Bonds, Mutual Funds, Precious Metals, and More?
966356
1) government bonds are initially issued at a fixed price but then the price fluctuates with market conditions.  If you hold the bonds until maturity and the government does not default you will receive par value of the bonds.  Sometimes bonds are called ahead of maturity date, municiple bonds frequently are called when interest rates fall.  Yes it is possible to loose money, especially if the government defaults. Bonds can be purchased from stock brokers.  U S government bonds can be purchased directly from the U S government. \n\n2) you can purchase mutual funds directly from the mutual fund companies.  Most if not all have internet sites where you can download the appropriate forms.  Many can be purchased also through stock brokers.  Some are sold like stocks.  They are called closed end funds.  Index funds are also sold like stocks. They all have symbols.  PENNX is the symbol for Pennsyvania Fund. \n\n3)  There are several ways to purchase precious metals.  a) directly from a company that sells the metals b) through futures contracts which is a contract to purchase the metal at a future date. c) gold can be purchased like a stock through the index fund GLD.  d) indirectly through stock in a mining company. \n\nCommodities can be traded through futures contracts.  beef, pork, corn, wheat, soybeans, coffee, sugar, among others.
911944
Buy stock of GTL as many as you can.\nBelieve me, you will bathe in gold one day.
154278
You can buy jewellery or gold bars or go for something more like...Gold-linked bonds and structured notes\n \n>A number of the world's largest bullion dealers and investment banks issue gold linked bonds in various forms. Typically, these products provide investors with some combination of:\n1-Exposure to gold price fluctuations\n2-A yield\n3-Principal protection \n \nThis link has some good stuff you can check - I use it to track the troy ounce price every day to keep a watch for one client...\n\nYou can register to this web and access more on gold...talk to a investment advisor as well...their are other good commodities too...
109956
CD's and bank money markets would probably be the best thing for you.  They're safe and insured.  You wont loose your principle.
69896
If you want to play it really safe invest in Series I Savings bonds which should do well, even under the the conditions described. If you are willing to take a little more risk in exchange for the possibility of higher returns, also consider International bonds, gold, silver, and timber REITS, which should also do well under these conditions. (For example, buy shares of American Century International bond fund, Central fund of Canada, and Rayonier, and Plum Creek.
534694
Treasury bonds or any other guaranteed government bonds.  \n\nYou are going to find that "safe" investments do not earn a great deal of return.  But remember rule #1..never invest money you can't afford to lose.
661299
Buy a diversified series of HIGH QUALITY, LOW EXPENSE mutual funds. One good piece of advice is that especially when just starting out, owning individual stocks is just way too risky. In many cases, it's more akin to gambling than investing. So go with mutual funds, which are much more diversified, and therefore spread the risk among many, many more holdings. The key, of course, is buying quality. So make sure you hit ALL the asset classes, like Large cap stocks, small/mid cap stocks, international stocks, emerging markets stocks, government debt, corporate debt, hi-yield debt, foreign debt, emerging markets debt, real estate, commodities, and precious metals. That's 12 categories right there, so with $1200, you're talking about $100 each. This is called asset allocation, and it's a step beyond simple "diversification", which most idiots think is buying a hardware tech stock AND a software tech stock.\n\nAdd systematically on a monthly basis. That means make sure you put the same amount of money in every month, no matter what. Soon you won't even care what any of the markets are doing. They're up? Great! Some of my investments are worth more. They're down? Great! Now I'm buying quality investments at an "on sale" price.\n\nThen sit back and re-balance each year, back to your original percentages. Again, this is called asset allocation. It's is very important, perhaps the most important thing you can do with your money. The thinking being, what's BEEN hot is more than likely not going to STAY hot. All markets are cyclical. There's hundreds of years of data to back this up. Yet some people still think they can ride the next hot wave. They usually wind up begging on the street for beer money.\n\nNow, this sort of portfolio should average 8-12% per year, so just split the difference and say 10% on average. Will it do 10% EVERY year? Of course not. I'd be surprised if it EVER did EXACTLY 10%. That's an annual average. With that average, your money should double roughly every 7 years.\nSo, if you're starting with $1200 or so like I said in my example, then in 7 years , even if you added no more money, you should have about $2,400\nin 14 years you should have about $4,800\nin 21 years you should have about $9,600\nin 28 years you should have about $19,200\nin 35 years you should have about $38,400\nin 42 years you should have about $76,800\nin 49 years you should have about $153,600\nin 56 years you should have about $307,200\nin 63 years you should have about $614,400\nin 70 years you should have about $1,228,800!\n\nOf course, if you keep adding money in that $100 a month, you'll become a millionaire MUCH sooner. The key is discipline, and sticking in when markets are up OR down. Don't try to time the market--you'll NEVER get it right.\n\nBy the way, here's a handy formula:\n\n$100/month x 12% x 20 years = $100,000.\n\nSo if you need $300,000 in 20 years and have no idea how to get it, just save $300 a month and you're there. If you don't get 12%, you'll wind up with less naturally. But IF you still wind up with $250,000, I'd call that one hell of a failure.\n\nOh, and if you qualify on income limits (generally, if you're a single filer and make under $90,000/yr), and do this all in a Roth IRA? Then every penny will be 100% TAX-FREE. That's a deal that's too good to pass up. That's why I tell anyone who's under 30--if you make under $90,000, and therefore qualify to do a Roth, you'd be a fool not to. Just having the power of youth (and therefore time) on your side is such an advantage, to squander it would be such a waste!\n\nHope this helps!\n--J.
808701
your best option is to liquidate your physical holdings and place your proceeds into GLD,  an exchange traded gold trust, that holds the actual metal.  There is a management fee associated with the trust, currently 0.40% per years. But when you wish to convert gold to dollars, you just sell come of the shares.  A $10 fee is associated with both buying and selling the shares through an on line broker.
75596
FI, CO, SD, PP, MM, Basis, BW, APO, SEM, CRM are in demand in the US. Basically depends on where you are and how the local market is doing.
813248
1. stocks\n2. bonds\n3. rental properties\n4. mutual funds\n5. annuities\n6. CDs\n7. money market accounts (a form of mutual fund)\n8. homes\n9. resort properties\n10. collectibles--paintings, antiques, coins, stamps, comic books, baseball cards, etc.
996500
60% in real estate, 22% in SPDRs, 12% in a diversified monthly income fund, 6% in a resource fund. For fun you can dabble in forex (I recommend Hang Seng Bank), but not more than a couple of percent. It's ok to discuss your situation with an investment adviser, but DO NOT hand over control of your portfolio! You have to pilot your own ship.
1050268
Money, money, and money
1110499
You can day trade the ticker GLD, which is a gold-based EFT.  There's one other, Ishares Comex Gold or something like that, but I dont' know the ticker.\n\nGood luck, I hope you don't lose your money.  Commodities are notoriously unpredictable.
844260
It depends what you invest in. US t-bonds will give you about 5%, German bonds 8%, and Brazil 12.5% or so (no capital gains taxes in Brazil either!). Of course, as you can guess, though, the higher the reward, the higher the risk.
1156092
Here is a bunch of information on Global Securities. Scroll down the page to find what you need.  Hope this helps.
124520
Gold is a lousy speculative investment. Invest in a diversified portfolio of mutual funds over many years and don't worry about inflation.\n\nGold has increased in value at the rate of 1.47%/year since 1988. Gold is currently very near its high for the period . . . If you had bought it at its lowest point since 1988 you would have made over 100% as of today.\n\nIf you bought an S&P 500 fund at its lowest point since 1988, you would have made over 600% as of today . . .
197635
invest in a diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds for my retirement.