Some people like the peace of mind afforded from being mortgage-free. I want to put money into an individual retirement account. Retirement accounts are just a shell. When you establish a retirement account, you might not realize that it is simply a shell or shield that generally keeps the federal, state and local governments from taxing your investment earnings each year. You still must choose what investments you want to hold inside this retirement-account shell.
Mutual funds are an ideal choice, as they offer diversification and professional management.
The primary advantage of floating-rate bonds is that they do not lock investors into what could become a relatively low interest rate should overall interest rates rise. The floating rate is adjusted according to the terms of the bond agreement. Convertible bonds give investors the option to exchange their corporate bonds for company stock instead of cash repayment. The conversion terms are set at the issue of the bonds. Because convertible bonds offer some upside, they tend to pay lower rates of interest than their pure-bond brethren do.