11 Best Low-Risk Investments for 2024: Safest Investments With the Highest Returns

6. U.S. Savings Bonds & Corporate Bonds

When you purchase any kind of bond, you are loaning money to the entity you purchase it from for a predetermined amount of time and interest.

Bonds are considered safe and low risk because the only chance of not getting your money back is if the issuer defaults. U.S. saving bonds are bonds backed by the U.S. government, which makes them almost risk-free.

Governments issue bonds to raise money for projects and operations, and the same is true for corporations who issue bonds.

Corporate bonds are slightly more risky than government bonds because there’s more risk of a corporation defaulting on the loan. Unlike when you invest in a corporation by purchasing its stock, purchasing a corporate bond does not give you any ownership in that company.

An important note to remember is that a bond may only net you a 3% return on your money over multiple years. This means that when you take your money out of the bond, you’ll actually have less buying power than when you put it in because the rate of growth didn’t even keep up with the rate of inflation.