Investing

When you buy a bond, you’re essentially lending money to an entity. Generally, this is a business or a government entity. Companies issue corporate bonds, whereas local governments issue municipal bonds. The U.S. Treasury issues Treasury bonds, notes and bills, all of which are debt instruments that investors buy.
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A mutual fund is a pool of many investors’ money that is invested broadly in a number of companies. Mutual funds can be actively managed or passively managed. An actively managed fund has a fund manager who picks securities in which to put investors’ money. Fund managers often try to beat a designated market index by choosing investments that will outperform such an index.
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Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are similar to mutual funds in that they are a collection of investments that tracks a market index. Unlike mutual funds, which are purchased through a fund company, shares of ETFs are bought and sold on the stock markets. Their price fluctuates throughout the trading day, whereas mutual funds’ value is simply the net asset value of your investments, which is calculated at the end of each trading session.
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A certificate of deposit (CD) is a very low-risk investment. You give a bank a certain amount of money for a predetermined amount of time. When that time period is over, you get your principal back, plus a predetermined amount of interest. The longer the loan period, the higher your interest rate.
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There are a number of types of retirement plans. Workplace retirement plans, sponsored by your employer, include 401(k) plans and 403(b) plans. If you don’t have access to a retirement plan, you could get an individual retirement plan (IRA), of either the traditional or Roth variety.
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An option is a somewhat more complicated way to buy a stock. When you buy an option, you’re purchasing the ability to buy or sell an asset at a certain price at a given time. There are two types of options: call options, for buying assets, and put options, for selling options. The risk of an option is that the stock will decrease in value. If the stock decreases from its initial price, you lose your money. Options are an advanced investing technique, and retail should exercise caution using them
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Annuities come in numerous varieties. They may last until death or only for a predetermined period of time. The may require periodic premium payments or just one up-front payment. They may be linked partially to the stock market or they may simply be an insurance policy with no direct link to the markets. Payments may be immediate or deferred to a specified date. They may be fixed or variable.
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There are four main types of commodities: Metals – this includes precious metals like gold and silver and industrial metals like copper Agricultural – this includes wheat, corn and soybeans; Livestock and meat – this includes pork bellies and feeder cattle; and Energy – this includes crude oil, petroleum products and natural gas
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