Safe Investing In A Recession. Do You Need To Accept Low Returns?

Safe investing is a hot topic in 2008. With markets in meltdown and recession upon us everyone is looking for safety rather than profits and returns. Are we doomed to poor returns in the recession just to improve the safety for our money?

There's lots of places to invest our money of course, traditionally with various levels of safety. The stock market, real estate, bonds, CDs, currencies and so on. However it seems that just about everything is down right now. Stocks, including some very solid large cap stocks, and particularly banks, are a disaster. Interest rates are at an all time low and mutual funds are not only showing negative returns but are even failing. And even high profile banks are failing completely.

It seems there isn't an asset class that hasn't been affected by the current economic meltdown. The money market is in total turmoil.

Many are putting their money into gold and other precious metals, however these also pay no return, or income, and as an asset class have their own volatility problems.

Safe investing is difficult at the best of times. It's a simple equation. More safety should attract less risk, but lower returns. More risk, and therefore the possibility of higher returns, is of course less safe.

It's the classic trade off between the safety of our money, and profits, or returns on our investments. And given the current situation should we just accept putting our money into bonds that pay us almost no return, in exchange for the safety of a guaranteed return of our capital, and a guaranteed return of fixed income that is exceptionally small?

Is that what safe investing has become in 2008? Are investors all so scared that we are running to anything that just guarantees the safety of our money regardless of the return? Are we willing to accept, at least in the short to medium term, that safe investing means that we forego returns? That we put our future on hold for - how long?

Here's an example of how many investors are fleeing to safe investing options right now. In the week of September 15th the yield on much in demand 3 month T bills went negative. Yes believe it or not, a yield below 0%. And even now yields are low, less than 1% even recently. But safe investors are snapping up investments like that just for the premium. The premium isn't the return, it's the safety.

Would it be possible that there could be some safe investing options in 2008? Lets look at one. Real estate.

You can't be serious I can hear you say. Real estate is a total mess right now. Foreclosures are through the roof. People living on the streets. Homes for sale on eBay starting at $1.

Put all that aside for a moment and imagine.

A real estate investment available right now. No money down. Finance provided for qualified investors. Turnkey, a nothing to do investment that provides to the investor a fully refurbished home, and a qualified tenant. A rental guarantee for the first 12 months. The investor receives an immediate 15% to 20% equity, and 100% ownership.

All backed by a respected US listed company with a solid background in real estate investing.

Available to credit investors, and also investors through their IRAs with a guarantee to double their IRA return.

Would it be possible that an investment like that could exist, and if so would you consider investing in real estate like that to be safe investing?

It exists, and it's certainly safe investing, even in 2008.

But where do you find it?

And would you like to find out more? Or are you happy with T bills at around 1% return?