When you are looking to invest your hard earned cash to make it work for you, there are a multitude of options. Real estate, stocks, bonds (or a municipal bond), money market accounts, certificates of deposit, as well as investing in businesses as a partner or investor. Each option has its pros and cons. While some are high risk and high reward, others are much quieter in their earnings, but they are also more steady and sure.

Real estate can be extremely profitable but can also be a trap if you don’t have much experience or know what you’re doing. To learn how to be a real estate mogul, it helps immensely if you have a seasoned professional who is willing to take you under their wing and mentor you. A lot of wasted money and headaches can be spared by learning from other people’s mistakes and benefiting from their experience. Interning or apprenticing in a real estate investing office is another way to learn the ropes. If you do decide to jump in and try it for yourself, you would be wise to do a lot of research to avoid pitfalls and money pits.

For easier but slower earnings, money market accounts and CD’s are a great option, as is a municipal bond. They don’t require a lot of time and effort to learn about, or much energy to exert, so your money is really doing the heavy lifting. A municipal bond is a bond that is taken out by governmental or civic organizations to raise funds. It works much like a regular bond, but it goes towards building up facilities and growing organizations and communities. One major benefit in investing in a municipal bond is that for most of them, the earnings are often tax free or at least returned with a very reduced tax rate.