text: i have some money which i would like to invest. what is the safest? currently i have in bank cd earning 5.5%? i do not want to take more than "low"  risk. very minimal risk is ok. i am not familiar with mutual funds. i do not need this money for few years.  i would be happy if i earn 10%/year on investment but it has to be safe. please advise. 10% *safe* investments don't exist! in general the more risk you take the better the performance *might* be.  that said the best you can do is a mix.  suppose you have 1000 dollars.  put 800 into cds. one can get about 4%/year on those. so in five years the 800 dollars will grow to 1000 dollars. this guarantees your capital. put the other 200 dollars into a stock index fund, or better buy an index tracker. after five years this investment will have made *on average*  7%/year. it could be much less, or much more, this is the joker part of your investment. in practice you will have something between 150 and 350 dollars.  so after five years the 1000 dollar will have grown into something between 1150 and 1350 dollars.     if you want more risk, change the 80-20 mix to 60-40 or 50-50. your capital is no longer guaranteed, but your chances to gain more increase.