Your investment portfolio should also have companies that grow consistently and offer stability against adverse market conditions.

So which stocks should you invest in?

Enter bluechip companies.

Bluechip companies are well established and financially sound companies with stable growth. Though bluechip stocks can often be expensive, they are low-risk investments. These companies have zero or low debt and are resilient to economic downturns.

Such stocks can be a part of any investor’s portfolio, whether beginner or experienced.

Here are the top 5 bluechip growth stocks in the market right now. We have shortlisted them using the Equitymaster Stock Screener.

#1 Bandhan Bank

Bandhan Bank is the first bluechip growth stock on our list.

The bank is India's youngest universal bank that aims to reach out to the unbanked and under-banked segments of the population.

It benefits from the huge untapped microcredit space in India as it already has an established track record in the microfinance industry.

It also has a wide presence across India in metro, urban, semi-urban and rural areas, with over 5, outlets serving 23 m customers.

The bank recently completed its merger with GRUH Finance, the erstwhile housing finance subsidiary of HDFC, to expand its scope to housing finance activities.

In the last three years, the bank’s net interest income and net profit has grown at a CAGR of % and %, respectively.

This was mainly driven by growth in micro advances to emerging entrepreneurs and decreased cost of funds. The company has also maintained a net profit margin of around 24%.

Going forward, Bandhan Bank is concentrating on improving its asset quality mix by growing the share of individual loans and bringing down the share of group microfinance loans.

For the September quarter, the bank reported a marginal increase in revenue at ₹ bn. However, the company reported a net loss of ₹30 bn for the quarter on account of higher provisions.

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#2 Bajaj Finance

Next on our list is Bajaj Finance, one of the largest and diversified deposit-taking non-banking financial services companies (NBFC-D) in India.

The company is a subsidiary of Bajaj Finserv and is primarily engaged in lending. The company also accepts public and corporate deposits and offers a variety of financial services products.

It has two wholly-owned subsidiaries, namely Bajaj Housing Finance and Bajaj Financial Services, through which it has branched out into the housing loans and stockbroking business.

Bajaj Finance's net interest income and net profit has grown at a CAGR of % and % in the last three years. An increase in loans and advances has driven its profitability.

The company’s three-year average net profit margin stands at %, and three-year average dividend payout is at %.

Going forward, through the launch of digital platforms, the company is building a digital ecosystem of five apps. This will enable a seamless shopping experience for the customers and also improve the operational efficiency of the business.

In its recent quarterly results, Bajaj Finance’s operating income grew % YoY driven by strong rural growth. Net profit also grew % YoY.

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#3 PI Industries

PI Industries is the third company on our stocks list.

The company is a leading player in the agrochemicals space and has a diversified portfolio of products. It also has a strong presence in the domestic and international markets.

The company has five formulation facilities and 14 multipurpose manufacturing plants across four locations. PI Industries also has over patents in its name.

PI Industries revenue has grown at a healthy pace at about % CAGR for the past three years while net profit has grown at a CAGR of %.

Going forward, strong growth in exports and a healthy order book will drive the company’s revenue and profit in the medium term.

In July , PI Industries acquired a stake in Ind-Swift Laboratories to purchase its active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) business. With this acquisition, the company has diversified into the pharmaceutical space.

In the latest quarterly results, PI Industries reported a 17% YoY increase in revenue at ₹ bn. Net profit grew by % YoY.

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#4 Divis Laboratories

Divis Laboratories, a pharmaceutical company, is fourth on our list.

The company primarily manufactures active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), intermediates and nutraceutical ingredients.

It has a presence in over 95 countries with a diversified product portfolio of products spread across various therapeutic areas.

Divis Laboratories is ranked one among the top three API manufacturers globally and is one of the top API companies in India.

In the last three years, the company's revenue and net profit has grown at a CAGR of % and %, respectively. Growth in volumes and cost efficiency initiatives taken by the company have led to higher profits.

In , Divi Laboratories is planning a capex of ₹ bn in Kakinada to expand the capacity of its generics business. This will be operational in the financial year It also stands to benefit from the growth of the global pharma industry in the medium term.

In the recent quarterly results, the company's revenue and profit grew by % and % YoY, respectively. The growth in revenue and profit resulted from the capex initiatives the company took in the last two years.

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#5 HDFC

The last company on our list is a pioneer in housing finance in India - Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC).

The company is one of India's major housing finance companies and has an established presence in the mortgage finance market.

It also has a presence in banking, insurance, and asset management through its subsidiaries HDFC Bank, HDFC Life Insurance, and HDFC Asset Management.

HDFC has an established track record of operations, healthy asset quality, well-defined risk management procedures and strict underwriting standards.

In the last three years, the company’s net interest income and net profit has grown at a CAGR of % and %, respectively. Revenue growth was driven by higher demand for housing loans.

Going forward, a strong demand for housing loans is expected to drive the company’s net margins in the medium term.

For the September quarter, HDFC reported a % YoY increase in revenue. Net profit rose marginally by 3%.

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Why are bluechip stocks a good investment?

Bluechip stocks have a long-standing track record of growth and profitability.

They are diversified businesses that sell high-quality products and services. These companies also have the ability to bounce back strong from any adverse conditions.

However, since they are mature companies, their growth rate may not be as high as smallcap and midcap companies.

Nevertheless, bluechip stocks are low-risk investments, and any investor, beginner or experienced, can consider including them in their portfolio for a long-term horizon.

By doing so, you need not worry about timing the market. You just need to be patient enough for the stocks to create wealth for you.

Before you consider investing in any stock, it is important to check the fundamentals and valuations of the business.

Happy Investing!

Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only. It is not a stock recommendation and should not be treated as such.

(This article is syndicated from www.oldyorkcellars.com)

You should only consider making an investment if:

• You’re willing and able to accept a level of investment risk and won’t need the money for at least 5 years. With investing, there’s no guarantee of making money and you could get back less than you invest.
• You’ve saved a supply of cash that you can access easily for emergencies – a good rule of thumb is to have around months of expenditure.
• You want the chance to grow your money more than you could with cash.

You can also read around the subject. We've covered what we think you need to know, from investing essentials, to understanding how to manage behaviours to make the right decisions.

Learn more about investing

Investing in individual companies isn't right for everyone – it's higher risk as your investment is dependent on the fate of that company. If a company fails, you risk losing your whole investment. You should make sure you understand the companies you're investing in, their specific risks, and make sure any shares you own are held as part of a diversified portfolio.

You don’t have to time the market “just right” to make your money work for you. You just have to know the best stocks to profit from big trends over a few months or years down the road.

That works even better when you own the best stocks.

And that's exactly what we have for you today - a list of the best stocks to buy now for

These stocks are curated from our experts here at Money Morning. They are some of the best stocks from the hottest sectors in the market, including tech, electric vehicles, artificial intelligence, and even a stock that pays you 11% returns just to own it.

Whether your New Year's resolution is to start investing in stocks or you’re simply looking for the stocks with the most potential, we're confident you'll find a great stock to add to your portfolio today.

In fact, the first stock on our list has the potential to more than double from today's prices

The Best Tech Stock to Buy Now

The metaverse has become a household name overnight after Facebook changed its name to Meta this year.

While the metaverse hype is real – this could be the future of the Internet – Meta is hardly the best play on the trend.

The best metaverse stock, and thus one of the best stocks for , is Marvell Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MRVL).

Marvell makes the infrastructure that makes something like the metaverse possible. It builds high-speed data centers, specialty chips, digital security, and networked “hyperscale” storage.

In short, this company makes the next phase of the tech industry’s growth possible, including the metaverse.

You see, for the metaverse to function, an unfathomable amount of data needs to be sent nearly instantaneously across networks.

That makes Marvell a “must own stock right now” according to Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Shah Gilani.

But even more exciting are Marvell’s financials.

During its last earnings call, the company revealed its data center business has grown % year over year. And it isn't stopping there. Marvell predicts both its data center business and 5G business will continue growing by double digits.

Now it's expecting revenue of $ billion in , blasting through analyst predictions.

The Best Dividend Stock to Buy Now for

Many investors make the mistake of assuming dividend paying stocks are conservative, slow-growing investments.

The reality is investors who owned dividend stocks made a 10% annual return on their money between and The overall market returned an annual gain of just % in the same time frame.

And while there's no bad time to invest in dividend stocks, this is an especially good time to lock in a solid yield.

You see, with inflation rising, investors fear the Fed could hike rates and put a lid on the market's growth. But some industries are inflation resistant. In fact, rising prices could be a good thing for some sectors, like commodities.

That's why Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Shah Gilani's best stock to buy here is Rio Tinto Ltd. (NYSE: RIO).

It's one of the biggest and most profitable mining companies in the world.

Rio Tinto is deeply undervalued according to Shah. It's trading 40% below its week high and sports a bottom barrel price/earnings ratio of

Shah says this stock is going to do gangbusters as the global economy gets back into gear. A little inflation won't hurt it either.

But the reason it makes our best stocks to buy list is that it pays a gargantuan dividend yield of %.

Best Cannabis Stock to Buy Now

Cannabis investing has gone mainstream. But the good news is it's still very early in the sector's growth.

That's why one of the best stocks to buy is a cannabis company.

Twenty-two states have legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes, while 18 have legalized marijuana for all uses, including recreational uses.

That means the size of this industry has room to more than double on state legalization alone. Never mind the growth some brands will see as they claim market share or as Americans turn to cannabis to replace expensive prescription medication or alcohol.

Simply put, this is going to be one of the fastest growing sectors in the market for years to come.

But to get the most profit potential out of this growth, investors need to get in now. The best way to do that is to target Florida.

Florida will be the fourth largest legal cannabis market in the United States by That makes it worth $2 billion a year in sales. And it hasn't even legalized marijuana for recreational use yet.

By owning multi-state operating companies building a foundation here, you'll get a double pop from Florida's legalization and the rest of the country legalizing cannabis.

The best stock to do that is Curaleaf Holdings Inc. (OTC: CURLF).

Curaleaf already operates 37 stores in Florida and plans to open 23 more by the end of next year. Even better, it operates stores across the entire country and is taking over European operations too.

Cannabis investing expert Danny Brody says Curaleaf belongs as the "centerpiece in everyone's cannabis portfolio." With that sort of praise, it's no wonder the National Institute for Cannabis Investors expects this stock to soar % higher.

The Best EV Stock to Buy Now

You're going to have a hard time finding a more exciting sector than electric vehicles (EV).

After Tesla Inc.'s (NASDAQ: TSLA) 1,% runup since the start of , investors are salivating at the opportunity to get in early on the next big EV stock.

For good reason too.

The electric car industry is expected to explode by %, from $ billion last year to $ trillion by , according to Fortune Business Insights. It's rare to see industry growth like that.

It's also why a list of car makers is lined up trying to cash in on this trend.

You've got legacy carmakers like Ford committing to make half their vehicles electric by the end of the decade, including launching an all-electric F, its flagship vehicle, this year. Plus, a line of startups from Lucid to Nio to Rivian all competing to own the EV space.

You can invest in these companies and hope they scoop up a big chunk of market share in a fast-growing sector.

But what makes our pick the best stock to buy here is that it's not trying to compete with Ford or Tesla - it makes money alongside the whole sector.

Shah's best stock play here is Beam Global (NASDAQ: BEEM).

Beam makes the infrastructure for EV charging. It does it all, too. It owns the patents for EV charging stations, it engineers them from the ground up, and it manufactures them.

It's a one-stop shop for making sure EV drivers have a place to charge up, which is going to be a huge demand as more and more cars go electric.

Beam is also innovating here too.

It just made the world's first transportable, solar-powered EV charging station that can charge up to 12 cars. That's the perfect solution to adding charging stations to existing infrastructure, like parking lots, stadiums, and hotels.

But the main reason Shah loves the stock is it has decades of growth ahead of it. It's a small company with $ million in revenue last year, but that makes it a true ground-floor opportunity.

The company is expected to double revenue this year, then double it again next year.

The Best Stock to Buy Now

The tech sector is where some of the most explosive stocks on the market are found. When looking for the best stocks in tech, you can't settle for middling returns or a company content with its market share. You want a transformational company.

That's why our best tech stock is Nvidia.

You see, Nvidia is more than a semiconductor business, though it is one of the best. And that's a $ billion industry by itself.

Nvidia's chips are powering everything from cryptocurrencies to driverless cars to artificial intelligence. These are some of the most exciting sectors for growth.

Take driverless cars, for example.

Nvidia has more employees working on driverless cars than Alphabet's Waymo, an actual driverless car project. There's a good reason for that too.

As more and more companies race to develop autonomous vehicles, they'll need powerful computers to make them work. Nvidia's DRIVE Orin chip is essentially a supercomputer on a chip, made for driving technology.

That's the sort of exciting tech business we're looking for, but it's one of the best stocks to buy because it's been red-hot lately too.

After its June stock split, the share price has driven 25% higher. But that's nothing compared to what Money Morning Defense and Tech Specialist Michael Robinson predicts. His conservative prediction is that Nvidia will see 30% annual growth, which means it could double its earnings in two years.

If its price/earnings ratio stays constant, that means a potential % profit for investors who buy now.

Learning how to invest begins with learning how to invest in stocks. Historically, the return on equity investments has outpaced many other assets, making them a powerful tool for those looking to grow their wealth. Our guide will help you understand how to kick-start your investing journey by learning how to buy stocks.

Different Ways to Invest in Stocks

There is more than one way to invest in stocks. You can opt for any one of the following approaches or use all three. How you buy stocks depends on your investment goals and how actively involved you’d like to be in managing your portfolio.

• Invest in individual stocks. If you enjoy research and reading about markets and companies, investing in individual stocks would be a good way to start investing in stocks. Even if the share prices of some companies seem pretty high, you can look at buying fractional shares if you’re just starting out and have only a modest amount of money.
• Invest in stock ETFs. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) buy many individual stocks to track an underlying index. When you invest in an ETF, it’s like buying stocks from a very broad selection of companies that are in the same sector or comprise a stock index, like the S&P ETF shares trade on exchanges like stocks, but they provide greater diversification than owning an individual stock.
• Invest in stock mutual funds.Mutual funds share certain similarities with ETFs, but there are important differences. Actively managed mutual funds have managers that pick different stocks in an attempt to beat a benchmark index. When you buy shares of a stock mutual fund, your profits come from dividends, interest income and capital gains. Lower-cost index funds are mutual funds that work more like ETFs.

Keep in mind that there’s no right or wrong way to invest in stocks. Finding the best combination of individual stocks, ETFs and mutual funds might take some trial and error while you’re learning to invest and building your portfolio.

Choose How to Invest in Stocks

There are a variety of accounts and platforms that you can use to buy stocks. You can buy stocks yourself via an online brokerage, or you can hire a financial advisor or a robo-advisor to buy them for you. The best method will be the one that aligns with how much effort and guidance you’d like to invest in the process of managing your investments.

• Open a brokerage account. If you have a basic understanding of investing, you can open an online brokerage account and buy stocks. A brokerage account puts you in the driver’s seat when it comes to choosing and purchasing stocks.
• Hire a financial advisor. If you would prefer to have more advice and guidance for buying stocks and other financial goals, consider hiring a financial advisor. A financial advisor helps you specify your financial goals and then purchases and manages your investments for you, including buying stocks. Financial advisors charge fees, which can be a flat annual fee, a per-trade fee or a percentage of the assets they manage.
• Choose a robo-advisor.Robo-advisors are a simple, very inexpensive way to invest in stocks. Most robo-advisors invest your money in different portfolios of ETFs, and they buy the assets and manage the portfolio for you. They are generally less expensive than financial advisors, but you seldom have the benefit of a live human to answer questions and guide your choices.
• Use a direct stock purchase plan. If you’d prefer to invest just a few stocks, many blue-chip companies offer plans that make it possible to purchase their stock directly. Many programs offer commission-free trades, but they may require other fees when you sell or transfer your shares.

Keep in mind that no matter the method you choose to invest in stocks, you’ll most likely pay fees at some point to buy or sell stocks, or for account management. Pay attention to fees and expense ratios on both mutual funds and ETFs. Don’t be shy about asking for a fee schedule or chatting with a customer service representative at an online brokerage or robo-advisor to advise you on fees you might incur as a customer.

Accounts to Invest in Stocks

There are a variety of different account types that let you buy stocks. The options outlined above offer some or all of these different investment accounts, although some retirement accounts are only available via your employer.

• Retirement accounts: The two most common types of retirement accounts are (k)s and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). The former are only available from an employer, while anyone can open an IRA at an online brokerage or a robo-advisor. These accounts often offer tax advantages that incentivize you to save for retirement, but they also come with annual contribution limits. Other retirement account types include (b)s, SEP-IRAs and solo (k)s.
• Taxable investment accounts. The retirement accounts outlined above generally get some form of special tax treatment for your investments and have contribution limits. Proceeds from stock investments made in taxable investment accounts are treated as regular income, with no special tax treatment. Plus, there are no contribution limits.
• Education savings accounts: If you’re saving money for qualified education purposes, education savings plans allow you to invest in stocks, generally through mutual funds and target-date portfolios. These accounts include plans and Coverdell Education Savings Accounts.

Depending on how hands-on you’ve chosen to be with investing in stocks, you’ll either set up your investment accounts through a broker (online or through your financial advisor), through your bank (for Coverdell ESAs), or through your employer (for employer-sponsored plans).

How to Fund Your Account

If you plan on buying stocks via a retirement account like an IRA, you might want to establish a monthly recurring deposit. For example, the contribution limit for an IRA is $6, for anyone below age 50, and $7, for anyone 50 or older. If your goal is to max out your contribution for the year, you might set a recurring deposit of $ per month to meet that max limit.

If you’re buying stock through an employer-sponsored retirement plan like a (k), you’ll need to indicate what percentage of your pay or a flat dollar amount you want to be deducted from each paycheck.

For all other types of investment accounts, establish clear investing goals and then decide how much of your monthly budget you want to invest in stocks. You can choose to move funds into your account manually or set up recurring deposits to keep your stock investment goals on track.

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you set your investment budget and fund your account:

• Mutual fund purchase minimums. Many stock mutual funds have minimum initial purchase amounts. Be sure to research different options—Morningstar is a great resource—to find ones with zero or low minimums to start investing in stocks as soon as possible.
• Trading commissions. If your brokerage account charges a trading commission, you might want to consider building up your balance to purchase shares—especially individual stocks—until the commission only represents a small fraction of your dollars invested.
• Mutual fund fees: When buying a stock mutual fund, be sure to review what the “load” is on the shares you’re purchasing. Some mutual funds have an upfront or back-end sales charge—the so-called load—that’s assessed when you buy or sell shares. While not all mutual funds have loads, knowing before you buy can help you avoid unexpected fees.

Start Investing in Stocks

Select the individual stocks, ETFs or mutual funds that align with your investment preferences and start investing. If you’ve chosen to work with a robo-advisor, the system will invest your desired amount into a pre-planned portfolio that matches your goals. If you go with a financial advisor, they will buy stocks or funds for you after discussing with you.

Upon successful execution of your order, the securities will be in your account and you’ll begin enjoying the rewards of the stock market. And yes, your funds will reap dividends and experience losses as the economy changes, but for the long-term, you’ll be taking part in the sector of investments that have helped investors grow their wealth for over a century.

As you make your initial stock purchases, consider enrolling in a dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP). Reinvestment plans take the dividends you earn from individual stocks, mutual funds or ETFs, and automatically buys more shares of the funds or stocks you own. You may end up owning fractional shares, but that will keep more of your money working and less sitting in cash.

Set Up a Portfolio Review Schedule

Once you’ve started building up a portfolio of stocks, you’ll want to establish a schedule to check in on your investments and rebalance them if need be.

Rebalancing helps ensure your portfolio stays balanced with a mix of stocks that are appropriate for your risk tolerance and financial goals. Market swings can unbalance your asset mix, so regular check-ins can help you make incremental trades to keep your portfolio in order.

There’s no need to check in on your portfolio daily, so a monthly or quarterly schedule is a good cadence. As you review your portfolio, remember that the goal is to buy low and sell high. Investing in stocks is a long-term effort. You’ll experience inevitable swings as the economy goes through its usual cycles.

You should only consider making an investment if:

• You’re willing and able to accept a level of investment risk and won’t need the money for at least 5 years, what are some stocks to invest in today. With investing, there’s no guarantee of making money and you could get back less than you invest.
• You’ve saved a supply of cash that you can access easily for emergencies – a good rule of thumb is to have around months of expenditure.
• You how to start investing money in the stock market the chance to grow your money more than you could with cash.

You can also read around the subject. We've covered what we think you need to know, from investing essentials, to understanding how to manage behaviours to make the right decisions.

Learn more about investing

Investing in individual companies isn't right for everyone – it's higher risk as your investment is dependent on the fate of that company. If a company fails, you risk losing your whole investment. You should make sure you understand the companies you're investing in, their specific risks, and make sure any shares you own are held as part of a diversified portfolio.

One of the best ways to secure your financial future is to invest, and one of the best ways to invest is over the long term. It may have been tempting over the past few years to deviate from a long-term approach and chase quick returns. But with the market&#x;s current high valuations, it&#x;s more important than ever to focus on investing for the long haul while sticking to your game plan.

Investors today have many ways to invest their money and can choose what are some stocks to invest in today level of risk that they&#x;re willing to take to meet their needs. You can opt for very safe options such as a certificate of deposit (CD) or dial up the risk &#x; and the potential return! &#x; with investments such as stocks, mutual funds or ETFs.

Or you can do a little of everything, diversifying so that you have a portfolio that tends to do well in almost any investment environment.

The best long-term investments in March

1. Growth stocks
2. Stock funds
3. Bond funds
4. Dividend stocks
5. Value stocks
6. Target-date funds
7. Real estate
8. Small-cap stocks
9. Robo-advisor portfolio
10. Roth IRA

Overview: Top long-term investments in March

1. Growth stocks

In the world of stock investing, growth stocks are the Ferraris. They promise high growth and along with it, high investment returns. Growth stocks are often tech companies, but they don&#x;t have to be. They generally plow all their profits back into the business, so they rarely pay out a dividend, at least not until their growth slows.

Growth stocks can be risky because often investors will pay a lot for the stock relative to the company&#x;s earnings. So when a bear market or a recession arrives, these stocks can lose a lot of value very quickly. It&#x;s like their sudden popularity disappears in an instant. However, growth stocks have been some of the best performers over time.

If you&#x;re going to buy individual growth stocks, you&#x;ll want to analyze the company carefully, and that can take a lot non stock investment options time. And because of the volatility in growth stocks, you&#x;ll want to have a high risk tolerance or commit to holding the stocks for at least three to five years.

Risk/reward: Growth stocks are among the riskier segments of the market because investors are willing to pay a lot for them. So when tough times arrive, these stocks can plummet. That said, the world&#x;s biggest companies &#x; the Alphabets, the Amazons &#x; have been high-growth companies, so the reward is potentially limitless if you can find the right company.

2. Stock funds

If you&#x;re not quite up for spending the time and effort analyzing individual stocks, then a stock fund &#x; either an ETF or a mutual fund &#x; can be a great option. If you buy a broadly diversified fund &#x; such as an S&P index fund or a Nasdaq index fund &#x; you&#x;re going to get many high-growth stocks as well as many others. But you&#x;ll have a diversified and safer set of companies than if you own just a few individual stocks.

A stock fund is an excellent choice for an investor who wants to be more aggressive by using stocks but doesn&#x;t have the time or desire to make investing a full-time hobby. And by buying a stock fund, you&#x;ll get the weighted average return of all the companies in the fund, so the fund will generally be less volatile than if you had held just a few stocks.

If you buy a fund that&#x;s not broadly diversified &#x; for example, a fund based on one industry &#x; be aware that your fund will be less diversified than one based on a broad index such as the S&P So if you purchased a fund based on the automotive industry, it may have a lot of exposure to oil prices. If oil prices rise, then it&#x;s likely that many of the stocks in the fund could take a hit.

Risk/reward: A stock fund is less risky than buying individual positions and less work, too. But it can still move quite a bit in any given year, perhaps losing as much as 30 percent or even gaining 30 percent in some of its more extreme years.

That said, a stock fund is going to be less work to own and follow than individual stocks, but because you own more companies &#x; and not all what are some stocks to invest in today them are going to excel in any given year &#x; your returns should be more stable. With a stock fund you&#x;ll also have plenty of potential upside. Here are some of the best index funds.

3. Bond funds

A bond fund &#x; either as a mutual fund or ETF &#x; contains many bonds from a variety of issuers. Bond funds are typically categorized by the type of bond in the fund &#x; the bond&#x;s duration, its riskiness, the issuer (corporate, municipality or federal government) and other factors. So if you&#x;re looking for a bond fund, there&#x;s a variety of fund choices to meet your needs.

When a company or government issues a bond, it agrees to pay the bond&#x;s owner a set amount of interest annually. At the end of the bond&#x;s term, the issuer repays the principal amount of the bond, and the bond is redeemed.

A bond can be one of the safer investments, and bonds become even safer as part of a fund. Because a fund might own hundreds of bond types, across many different issuers, it diversifies its holdings and lessens the impact on the portfolio of any one bond defaulting.

Risk/reward: While bonds can fluctuate, a bond fund will remain relatively stable, though it may move in response to movements in the prevailing interest rate. Bonds are considered safe, relative to stocks, but not all issuers are the same. Government issuers, especially the federal government, are considered quite safe, while the riskiness of corporate issuers can range from slightly less to much more risky.

The return on a bond or bond fund is typically much less than it would be on a stock fund, perhaps 4 to 5 percent annually but less on government bonds. It&#x;s also much less risky.

4. Dividend stocks

Where growth stocks are the sports cars of the stock world, dividend stocks are sedans &#x; they can achieve solid returns but they&#x;re unlikely to speed higher as fast as growth stocks.

A dividend stock is simply one that pays a dividend &#x; a regular cash payout. Many stocks offer what are some stocks to invest in today dividend, but they&#x;re more typically found among older, more mature companies that have a lesser need for their cash. Dividend stocks are popular among older investors because they produce a regular income, and the best stocks grow that dividend over time, so you can earn more than you would with bitcoin investors dies photo fixed payout of a bond. REITs are one popular form of dividend stock.

Risk/reward: While dividend stocks tend to be less volatile than growth stocks, what are some stocks to invest in today, don&#x;t assume they won&#x;t rise and fall significantly, especially if the stock market enters a rough period. However, a dividend-paying company is usually more mature and established than a growth company and so it&#x;s generally considered safer. That said, if a dividend-paying company doesn&#x;t earn enough to pay its dividend, it will cut the payout, and its stock may plummet as a result.

The big appeal of a dividend stock is the payout, and some of the top companies pay 2 or 3 percent annually, sometimes more. But importantly they can raise their payouts 8 or 10 percent per year for long periods of time, so you&#x;ll get a pay raise, typically each year. The returns here can be high, what are some stocks to invest in today, but won&#x;t usually be as great as with growth stocks. And if you&#x;d prefer to go with a dividend stock fund so that you can own a diversified set of stocks, you&#x;ll find plenty available.

5. Value stocks

With the market running up so much in the last couple years, valuations on many stocks have been stretched. When that happens, many investors turn to value stocks as a way to be more defensive and still potentially earn attractive returns.

Value stocks are those that are cheaper on certain valuation metrics such as a price-earnings ratio, a measure of how much investors are paying for every dollar of earnings. Value stocks are contrasted against growth stocks, which tend to grow faster and where valuations are higher.

Value stocks might be an attractive option in because they tend to do well when interest rates are rising. And the Federal Reserve has indicated that it could raise rates this year.

Risk/reward: Value stocks often have less downside, so if the market falls, they tend to fall less. And if the market rises, they can still rise, too. Plus, they may be able to actually rise faster than other non-value stocks, if the market favors them again, pushing their valuations up. So the appeal of value stocks is that you can get above-average returns while taking on less risk.

Many value stocks also pay dividends, too, so you can get some extra return there, too.

6. Target-date funds

Target-date funds are a great option if you don&#x;t want to manage a portfolio yourself. These funds become more conservative as you age, so that your portfolio is safer as you approach retirement, when you&#x;ll need the money. These funds gradually shift your investments from more aggressive stocks to more conservative bonds as your target date nears.

Target-date funds are a popular choice in many workplace (k) plans, though you can buy them outside of those plans, too. You pick your retirement year and the fund does the rest.

Risk/reward: Target-date funds will have many bitcoin vcx you can usr with uber the same risks as stock funds or bond funds, since it&#x;s really just a combination of the two. If your target date is decades away, your fund will own a higher proportion of stocks, meaning it will be more volatile at first. As your target date nears, the fund will shift toward bonds, so it will fluctuate less but also earn less.

Since a target-date fund gradually moves toward more bonds over time, it will typically start to underperform the stock market by a growing amount. You&#x;re sacrificing return for safety. And since bonds are yielding less and less these days, you have a higher risk of outliving your money.

To avoid this risk, some financial advisors recommend buying a target-date fund that&#x;s five or 10 years after when you actually plan to retire so that you&#x;ll have the extra growth from stocks.

7. Real estate

In many ways, real estate is the prototypical long-term investment. It takes a good bit of money to get started, the commissions are quite high, and the returns often come from holding an asset for a long time and rarely over just a few years. Still, real estate was Americans&#x; favorite long-term investment inaccording to one Bankrate study.

Real estate can be an attractive investment, in part because you can borrow the bank&#x;s money for most of the investment and then pay it back over time. That&#x;s especially popular as interest rates sit near attractive lows. For those who want to be their own boss, owning a property gives them that opportunity, and there are numerous tax laws that benefit owners of property especially.

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