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I’d throw some of it in oil & gas.

+1

I invested a whole bunch in pussy!

I have 25% of my money in what TIAA calls an annuity. It has guaranteed 3.3% return. That is my "safe" investment. I think the only string attached to that fund is I can only take out 10% a year when the time comes to retire, or maybe only move 10% a year. Again I am not 100% sure on that.
I am not retired, and I can move money in different rick associated funds, but it has to stay in TIAA hands for a few more years until I retire.
So for a "safe" investment is 3.3 % OK?

Terry, in my opinion, the 3.3% yield by itself does not mean "safety." If you do not understand your investment, then IMO, it is not safe for you.

Annuities are underwritten by insurance companies. Insurance companies have a general track record of being reliable and sound financial institutions. The general consensus of most of the reading I have done on annuities is that they are relatively "safe" and proven income sources (as opposed to equities and bonds) that you cannot outlive, and which are best utilized to pay for the recurring needs of one's life, such a food, shelter, clothing, utilities and services, transportation, and insurance. These are the type of recurring "bills" one must pay for, over the course of one's life. Interestingly enough, it is the stock market where insurance companies make their profits.

Sure are a lot of posters swearing by index funds. They are great, but the O.P. is in it for 3 yrs and index funds are not good 3 year investments. In 3 yrs we could see these index funds down 30 % , easy. Index funds are 10 yr. minimum time frame, , , maybe 5 yrs. It is an investment that needs
" time in the market" . There are also many annuities. Not all are bad , but most are very expensive. My parents bought 2 annuities from a " friend" 20 yrs ago ( He was loaded too.) . I took a look at them last year . One was charging 5% and 2.25% every year if the funds made a certain amount of money. I figured they gave back half the gains. A closer look told me they were there funds. One was a Nasdaq , a Dow Jones and and S&P 500 fund that was home made by them so it would be hidden what kind of fund it really was. I noticed there was a 2% turnover rate for one. Proof it was just an index fund. I was furious.

Life settlements/viaticals.

The problem is, it’s not safe. Today we live in the lowest inflation economic environment in two lifetimes.... and 3.3% just barely keeps up with that.

Where is inflation going to go? Any tick up to historically “normal” levels leaves you actually losing money, AND you can’t get out!

That’s not safe.

I’m not at all a fan of annuities, but anything in that whole barrel of fish hooks you buy should at least be inflation indexed.

Good grief.

https://www.bankers-anonymous.com/blog/how-not-to-invest-viaticals/

I’m heavily invested in the raccoon market it’s a winner for sure

not even close to being accurate

I like this advice - in 3-5 years we could have a democrat in the White House. Heaven help us if that is the case.

Why isn't this 17 pages yet?

You must sell this junk.

One can purchase "inflation protection" inside one's annuity. There are so many "options" available with annuities, they cannot be adequately discussed in a campfire thread. Interestingly enough, there are only a handful of insurance companies who write the vast majority of annuities. Bottom line is that annuities can provide lifetime income certain, and that is a financial situation for which many are searching and willing to pay.

And better not to bother discussing them because they all suck. If an investment is consistently bad enough that it makes sense to buy insurance against it not even keeping up with inflation it is the jewiest of jewscams and you should avoid it and anyone who suggests you buy it.

OP, if your plan is to buy and hold don’t do that. If you absolutely are going to regardless just buy a total stock market index fund like VTSMX or VTSAX or FSKAX or the like.

If you are fine with active trading but don’t want to be bothered doing it, open an account with a roboadvisor that has good tax loss harvesting. Pick a risk profile you like and go. If you change your mind about risk, just change your risk profile on the fly. Places like Wealthfront and Betterment do well at this and aren’t expensive.

It doesn’t seem like you want to be more active than that.

Is this your personal opinion? If so, on what do you base it? And what is your objective definition of "suck." Overall a pretty sophomoric comment, IMHBAO, in what could be an informative thread.

I'd select a 60/40% Asset Allocation fund to get a balance of growth and safety. Depending on your time frame, you might want a 70/30% or a 50/50% fund. Pick one with a lo expense ratio (costs can eat your growth over the long run). Vangard offers some good ones.

I posted it, who else’s do you think it could be?

I’m sure your struggles with the English language are legendary so I’ll leave it up to you to unravel what “suck” means in this context. Here is a hint:

Q - why did sales of annuities fall off significantly after brokers were required to act as fiduciaries?
A - because annuities suck

Get a fiduciary.