There are a lot of ways to invest money — high-yield savings accounts, CDs, bonds, funds and stocks are all options. The best investment for you depends on your risk tolerance, timeline and other factors.
Saving Accounts
Like checking accounts, they're federally insured and are generally the simplest and safest place to keep cash in good times and bad. Other advantages of savings accounts include: Simple to open and maintain. Deposits are fully insured.
Value Stocks, Defensive stocks, Gold, Bonds, Commodities. Basically any asset that is less volatile than the market (S&P 500 as a benchmark).
Fixed Income and Treasurys
Treasurys are considered to be virtually risk-free because they're backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. Here's why they're valuable during market crashes: Low risk: Treasurys have minimal default risk, making them a reliable safe haven.
Selling all your stocks and hiding out in cash isn't a good long-term strategy for growing wealth, but many investors like the feeling of protection that cash provides in a recession or market downturn. Having some cash on hand is always a good idea, but it should be used strategically, rather than in a panic.
If you are a short-term investor, certificates of deposit (CDs) issued by banks and Treasury securities are a good bet. If you invest for a longer period, fixed or indexed annuities or even indexed universal life insurance products can provide better returns than Treasury bonds.
The S&P 500 took almost six years to fully recover from the crashes of 2000 (the dot-com bubble) and 2008 (the global financial crisis).
No, a stock market crash only indicates a fall in prices where a majority of investors face losses but do not completely lose all the money. The money is lost only when the positions are sold during or after the crash.
The Bottom Line
CDs are a comparatively safe investment. They can provide a stable income regardless of stock market conditions when they're managed properly. Always consider emergency money that you might need in the future when you're thinking of purchasing a CD or starting a CD ladder.
In a recession, it's smart to preserve your capital by investing in safer assets, such as bonds, particularly government bonds, which can perform well during economic downturns.
“While it can be tempting to withdraw all your funds from a bank and keep them at home, banks are typically more secure and offer protection against theft or loss. Plus, keeping money in a bank allows for easier access to funds if needed for emergency expenses or unexpected bills.”
Economist Claudia Sahm created a real-time indicator in 2019 that is used by many economists and. policymakers to identify whether the economy may be in a recession. The Sahm rule is triggered when the. three-month moving average of the unemployment rate increases by 0.5 percentage points or more.
A 2024 recession is generally seen as unlikely, but metrics that economics take seriously hint that a recession could occur, perhaps in 2025.
It lasted only eight months and was not particularly severe in terms of jobs lost, with payroll employment declining by less than 2 percent (compared with more than 6 percent during the Great Recession and nearly 15 percent during the pandemic recession).
The 1929 crash lasted until 1932, resulting in the Great Depression, a time in which stocks lost nearly 90% of their value. The Dow didn't recover its pre-crash value until November 1954.
The value of a 401(k) account, or any retirement account, always depends on how the account is invested. For many people who are still decades away from retirement, their portfolios will largely consist of stock-based funds, which may suffer declines during a recession or economic slowdown.
Treasuries are safe investments because they are backed by the “full faith and credit” of the US federal government. The US government has never defaulted on a debt obligation. One special category of treasury securities is Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS). TIPS interest rates are indexed to inflation.
Your 401(k) will make money or lose money based on the strength of the stocks and mutual funds in which you invest. Your balance is likely to drop when the market drops, depending on what funds you've chosen. Since investments are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
The reality is that stocks do have market risk, but even those of you close to retirement or retired should stay invested in stocks to some degree in order to benefit from the upside over time. If you're 65, you could have two decades or more of living ahead of you and you'll want that potential boost.