What are some good 1 year investment options at the moment?

Question

I'm looking to invest about $5000 for 12 months. What investments have the greatest advantages right now? I heard municipal bonds may be a good idea? What should I consider in looking at investment options?

I'm open to stocks, bonds, cds, money markets...anything that is not too high risk and has a good return at the moment.

Thank you!

Answer 1

With a 12 month holding period, anything with any market risk at all is an unsuitable investment.  This means stock, bonds or mutual funds.  Your best bet is to find the highest yielding 12 month CD from an FDIC insured institution.  That way your principal and interest are guaranteed.

Answer 2

Buy GOLD!!! Its the only investment that is win-win. With the weak dollar right now, gold is near its all-time high, but economies like China's and India's are starting to wake up. China has recently eased restrictions on its citizens ability to own personal property. They are buying all major commodities at increasing rates. The average median income is up and the Chinese people are starting to get a taste of the American way of life. And they like it. Go check out Larry Edelson's page and see what he has to say. He is predicting gold to go to $2200 an ounce in the next year or so. Buy on the dips and you can't go wrong. But check it out for yourself. Of course you can wait and see if the idiots at the Federal Reserve raise interest rates. I doubt they will, because they're idiots. One move upward and all this oil speculation business would be a moot point. The speculators would pull their money so fast, oil would go into free fall. You'd see an overnight drop of $35 per barrell. And all other commodities will follow. So if you time it right, you can get a great deal and hopefully get in around the mid $800 range or better. But it will certainly go up dramatically after things shake out. Hope this helps. Check out Larry though, he won't steer you wrong. The guys a genius.

Answer 3

Of course, it all depends on your risk tolerance and how much you NEED the money at the end of 12 months.

I'm a big advocate of value investing in the stock market (finding great companies to invest in, buying them at the right price, and only selling when they become overvalued...).  I personally think this is the best approach to reducing your investment risks while giving you the opportunity to achieve significant returns over time.

Value investing takes discipline and a longer time horizon to make sure you can take advantage of the opportunities that arise.

If, however, your time horizon is very specific and you want your risk to be very low (which means that your potential upside will also be reduced), then there are other options, such as bonds and CDs.

Of course, even though the stock market is down for the year (which makes a lot of people skiddish...), it also means that there are some GREAT opportunities to purchase really great companies at a big discount.

Even if you don't choose to pursue a value investing approach for your short-term investment goals, I still think value investing is a great thing for independent investors to learn about and make part of their overall investment strategy.

Hope this helps, and good luck!!

Answer 4

Stocks, mutual funds  ----  Remember the "bubble" of March 2000 which is when it burst.  The dow took until the Fall of 2007 to reach that March 2000 level, and here it is 8 years and 3 months later and the Nasdaq is still only 1/2 the level it was.  For such a short time span as 1 year, stick with CDs, or muni bonds with a maturity in one year.

Answer 5

CDs are good and less risky investment option. Also Mutual funds are good too. You can invest in the stock market if you know how, but the risk is higher. I recommend you a 1 year CD. Visit the link below for a list of high yield CDs.

http://bankrate.com/brm/rate/high_rateho...