I have put together a list of investment vehicles that offer safety and liquidity during current market conditions. The following savings tips are easy to implement and can help hedge your current portfolio against risk. The benefits of having cash reserves on hand, like many poker players do, opens up special investments not offered to everyone which offer higher return with less risk. While all investments have risk, the following will help you sleep better at night if you are one to worry about what’s going on in today’s stock market.

Short-term Municipal Bonds: Municipal Bonds are considered extremely safe investments and really benefit those in high tax brackets. A muni bond earns you tax-free interest and at the same time helps with development of our states. This tax-free income makes the tax-equivalent gain between 5-10% for a muni bond. These high returns are really exceptional for such a safe and short-term investment. Muni Bonds are extremely easy to invest in and can usually be done quickly over the phone.

Promotional CD’s: A promotional Certificate of Deposit is when a reputable company offers a special rate on their 3-12 month CD’s. These CD’s are extremely safe and usually earn around a 3-4% return on investment. Even with smaller amounts you can usually get close to 3% return for as short as a 3 month term. Short-term CD’s are good for poker players who want a safe and liquid investment.

Institutional Money Market Funds: There are a lot of money market funds around but they usually offer very little interest. An institutional money market fund is a special fund for higher dollar amounts that offer a much higher return than ordinary money market funds. If you want to earn money on your cash but want safety and liquidity, an institutional money market will earn you higher return than many other similar liquid investments.

SEP IRA & Keogh Plans: These are both government sponsored retirement plans for the self-employed. The both operate like a traditional IRA but have much higher limits of up to $40k for a SEP IRA and $46K for a Keogh plan. These plans accumulate tax free over the years and are funded pre-tax. This can put you in a lower tax bracket for a given year while saving you tax dollars at the same time.

Annuities: An annuity is another type of retirement plan that operates closely to a traditional IRA. With an annuity you pay a little more for some protection against downturns in the market. This makes an annuity a good choice for those who want to invest in the stock market and want their money safe.

The investments outlined above can be utilized by almost everyone and offer a great stepping stone to the route of serious investing. If you have never invested money into the market before, using a safe and liquid investment can get you used to the things like compounding interest and how investing works. I talk to people all the time about investments and research the markets everyday for ways to protect and earn money. Remember, all investments have some type of risk attached to them, so you need to figure out what your short and long-term investment objectives are when constructing your portfolio.


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