You can invest in stock index funds, bonds, real estate, high-yield savings accounts, and several other asset classes to grow your money. The right mix depends on how much you have to start with, how long you can leave it invested, and how much risk you’re comfortable taking. Here’s a breakdown of the most accessible options, what kind of returns to expect, and how each one actually works.
Stock Index Funds
If you want the simplest path to long-term wealth, stock index funds are the default recommendation for good reason. An index fund pools your money with other investors and buys shares of every company in a particular index, like the S&P 500 (the 500 largest U.S. companies). You don’t pick individual stocks or try to time the market. You just own a small piece of everything.
The S&P 500 has historically returned roughly 10% per year on average over long periods, though any single year can swing wildly. In 2025, the S&P 500 returned about 17.8% including dividends. Some years it drops 20% or more. The key is that over 10, 20, or 30 years, the long-term trend has been consistently upward. If you invested $10,000 and earned an average of 10% annually for 20 years, you’d end up with roughly $67,000 without adding another dollar.
You can buy index funds through any brokerage account with no minimum investment at many firms. Total stock market funds, which include small and mid-sized companies alongside the large ones, are another popular choice. Annual fees (called expense ratios) on the best index funds run as low as 0.03%, meaning you’d pay just $3 per year on a $10,000 investment.
Individual Stocks
Buying shares of individual companies gives you more control and more risk. If you pick a company that grows rapidly, your returns can far exceed what an index fund delivers. If that company stumbles, you can lose most or all of your investment. Most professional fund managers fail to beat index funds over long stretches, so picking winners consistently is harder than it looks.
That said, owning a handful of individual stocks alongside an index fund core is a reasonable approach if you enjoy researching companies and can stomach the volatility. Start small. Many brokerages let you buy fractional shares, so you can invest $50 in a company whose stock trades at $500 per share. Just avoid putting a large percentage of your savings into any single company.
Bonds and Treasury Securities
Bonds are loans you make to a government or corporation in exchange for regular interest payments. They’re generally less volatile than stocks but produce lower returns over time. In 2025, 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds returned about 7.8%, and corporate bonds returned roughly 7%. Those are above-average years for bonds. Over longer periods, bonds have historically returned closer to 4% to 5% annually.
You can buy U.S. Treasury bonds directly through TreasuryDirect.gov or through a bond index fund in your brokerage account. Bond funds are useful when you want steady income, when you’re approaching retirement, or when you want to balance out the risk of your stock holdings. The trade-off is straightforward: less growth potential in exchange for less dramatic swings in value.
High-Yield Savings Accounts
A high-yield savings account isn’t technically an “investment,” but it’s one of the safest places to park money and still earn a meaningful return. The best high-yield savings accounts are currently paying between 4.00% and 5.00% APY, which is dramatically higher than the 0.01% to 0.50% you’d earn at most traditional banks. On $10,000, that’s the difference between earning $500 a year and earning $5.
These accounts are FDIC-insured up to $250,000, meaning there’s essentially no risk of losing your money. The catch is that rates fluctuate with the broader interest rate environment. When the Federal Reserve cuts rates, high-yield savings rates drop too. This makes them ideal for emergency funds and short-term savings goals, but not for building long-term wealth. Inflation can eat into your purchasing power if your savings rate doesn’t keep pace.
Real Estate
Real estate offers two ways to make money: rental income from tenants and appreciation as property values rise over time. You can invest directly by buying property, or indirectly through real estate investment trusts (REITs).
Buying rental property directly requires significant upfront capital. You’ll typically need a down payment of 15% to 25% for an investment property, plus closing costs, repairs, and cash reserves. The potential payoff is real: you collect monthly rent, build equity as you pay down the mortgage, and may benefit from property value increases. But you’re also responsible for maintenance, vacancies, problem tenants, and property taxes. Hiring a property manager eases the workload but cuts into your margins. Direct ownership also comes with meaningful tax benefits, including deductions for mortgage interest, depreciation, and operating expenses.
REITs are a much simpler entry point. These are companies that own and operate income-producing real estate, from apartment buildings to warehouses to hospitals. You can buy shares of publicly traded REITs through any brokerage account for as little as a few dollars. Instead of owning one property in one location, you own a fraction of hundreds or thousands of properties. REITs are required to distribute most of their income as dividends, so they tend to pay higher yields than the average stock. The downside is that those dividends are typically taxed as ordinary income rather than at the lower capital gains rate.
Certificates of Deposit
A certificate of deposit (CD) locks your money up for a set period, anywhere from three months to five years, in exchange for a guaranteed interest rate. CDs generally pay slightly more than savings accounts because you’re agreeing not to touch the money until the term ends. If you withdraw early, you’ll usually pay a penalty equal to several months of interest.
CDs make sense when you have money you know you won’t need until a specific date, like a house down payment you’re planning to use in two years. They’re FDIC-insured and completely predictable. The downside is the same as high-yield savings: your returns won’t keep up with stocks over the long term.
Retirement Accounts
A retirement account isn’t an investment itself. It’s a tax-advantaged container you put investments into. But choosing the right account can significantly boost your returns by reducing the taxes you owe.
A 401(k) through your employer often comes with a company match, which is essentially free money. If your employer matches 50% of your contributions up to 6% of your salary, and you earn $60,000, that’s $1,800 in free contributions each year. A Roth IRA lets you invest after-tax money that then grows and can be withdrawn in retirement completely tax-free. A traditional IRA gives you a tax deduction now, but you’ll pay taxes when you withdraw in retirement. The investments inside these accounts (index funds, bonds, individual stocks) are the same ones available in a regular brokerage account. The account structure just changes how much of your gains you get to keep.
Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency is a digital asset class that can produce dramatic gains or devastating losses, sometimes within the same month. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, has generated enormous returns for early investors but has also experienced multiple crashes of 50% or more. You can now buy crypto through traditional brokerages and exchange-traded products, making access easier than ever.
If you’re interested in crypto, treat it as a small, speculative portion of your overall portfolio rather than a core holding. Many financial professionals suggest limiting it to 5% or less of your investable assets. The technology is still maturing, regulation is evolving, and prices are driven heavily by sentiment rather than underlying cash flows.
How to Decide What’s Right for You
Your timeline matters more than almost anything else. Money you need within the next one to two years belongs in a high-yield savings account or CDs, where it can’t lose value. Money you won’t touch for five or more years can handle the ups and downs of the stock market. Money you won’t need for 20 or 30 years, like retirement savings, can afford to be almost entirely in stocks, where the long-term growth potential is highest.
Starting is more important than optimizing. A common mistake is spending months researching the “perfect” investment while your money sits in a checking account earning nothing. Opening a brokerage account, setting up automatic contributions to a broad stock index fund, and leaving it alone will put you ahead of most people. You can refine your strategy as you learn more, but the compounding clock starts the moment you invest your first dollar.