• Bonds: Bonds are a type of investment where the investor loans money to a corporation or government. Bonds have a predetermined repayment date and a fixed interest rate.

• Government Securities: This low-risk security is a type of bond issued by a government entity; the government will repay when the bond matures.

• Treasury Bills: Also known as T-bills, these can be sold for terms lasting up to 52 weeks. When the bills mature, the investor will receive their face value, regardless of how much she paid initially.

• Treasury Notes: A treasury note is a government-issued, fixed-interest security. Investors can buy treasury notes with either competitive or noncompetitive bids, and the notes have a maturity time of one to ten years.

• Common Stock: This type of security gives an ownership share of a corporation to the investor. Common stock holders can participate in corporate governance by voting.

• Educational IRA: This form of IRA serves as a savings plan for college and other higher education; when a child is under 18, guardians can make nondeductible contributions, and when funds are withdrawn for education, the withdrawal is not taxed.

• Traditional IRA: Traditional IRAs are used to save for retirement funds. A person can make tax-deductible contributions, and the traditional IRA funds will not be taxed until distribution.

• Roth IRA: Another way to save for retirement, Roth IRAs have the benefit of tax-free withdrawals. They must be funded with already-taxed income.

• SEP IRA: A “simplified employee pension individual retirement arrangement” is an IRA that business owners can use to save for and give retirement benefits to all employees of the business (as well as for the owners themselves).

• Simple IRA: Another option for people employing others or themselves, employees with this kind of IRA can contribute wages to it before the wages are taxed

If you aren’t already familiar with the basics of a 401(k) plan, it is an employer-created entity to which employees can make salary-reducing contributions. Employers must then make either matching or “non-elective” contributions. Earnings within a 401(k) are tax-deferred.

401(k) plans are popular as they afford a number of different investment options and are relatively low-cost to maintain. Contribution limits can also grow over time

• Variable annuities are a mechanism allowing investment in smaller “subaccounts,” including bonds and stocks.

• This kind of annuity contract lets an investor gather tax-deferred capital. It is different from a fixed annuity because it does not guarantee interest rates or minimum payments. Instead, since variable annuities allow investors to invest in equities and bonds, they can therefore possibly generate higher returns than fixed annuities.

• The possible risk of variable annuities is that subaccounts may not generate higher returns than fixed annuities may guarantee. The investor takes the chance of less capital accumulation under these circumstances.