minimal risk? Or alternatively, a good investment with a risk worth making? I would consider stocks and shares if only I knew where to start with it...

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start here.......... bobbrinker.com and learn ...........go here for some safe alternatives. ... vanguard.com or ...... treasurydirect.gov for IBONDS


never mind, i see you are across the pond.

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I use to work at Franklin Templeton Investments… and I can tell you right off. Never trust a broker or any financial planner who gets a percentage of anything you buy or sell. For about $100 to $150 you can see a real financial planner who will help you figure out your tax base, where you are, where you want to go, and how long it will take you to get there. The Stock market is still flat since the fall in 2000. Nobody with “real” money is buying in the US stock market. All the movement you see is industry traders (Mutual Funds, Pension Funds, Bulk IRA’s that type of thing.)
The places to be right now are Canada and Australia companies that sell commodities. Why? Because China is buying raw materials like crazy and it would be unAmerican to sell to communist.
If you want safe money. Invest in loans. Again go International. And never settle for less than 12% on personal notes.
The US has been living on barrowed money for too long. Pretty soon they are going to have to start paying it back and if the average US citizen spends $1.07 for every $1.00 they make… Hard times are coming and coming fast.
One of the myths of the great depression is that it was caused by the stock market crash of 1929. That’s garbage. The stock market does not cause the economy to crash. The economy causes the stock market to crash. People (farmers) not able to pay real estate loans cause the stock market crash and the depression. And anyone who does not think it will happen again just does not know the fact. Sorry, but it’s true.

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There is not enough information to answer your question.

How much is a large lump sum?
What is a good investment?

The highest return is always the highest risk
The minimal risk is always the lowest return (Goverment Bonds get you 4% a year with minimum risk)

You can start by opening a brokerage account at ameritrade.com

Drop me a line if you need detailed information about investments in the stock market.

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There is no such highest return with minimal risk.

There are two things that you should ask:
(1) What is the highest return with certain-level of risk?
(2) What is the minimal risk to yield at least a target value of expected return?

There are a number of mathematic models for these kinds of question (e.g., Markovitz portfolio optimization).

Finally, it depends on how long that you would like to get the returns. Stock markets will give you higher returns on the average, but it takes longer.

Bond markets will give you some returns with minimal risk. Just be aware of the terms. Luckily, the short-term bonds (called bills) have the same yield of mid-term/long-term bond (called notes, and bonds) recently.

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