Safest Place for Retirement Money

By Brent Meyer — SafeMoney.com Founder & Editor Reviewed by Licensed Financial Professionals  |  SafeMoney.com — Trusted Since 2011  |  Updated Regularly Quick Answer: The safest places to put your retirement money are fixed annuities, CDs, Treasury securities, U.S. Savings Bonds, money market accounts, and TIPS — low-risk options that provide guaranteed or near-guaranteed growth. Among these, fixed-type annuities typically offer the highest guaranteed interest rates. The 'safest' places to put your money are in low-risk investments and savings vehicles that provide guaranteed growth. These low-risk options include fixed annuities, CDs , Treasury securities, corporate bonds, savings accounts, and money market accounts. You usually get the highest interest rates with fixed-type annuities of this bunch. There are other fixed-type annuities that can give higher growth potential than guaranteed-rate annuities, if that is something that appeals to you. Retirement can be an uncertain stage in life. Markets go up and down , inflation rises and falls, and no one knows how long their retirement might last . You can explore options to grow your retirement savings with guaranteed interest earnings and then turn those funds into predictable income streams for retirement. In this article, we will look at some of the more popular low-risk places to put your retirement money — and what each of those options can involve. What Does "Safe" Mean for Retirement Money? In this context, safety refers to financial products that let your money grow without much risk of loss. The relationship between risk and return potential applies here. In exchange for reduced risk, these investment and savings options tend to have lower growth potential than you would have with stocks, mutual funds, and other similar instruments. That being said, these low-risk options let you keep more of what you have over time. Your money also grows at a compounding rate. Some "safe" places pay higher interest rates than others. For example, various fixed-type annuities will usually have higher rates than the other options discussed here. Low-Risk Investment Alternatives for Your Retirement There are several options that you can choose from when it comes to investing your money safely. Here is a list of the main types of investment and savings options that have little to no market risk. Fixed Annuities Fixed annuities guarantee both your interest and your principal . They have low ri