Investing your savings for retirement is nerve-racking enough without the added complication of not being able to understand the vocabulary involved! With this in mind, we thought you might appreciate a brief description of the main savings and investment products on the market.

Representative

Depending on your goals and risk tolerance, several options are available. To help build a suitable investment portfolio, you'll probably meet with a representative, someone listed with one or more regulatory bodies who is authorized to distribute various financial products and services.

Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs)

Although this type of investment is not all that popular these days because of low interest rates, you might also consider guaranteed investment certificates (GICs).

These securities, which are issued by financial institutions, require a low initial deposit and offer guaranteed interest rates for a specific length of time. They usually can't be cashed in before maturity.

Multiple-Strategy Investments

Of all possible investment vehicles, multiple-strategy investments are probably the least well known.

They are fixed term deposits with guaranteed capital. Investments are generally diversified by geographical area among various asset categories (stocks, bonds, currency, etc.) in accordance with different strategies, and based more on the skills of the manager than underlying market trends. This type of investment can provide good returns regardless of market fluctuations.

Segregated Funds

Segregated funds, on the other hand, are offered only by insurance companies through individual variable contracts, and guarantee invested capital up to 100% in case of death.

Desjardins Financial Security's Guaranteed Investment Funds - Helios Contract represent this type of investment.

Mutual Funds

There is also a wide variety of mutual funds, which take the combined contributions of a group of investors and purchase stocks, bonds, Treasury bills, etc.

These funds, while not providing a capital guarantee, do present an attractive potential for long-term growth.

Securities

Lastly, securities are stocks, bonds, options and futures; holders of these securities are issued certificates of ownership. Security prices are negotiated on the stock market.