Finding a safe investment really isn't that difficult in today's information age. Granted I've been doing this for some time, but to the everyday investor the old adage of "The Devil is In the Details" is certainly applicable as you flip on the evening news.

Me being the perpetual wiseass, I would comedically argue that investing in the current financial markets is analagous to walking a circus highwire while trying to remove a monster wedgie.

The basic concept of investing implies that you will face a certain amount of risk by handing over your money to some suit on Wall Street or your Aunt Bettie who has worked at your local bank for the last 25 years. The trick is, identifying those investments that will pay off the maximum amount possible with as little risk as possible.

I see you nodding with anxious anticipation – I'll get to the point soon, but let me give you the 20 second review of what a "safe investment" actually entails.

Technically, the only investments I consider safe are those of belonging to the fixed income markets. Yet, some fixed income investment vehicles can default or go bust as well, so any potential “safe investment” should always be taken with a grain of salt.

The first place you should always turn to for a safe investment is a banking institution. Your money is federally insured (up to $100,000 per account) and often provides a guaranteed, albeit small, return on your capital.

My personal strategy involves the services of two different banks. One is a local bank that I can walk in, yell at someone if I find a problem, and provides a network of free ATM machines for cash withdrawals. The second is always an online bank that pays out a very generous interest rate, often in the 4% to 5% range. The trick is to electronically link these accounts together via the internet, so cash can be transferred between the two accounts quickly and easily.

A solid second choice would be a Certificate of Deposit (CD) from a banking institution or a type of government issued bond. The only caveat being that your cash is unavailable for a specific amount of time, and if withdrawn prematurely, a substantial penalty is often charged. The yields on these investments can range from 3% to 6% annual returns. One of the more popular federal bonds are known as an I Savings Bond, which can be easily purchased at TreasuryDirect.

A lesser known method of what I will call "pseudo safe investments" actually include publicly traded stocks. These are by no means as safe as the fixed income mentioned above, but certain stocks on Wall Street are often referred to as defensive stocks because they represent a safe haven for investors looking for a better ROI than traditional cash accounts.

These generally include companies whose products are considered essential for our contemporary way of life, such as food, electricity and even certain vices of an addictive nature. These stocks often pay a cash dividend just like your savings account, some of which pay a dividend (comparable to interest in a savings account) as high as 10%. Plus, they offer the very real possibility of the stock increasing in value while you maintain ownership.

For example, consider the stock chart of Emerson Electric (NYSE: EMR), which is an electric company in based in St. Louis. EMR pays a relatively low dividend around 2.5% over the course of the year, but the actual stock increased in value by 16.7%.

Chart #1: 1 year chart of EMR.

Granted, I may not the best mathematician in the world and I rarely showed up for my advanced calculus classes, but I'm greedy enough to know a 17% return on my investment beats the heck out of a meager 5% interest rate from a savings account.

However, there is no amount of money worth driving yourself nuts over. Therefore, if you can envision yourself going nuts due to lack of sleep worrying about a potential recession, my suggestion would be dropping your cash into something more suitable to your comfort levels.

If questions/comments/concerns arise, I would be more than happy to assist.

Disclaimer: Author does not have a position in Emerson Electronic at the time of publishing. This article is for informational use only and should not be endorsed as a professional recommendation.