safe investments

Betting on companies that are both profitable and have a long history of increasing their dividend payments is as good an investment strategy as you'll find. These 10 fit that bill.

Talk about volatility: Since Oct. 1, there has been only one trading day where the market hasn't swung by at least 1% between its low and high points. This sort of market leads many investors to make big mistakes, but we have some time-tested tactics that will help you avoid the pitfalls.

A retiree named Bob is confronting a dilemma many of his peers face: His nest egg is parked in safe cash investments, like certificates of deposit, and earning barely any interest. What can he do to get a better return? Laura Rowley looks at an increasingly popular alternative.

A few years ago, with $1 million invested in CDs, you could have lived off your interest, but with rates at historic lows, now your returns would barely cover a few mortgage payments. This is forcing retirees to find new, fairly safe ways to get those returns. The experts' pick? Dividend stocks.

A tsunami of money -- $2 trillion within the next decade -- is flowing into target date funds, a type of retirement account that's supposed to make investing for our post-work years simple. But the way those funds are run isn't always in our best interest. Laura Rowley explains.

With all the volatility in the stock market today, some individual investors are wondering if they should be more active with a portion of their portfolio, or back away from equities entirely. But if you bail out of stocks, where can you find decent returns? DailyFinance's Laura Rowley talks with Stuart Ritter, financial planner with T. Rowe Price.

People nearing retirement now face a volatile stock market on the one hand and weak returns on their savings on the other. Fixed annuities offer a guaranteed stream of income, but there are downsides. Economist Brett Hammond of TIAA-CREF discusses how an annuity can fit into your portfolio, and some pitfalls to avoid.

It looks like Apple stock is one of the places skittish investors are moving money ahead of a potential U.S. debt default -- at least based on its share price. Apple's shares have risen 2% in the last week as the S&P has lost nearly 3% of its value.

The odds that the U.S. will default on its debt increase each day, and even if a short-term deal is reached, the ratings agencies may downgrade U.S. debt anyway. If that happens, turmoil could roil the markets. So where can the smart money flee for safety? 24/7 Wall St. offers 10 safe options.

The Treasury has to find buyers for trillions of dollars in new bonds needed to fund the federal deficit. It hopes average citizens will pony up and invest in some $337 billion worth. But for a host of reasons, "safe" T-bonds might not be a winning investment for you.