Looking for "Safe" Places to Invest During the Bear Market

If you are looking to get any sort of return on your money -- no matter how feeble -- there are some options available right now for investment. CNN Money offers a look at three places that may be a little safer for your money:

1. Money market accounts and CDs. These are different from money market funds. These are the money market accounts offered by banks. These are protected by FDIC insurance (and you need to check that your bank is protected) for up to $250,000 for individual accounts and $500,000 for joint accounts. The recent bailout package upped the FDIC guarantees.
2. Stable value funds. These are guaranteed funds (yielding around 4%) that invest in short and intermediate term bonds.
3. Money market funds. The government recently protected these types of investments (about the time it was banning short selling). Right now the dollar for dollar guarantee is only for the next three months, but the way things are going, it is likely that it will be extended.

Remember that these sorts of cash investments do not promise the same sort of returns as their riskier counterparts. However, if you are looking for someway to grow your money (other than watching it bleed away from your stock accounts), it might not be a bad idea.

However, keep in mind that despite today's stock market freefall, a recovery is quite likely, although it may take a few years to fully recover. If you have a long timeframe for your investments, it might be a good idea to check your portfolio to ensure it contains mainly companies that will likely survive, and then strap in for the ride.

Miranda Marquit writes about personal finances at the Personal Finance Corner.