High Risk, Moderate Risk and Low Risk Investments

For those looking to invest, you should know that many investments can be categorized as being high risk, moderate risk and low risk. Investing is not difficult, but you should always put lots of thought and planning into it. It is also extremely important to educate yourself about the many different investments available to you so you can find those that fit best with your specific situation and lifestyle. Here are some tips regarding the three categories of investing.

Low Risk Investments

While low risk investments are usually very low key and rarely are extremely glitzy or publicized, they do offer conservative investors a way to save money for the short or long term without the risk involved that you find in other forms of investing. Low risk investments usually pay the lowest yields, but are far less volatile than many other types of investments. Low risk investments include money market funds, certificate of deposits and some types of bonds. Low risk investments are perfect for those that want to make sure there money remains safe and secure. While low risk investments don't offer high returns, they do offer stability and security for those that can't afford to lose money or would just like to avoid as much risk as possible. Expect low risk investments to pay out yields of 1% to 5% annually.

Moderate Risk Investments

Moderate risk investments are perfect for those that are interested in investing for the long term and would like to earn moderate yields. Moderate risk investments are usually certain kinds of stocks, bonds and mutual funds that pay handsomely over the long term. While generally riskier than saving money in a bank, for those that are looking to invest for the long term, historically speaking you will grow your money quite nicely. Moderate risk investments usually use the power of compound interest and time to create a nest egg from 10 to 40 years with regular savings. For instance, saving 1K per year at an interest rate of 10% for 30 years can return close to 200K. Moderate risk investments usually return yields of 5% to 12%.

High Risk Investments

High risk investments are those investments that if you are lucky can return huge yields, however the downturn is that they can be extremely volatile and in many cases instead of getting rich off your investment, you find yourself losing some or all of it. High risk investments include penny stocks, international stocks, some types of Forex trades, etc. The sky is the limit for returns, but many high risk investments- if considered a winner should return yields that range from 10% to 30%++.