Is a Guaranteed Investment Certificate for You?

Apr 29
08:05

2011

Jennifer Nobles

Jennifer Nobles

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There are many investment options available for you today. Be smart with your money, and select the right one!

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Many people today are saving their money in High Interest Savings Account. However,Is a Guaranteed Investment Certificate for You? Articles smart people are investing their money in different vehicles as well. A wise decision would be to get in touch with a Financial Advisor and learn about different options. There are several factors that will decide which type of investment you should go with. For example, the amount of funds available to you, the duration for which you want to invest the money, and your own personal risk-tolerance are the leading factors. When talking about investment options, the three major fields of investment are Guaranteed Investment Certificate, Mutual Funds and Savings accounts.

Mutual Funds

In this type of investment, investments from many small investors (not always small though) are combined, which is then invested in other profitable investment schemes. Short-term money instruments, securities, bonds and stocks are typical forms of mutual funds. Due to the diversity of mutual funds, they are considered to be highly secure. A manager is appointed to the Mutual fund, who is then assigned the duty of maximizing the Interest Rates for the original investor’s money. The biggest advantage of mutual funds is that they allows you to invest a very small amount, as low as $25, to invest. Many people drop the idea of investing money because they think they need a large sum of money to begin with. Mutual funds are your way to go if you have only small amounts of cash at your disposal.

Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GIC)

This Canadian investment guarantees a certain return rate over a fixed duration. These are also low risk investments. However, you can also choose a market-growth GIC, the returns of which are linked directly to the stock market’s performance over the holding period. All GICs have a maximum return built in.

Savings Accounts

Savings accounts are basically for storing the extra money you have, so as to have a flexible way to access the money when you need it. Opening a savings account is not tough, and in many banks only $25 is needed to get one open. At any point of time, if you need the stored money, you can get it without any fee reduction. The biggest disadvantage of keeping your money in savings account is that it will attract little to no interest. The interest rates are not as high as mutual funds and Guaranteed Investment Certificates, but people feeling that they might need money in very short time can go with a savings account and know they will have immediate access to the money.