Is it possible to invest. How to make a profitable investment without risk? Why is it so important

02.10.2021 -

The average Russian does not have many opportunities to invest his savings reliably and profitably. For those who are not professional investors, there are only a few options to choose from. Let's consider the most common of them.

Bank deposit

This is the most traditional and understandable financial instrument for most citizens, which does not require deep knowledge in the field of investments. It is enough to choose a reliable bank, find a deposit with a favorable interest rate for a suitable period, deposit money - and that's it.

The main advantage of a bank deposit is that citizens' money is insured: if something happens to the bank, for example, its license is revoked, the state will return money and interest to the depositor through the deposit insurance system for a total amount of up to 1.4 million rubles. This happens quite quickly: payments begin within two weeks from the moment the insured event occurs.

But there is a drawback, and it is quite significant. Interest rates on bank deposits have been steadily declining for several years now. Once it was not a problem to open a three-year deposit at 15% and even 19% per annum. Banks fought for clients' money, they needed liquidity and offered very attractive returns to depositors.

Now it's a different time, what many call the "low-stakes era." The Bank of Russia is consistently lowering the key rate, which makes loans more profitable, but, unfortunately, also affects the profitability of deposits. Thus, according to the Central Bank, in the third decade of December, the average maximum interest rate in the largest Russian banks amounted to 6.36% per annum. On October 28, the Central Bank once again reduced the key rate from 7% to 6.5%, and literally in the first days of November, banks began to announce a decrease in the yield on their deposits. In particular, Sberbank: now the maximum rate in the line of its deposits is 4.65% per annum.

The Bank of Russia regularly makes it clear that it intends to further reduce the key rate. Therefore, unfortunately, it is not worth hoping for a good yield on bank deposits.

Stock

This investment tool is already somewhat more complicated. Shares of companies are traded on stock exchanges in London, USA, Russia. But a private person cannot go directly to the exchange to buy and sell securities: he will need an intermediary - a broker. It can be a brokerage company or a large bank. You need to come to this intermediary, conclude an appropriate agreement with him, open a brokerage account, deposit money into it, and only then you can start investing in shares. You can do this by phone, indicating to the broker which shares you would like to buy or sell, or through a special trading terminal. Now many brokers and banks allow individuals to buy and sell stocks through mobile applications. It is important to remember the inevitable costs here: brokers charge a commission for their services.

But perhaps the most important thing is that the market prices of shares, quotes, are unstable and unpredictable. They depend, as is commonly believed, on the perceptions of investors about the real value of the company. Quotes are influenced by many factors, including the profit and reputation of the company, the ratio of profitability and reliability of the company, industry and even government economic news, as well as global world news and events.

Of course, there are many examples of how investing in stocks can bring very high returns. For example, Facebook shares have gained over 27% over the past year, which is not bad at all. But there are many examples and crushing failures: suffice it to recall the recent story with the papers of Yandex, which collapsed by 20%.

In general, in order to make money on stocks, you need to be a very “advanced” investor, always keep your finger on the pulse, be ready to react in time, and also understand that no one is immune from losing money.

Gold

At all times, gold was considered a symbol of wealth and prosperity. Today, there are several options for individuals to invest their money in gold. For example, in a bank you can buy real gold bars, it's quite simple. But the question arises how to store this wealth: you will either have to rent a safe deposit box, or risk keeping it at home.

But this is not even the most important thing. Globally, the price of gold is, of course, rising. Thus, over the past ten years, the accounting price of the Central Bank per gram of precious metal has increased by more than 3 times and now exceeds 3 thousand rubles. But if we talk about much smaller time ranges, for example from one to three years, it can fluctuate and even fall - also in connection with world economic trends. Taking into account the fact that the difference in the price of selling and buying gold and coins by banks is quite significant, and it may happen that you need to sell gold at the time of a price decline, there is a risk of losing income or even losing part of your funds.

Banks also offer depersonalized metal accounts (OMS) - special accounts secured by precious metals. You buy gold in a bank, open such an account, but you don’t get the precious metal in your hands, it remains in the bank. Your money is on this account, profitability depends on market quotes. The bank does not charge interest on such accounts, and - important! - such accounts are not subject to the deposit insurance law. That is, if the bank's license is revoked, this money will not be returned to you.

In general, in principle, it is possible to invest in gold, but it must be a very long-term investment, literally for decades.

"People's" bonds

Two years ago, a simple and interesting investment tool appeared in Russia for ordinary citizens - federal loan bonds, or OFZ-n. Since they were intended specifically for a wide range of investors, they were immediately nicknamed "people's" bonds. Such bonds for the population are issued by the state represented by the Ministry of Finance. Three issues of OFZ-n have already been placed for a total of 70 billion rubles, these bonds were in great demand. In September 2019, the Ministry of Finance placed the fourth issue of OFZ-n for 15 billion rubles.

The essence of this instrument is that the buyer of bonds lends money to the state. The state pays interest to him, and at the end of the circulation period returns the full cost. You can buy OFZ-n in any of the four authorized banks (Sberbank, VTB, Post Bank and PSB) both in a branch and online - through a mobile application.

The face value of one bond is 1 thousand rubles, the circulation period is three years. You can buy OFZ-n for a minimum of 10 thousand rubles, a maximum of 15 million. For three years, every six months, the buyer of the bond receives income (coupon). The coupon yield ranges from 6.5% to 7.35% per annum and increases over the period of holding the bond.

Of course, this yield is already much higher than deposit rates, which will continue to decline. And most importantly, it is a fixed income, it does not depend on world market cataclysms, like the price of shares or gold. In addition, the state guarantees the return of all money invested in "people's" bonds, and bank deposits can only count on insurance up to 1.4 million rubles.

By placing the fourth issue of OFZ-n, the Ministry of Finance introduced many innovations that made the purchase of bonds more convenient and profitable for citizens. Thus, the number of authorized agent banks where you can buy bonds increased from two to four. Also, now banks do not take any commissions when selling or buying bonds, before the commission ranged from 0.5% to 1.5%. It became possible to purchase OFZ-n via the Internet: if you are a client of one of the authorized banks, you can do this through a mobile application.

"People's" bonds can be sold at any time in an authorized agent bank. At the same time, if you have had them for more than a year, the state will pay the accumulated coupon income, which is accrued daily. But the maximum benefit will be received, of course, by those who will hold OFZ-n for all three years, until the moment of full repayment. Moreover, there will be no need to pay tax on income from "people's" bonds. In addition, they can be inherited. It is also interesting that banks can consider OFZ-n as collateral, that is, if they have appropriate lending programs, they can take out a loan on favorable terms.

Today, "people's" bonds are the best investment tool for anyone who does not want to risk their savings, get higher income than banks give, and do not have the opportunity to constantly and around the clock monitor the market quotes of shares or precious metals.

More detailed information about OFZ-n can be obtained.

Real estate, business.

Bank deposits (deposits)

This is the easiest, most elementary and reliable way to invest. You give yours to the bank under certain percentage. Bankers "scroll" this money by investing in other financial instruments. For which you receive a predetermined percentage of profit.

For example, you invested money in a bank for a year at 10% per annum. Bankers immediately give this money to another client in the form of a loan, but already at 20% per annum. As a result, the bank in a year returns your funds to you with accrued interest, and pockets the remaining difference.

The advantage of investing in a bank is that you know exactly how much money you can receive after a certain period of time, while other financial instruments cannot boast of this. You can calculate the profitability of a particular deposit on a deposit calculator, and if you need to calculate the amount of overpayment on a particular loan, then use a loan calculator.

On the topic of bank deposits, read:

Mutual investment funds (mutual investment funds)

This is the second most popular way to invest. In short, mutual funds are a collective financial instrument, when investors' money is invested in one big pot and then professional managers multiply this one big amount of funds by various methods.

Shareholders' funds (as those who have invested their money in mutual funds are called) are usually invested in stocks, bonds, gold, currency, etc. More precisely, they are not just invested, but they are managed. Any fool can just buy shares. The task of professional managers is to find such stocks that have fallen in price at the time of purchase and there is a possibility of their further growth.

In order to determine this probability, technical and fundamental analysis is used, the economic situation is studied both in the world and in a particular region, news is monitored, as well as many other parameters that are too complicated for a simple layman.

This is the essence of mutual funds, to save people ignorant of these issues from all these difficulties. If you have free funds and you do not have the opportunity to trade on the stock exchange from morning to evening, then it is easier to transfer this money to those people who have plunged into the topic of investing with their heads and have a lot of experience behind them. At least at the initial stage.

Further, as your experience in financial matters grows, you can start buying stocks, bonds and other investment instruments on your own. More on this later, but for now let's get back to mutual funds.

Compared to other financial instruments, investing in shares is more profitable in the long run, but at the same time very risky.

Here you need to constantly keep your finger on the pulse, monitor the situation in the markets, so as to prevent the loss of capital in a strong fall in financial markets that occur during all kinds of crises.

To more clearly understand how much profit you can get on stocks, watch the video “How to earn 678% profit on Sberbank shares”.

Video: How to earn 678% profit on Sberbank shares

Bonds

This financial instrument is designed for people who are not inclined to risk. It is very difficult to get a big profit on it. Typically, the return on bonds is no higher than the return on bank deposits. Therefore, this financial instrument can hardly be called a profitable investment.

However, this does not mean that bonds should not be invested. The fact is that it is not recommended to “keep all your eggs in one basket”. Experienced and successful investors always spread their funds in several different instruments in order to reduce their risks.

Imagine that you have invested all your money in stocks, but after a while there was a crisis in the market and their prices fell. Along with this, the amount of your capital will decrease. To prevent this from happening, you need to invest part of the money in deposits, part of the money in bonds, gold, and so on.

In this case, you will lose on one instrument, but you will win on other instruments. But back to bonds:

A bond is a debt issuance security that confirms the right of its owner to receive a certain amount of money from the issuer.

And in order to understand how to properly distribute funds between various financial instruments in order to reduce risks and increase the profitability of your investments, read these articles:

Forex

Forex (Forex, sometimes FX, from English.FOReign EXchange- foreign currency exchange) is a market of interbank currency exchange at free prices.

The essence of Forex is speculation with the currencies of various countries. For example, you bought 100 euros for 90 dollars. And after some time they sold these 100 euros for 120 dollars. Thus, earning $ 30 on this transaction.

In Forex, trading always takes place in currency pairs, as in the example above. Changes in the value of currencies occur constantly and depend on many factors. For example, in Greece the economy is not developing, the state does not receive profits, but the country needs to be supported somehow. Since Greece is part of the European Union (EU), everything in this country is sold and bought in euros.

Thus, the instability of the economy of one state influenced the attitude of investors towards the entire EU. Investors felt a threat to their capital and urgently began to get rid of the euro. All this led to a fall in the value of the euro against the currencies of other states. It is on such movements that money is earned in Forex.

This method of investing can be called profitable only if you yourself trade on Forex, when you already have extensive experience, your own strategy for entering and exiting the market, as well as an iron will.

There are only a few people who have made a fortune in forex. But those who tried to get rich on this and went bankrupt - millions. Draw your own conclusions.

Cumulative life insurance

This way of investing can hardly be called profitable. As the name implies, this is insurance in case of any unforeseen circumstances. Its difference from conventional insurance is that it is a combination of human life and health insurance with a program to accumulate, preserve and increase your capital.

If ordinary insurance simply pays you a certain amount in the event of an insured event, then in this case, if nothing happened during the entire period of the contract, you can either receive the entire amount accumulated over the years, or receive a monthly payment until the end of life.

OFBU

OFBU stands for Banking Management General Funds. In fact, these are the same mutual funds, but with broader investment functions. On the one hand, this is a plus, since by investing in OFBU you have the opportunity to increase profits through wider combinations of investment. On the other hand, it is more risky.

There were cases when OFBU showed a yield of 600% per annum. However, the main problem lies in the fact that the activities of OFBUs are not regulated by legislation, which is why they are less subject to control, unlike the same mutual funds.

There are also cases when the short-sighted activities of managers led to the complete collapse of the OFBU.

You can read more about the activities of general funds of banking management here:. On my own behalf, I will add that at the moment it is best to invest in OFBU such an amount of funds that you will not be sorry to lose if something happens.

hedge funds

I must say right away that in our country this is a relatively new and not sufficiently developed financial instrument, which is available only to wealthy clients.

The minimum entry amount here starts from a few hundred dollars to a million. In the West, hedge funds are very popular.

Hedge funds do not have a clear regulatory framework, which allows them to freely choose enrichment strategies and use a wide range of financial instruments when investing money in various markets. The result of the work of hedge funds can be both super profits and huge losses.

One of the most striking examples of hedge funds is the Quantum fund, founded by the notorious , who was able to make a profit equal to $ 1 billion in a day!

Structural (structured) products

A structured (structured) financial product is a complex financial instrument, which is issued, as a rule, by commercial and investment banks and is created to meet the specific needs of clients.

This financial instrument became especially popular during the crisis. After all, when you invest in a growing market and constantly receive good profits, this is one thing, but when the situation on the markets is not stable, especially during crises, many investors are trying to find reliable ways to invest funds that will give them greater profits than banking deposits.

The essence of the structural product is simple - part of the funds, usually 80-90% is invested in bank deposits or bonds, but the remaining 10-20% is invested in futures and options.

All this allows, in the worst case scenario, to stay with your money and not lose anything, at best, make a profit of about 20-30%. This is not very much, but it is higher than the yield on bank deposits.

But again, nothing to compare it to. For example, the most successful investor in the world, Warren Buffett, has been providing his clients with about 24% per annum over the past 35 years. 24% per annum does not seem to be much, but only Buffett and no one else can receive such a profit consistently for many years.

Gold and precious metals

For many people, wealth is associated with a mountain of gold. Since ancient times, this metal has been a symbol of wealth and power, so it has become the cause of quarrels, robberies, murders and even wars.

Gold should not be considered as the most profitable way to invest, despite the fact that in recent years it has risen in price a lot. The fact is that most often gold acts as a refuge for investors in difficult times.

When crises dominate the world, in order to wait them out, investors withdraw their savings from stocks, bonds and other financial products, and then invest in gold.

As soon as the crisis recedes, investors immediately look for more profitable ways to invest. This is the reason for the rise in the price of gold in difficult times. But then, the price of precious metals inevitably falls.

The property

Real estate has always been a profitable way to invest. Not only that, real estate itself does not depreciate and, as a rule, it only rises in price from year to year. But real estate also allows you to receive passive income from renting it out.

True, there is one serious “but” here, which is the high cost of real estate. In fact, this is an investment for wealthy people. Because of what, this method of investing should be considered not at the initial stage, but when you already have big capital and you have the opportunity to invest in various financial instruments.

True, there are exceptions. For example, you can profitable to invest in real estate at the stage of its construction. At this time, as a rule, there is no need to pay the full cost of housing and you can pay a certain monthly part.

Thus, if you have the opportunity to deposit the required amount and this will not affect the quality of your life, then you can safely look for suitable options. The fact is that at the construction stage, a square meter of housing costs much less than later, when the construction is completed.

Business

Each of the above financial tools, has a certain degree of risk (reliability). Depending on this, the range of possible profit changes. The riskier the financial instrument, the higher the return it can bring. However, so is the loss.

Each of these financial instruments has its own advantages and disadvantages. And under various life circumstances, it is worth choosing the best ways to invest. But, personally for myself, I have already determined the most profitable way To invest money is a business!

Why? Because business is unlimited dividends! And they will depend only on you. From your efficiency, imagination, diligence, ingenuity.

Any other financial instruments do not depend on you. They depend, for example, on the current market situation, on the conditions determined by other people, on the financial results of a particular company, on the actions of speculators, on marketers developing certain financial products.

Building your own business is entirely up to you.

This is where you set the rules by which you will play. Here you decide how much income you will receive. Of course, business also largely depends on various external circumstances. But, in any case, the last word is yours, even if you decide to sell it.

In 2007, I opened my own business for the first time. It was a small tanning studio. More precisely, it was a small room in one of the hairdressers, in which I installed a solarium, all the necessary accessories, planted an administrator and began to earn money.

This business has many benefits. I will talk about them in future releases. For now, I just want to draw your attention to the fact that this business has brought me good dividends. For the year I received more than 100% per annum.

It was a great test, during which I was able to show many of my talents. Organizational skills, managerial skills, design talents, tested his advertising vision.

Greetings! This year cannot be called boring and predictable, neither for Russia nor for the global financial markets. Indices like Russia and the USA have been growing well, over the past 10 months my portfolio has grown by 20 percent.

What's next? How to preserve capital in a situation of high uncertainty? What to invest in in 2019-2020? For convenience, I divided the tools by goals: not to lose, to earn on the growth of the asset and / or and receive income in foreign currency.

Here I took the tools with almost 100% reliability. "Almost" because. All three assets only partially compensate for the losses from inflation!

Bank deposits

If your investment horizon is too short for risky assets, you don't have much of a choice. Ideas will also have to be left, so the only thing left for you is banal bank deposits.

If you need to try to save your capital first of all from your loved one, then it is better to open term deposits, without the right to replenish and withdraw (for example, the “Save” product from Sberbank). These deposits always offer the maximum interest rate. And it is forbidden to withdraw part of the deposit until it is closed.

Most importantly, do not forget about the "limiter" in the form of 1.4 million rubles in one bank. This is how much (and not a penny more) the Deposit Insurance Agency will return in the event of a bank failure.

Reliable bonds

If you have a slightly longer horizon and a slightly higher financial IQ, you will probably be interested in these debt securities. Judge for yourself: the risks of state bankruptcy are much lower than the risks of bankruptcy of any one bank, even a large one. Plus, bond yields are almost always higher than bank deposits.

By the way, do you know that with the money that you leave in the form of a deposit, the bank almost immediately buys bonds and thereby earns the difference in interest without risking anything?

Federal bonds are considered the safest. Their repayment is guaranteed by the government of the Russian Federation. But it is better to form a bond portfolio from . Fortunately, the symbolic value of the bond (only 1,000 rubles) allows this.

You can advise something specific only knowing your specific investment plan, so below I will give a couple of papers that are interesting in my opinion.

For example, OFZ-PK are bonds with a variable coupon. The coupon is linked to the average RUONIA rate and is revised from time to time. OFZ-PD fixes the coupon rate at a constant level (for example, 6-7% per annum) until maturity.

But the most interesting option in 2019, I think. The face value of such bonds is constantly indexed to the level of inflation (calculated by the consumer price index for each day with a lag of three months). For OFZ-IN, the coupon is 2.5% per annum above inflation (CPI).