What are the safest short term investment options?
First, you can do a CD, they are FDIC-insured and you get your principal plus interest at maturity. I have been looking up rates recently and there are banks offering 6 month CDs at 4% which is not that bad. A few months ago the rates were a lot lower. Secondly, you can do high quality, high grade corporate bonds. You can find some good deals even for short term investment needs. Although they are not principal protected. Thirdly, some wire houses out there have been doing some unique investment vehicles like principal protected notes. You get your money back at maturity but interest is not guaranteed. It all depends on how the markets perform. It all depends if you really want to go conservative or take a bit of risk.
