The Low Risk Game: How to Invest Without Risking It All

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Once upon a time, the investing game might have been reserved for the professionals. Now, and the internet is to thank partly for this, this isn’t necessarily the case.

Due to all of the information that is published out there, the so-called Average Joe is having more luck than ever before when it comes to investing. Placing their money in a bank is no longer really an option, slightly riskier strategies are available which prompt significantly higher rewards.

Of course, there are occasions you don’t want to go “too risky”. This is the purpose of today’s post, and we will now look at several strategies which don’t have huge amounts of risk attached to them, but do have the potential for decent payoffs.

Turning to CFDs

This first option is all about trading CFDs. Short for contract for difference, this is about taking advantage of price movements but without owning the initial asset. There’s no ownership of stock, and it simply takes place through a contract with a broker.

The big benefit here is that there can be low margin requirements. While the exact figure is going to depend on your broker, it can be as low as 3%. Suffice to say, this means that you are going to be risking much less capital – and for the reasoning behind this article it makes this strategy very tempting.

Opting for dividend-paying stock

In truth, stocks and shares can be a bit of a minefield, and you have to do your own research (or at least find someone who knows what they are doing) to get truly involved.

If you can opt for a stock that is paying a dividend yield you are of course doubling your potential output avenues. Firstly, if they do happen to make a profit, you can reap the dividend. Then, following this profit, there’s every chance that their share price has increased as well resulting in a capital gain for you.

Of course, you’ve got to find stocks that do pay dividends, while this yield should be higher than what the bank gives you to make it worthwhile.

The new kid on the block: peer-to-peer lending

One of the latest low risk strategies comes in the form of peer-to-peer lending. This is something that has hit the industry with a bang over recent years, as it effectively makes anyone a lender who desires to be.

The beauty for borrowers is that the interest rates are typically low, while for “lenders” you can get a decent return on your money.

Sure, there’s a chance that a borrower might default, but as your investment tends to be diversified over umpteen loans it means that this isn’t going to impact you significantly.

Paying off your mortgage early

Let’s conclude today’s article with something of a left-field suggestion. Sure, some of the options we have mulled over might be traditional strategies, but sometimes it is about looking closer to home.

Your mortgage is probably your principal outlay, but by paying this off early (as much as your lender allows) you can save thousands. Of course, this is “saving” and not necessarily earning money, but the fact that you can save tens of thousands should make this a tempting alternative investment.