that are more online savvy, I encourage them to at least look at and consider p2p lending as a part of their portfolio.
Just how volatile have the markets been the last two months? Would you be surprised to know that August and September 2011 rank amongst the top 5 most volatile periods in the last 50 years? I was. I knew things were bumpy but I didn’t realize they were Top 5 bumpy. Check out – http://blog.alphatheory.com/2011/10/capitalizing-on-the-random-walk.html.
Great article! just wanted to comment that its also a great idea to reallocate your investment portfolio during volatile times. Keep up the goof fight Jeff and Miranda!
Great post. Thinking long term is important, especially if you are dealing with a retirement account. Creating a long term plan that fits your risk is key.
Recent international political instability, it is very risky.
Its OK if you buy high but never sell low.
As always, good advice Miranda! I was hoping that I wouldn’t read anything in the article about trying to “time” the market, and I’m happy to see you’re one of the few that doesn’t try to go down that road.
I’m a strong believer in “market efficiency” a accept that virtually all bad news and good news available (either through research or statistical analysis) is already reflected in the current financial market.
Investing in healthy growth and value companies over the long haul along with the other suggestions you’ve offered, is the only realy “sure fire” way of getting through this volatile period.