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There are many ways to invest your money. Three of the more common ways are through stocks, bonds and mutual funds. These three types of investments are considered to be fairly secure, which is why they are most common.

Stocks are pieces of ownership to a company. This is the least secure of the these three investment types as stocks fluctuate. A stock can double in value tomorrow or fall under what you originally paid for it. When you own stocks in a company, the company pays from its profits to the stock holders.

Bonds are a more secure form of investing. With a bond you give money to the government or a company and they agree to return your money after a certain amount of time plus interest. For example, if you buy a bond for $100 and it matures in one year with a 10% interest, you can cash in the bond after the year and receive $110 dollars. As long as the company and government you buy from is stable, your payout is secure.

Mutual funds is another decent way of investing. The concept behind mutual funds is that a group of people invest together in a mixture of different stocks and bonds. One person may not have enough money to invest alone, but if you are investing with several partners, you should even have enough money to call in a professional broker to help you manage your mutual funds. This, in theory, would bring you a quicker return on your money. Though this form of investing isn’t as secure as bonds, it is still quite common among investors.