If you are nearing your retirement or are a more conservative style investor, then you might want to consider purchasing more income investments.
These types of investments are ones that are more focused on providing the investor with income rather than capital appreciation. Some might wonder why anyone would even want to try this, but the math behind it makes since. There is simply no reason why you should be wagering large sums of money on the hopes of capital appreciation if you are nearing retirement.
If you are close to your retirement, then you have two things to worry about financially, protecting your nest egg and generating income. Buying up some investments that are intended to generate passive income such as bonds are a way to do both of these things at once.
If you have a large chunk of your money tied up in investments that are yielding income for you, then you should be able to get a good enough interest rate that you can use this money as income. This is a great asset to have when you are in retirement and have no other source of income coming in. These investments will generate the income that you need in order to just do the basics like keeping the lights on.
If you are a younger investor and have time to kill, then you may be willing to invest in things that are riskier and more capital appreciation oriented. In fact, if you are a younger investor, then you should try to turn up the risk/reward scale as much as is appropriate. There is no reason for you to invest in things that are just generating some income for you. Save this kind of investing for those who are more seasoned in their investing careers. Check out which kind of investments are right for you today.