I have about $300K in a savings account. I realize this isn't the best
way to maxmize my return. I am looking for an informed answer that
gives me the outline for how best to invest that money. Here are my
paramenters:
-- My goal is to have the money grow at least 10% per year
-- I would like some flexibility as to pulling out money should I need
it (2-4 week accessiblity)
-- I don't want to lose the money
-- No real estate, get rich quick schemes, small business etc.
Legitimate institutional investments only.

---

Clarification of Question by iamchmod-ga on 22 Aug 2006 15:05 PDT

I should have stated this differently "-- I don't want to lose the
money" - on the risk spectrum, I would say I am conservative as
opposed to aggressive.

There is absolutely positively no way that you can require a minimum
of a 10% annual return with the chance of losing money.  Investing is
all risk vs reward - the more return you want, the more risks you have
to take.  The stock market historically over the long term returns
about 8% a year.  However, if you need the money on short notice (2-4
weeks) then there is a reasonable chance that your return will be much
less than 8%.  If you need the money available and totally safe, a
mutual fund or laddered CDs can get you return of around 4-5%.

The first sentence in the above comment should read "10% annual return
WITHOUT the chance of losing money."

If you plan to be an active investor, real estate is probably the best
way to go.  But since it sounds like you are interested in a more
passive investment, you are probably best off just buying an ETF, like
SPY.  It is very liquid, so you can get the money out at any time. 
Historically, it has average about %10 per year in returns.  However,
that is a very long run view of returns. In the short run, you can
lose money.  SPY goes as the S&P 500 index goes. If you plan on taking
out the money in less than a year, you will have to pay %35 capital
gains tax on any gains.  If you hold longer than a year, it is only
%20 capital gains tax.

Real estate is one of the very few ways you can invest your money and
still have it. Using the 300K as collateral will allow you to buy
property on time and still have all or most of the 300K in the bank.
The cash flow from your investment is calculated from an initial nut
of zero!

In my experience, Property is the safest & best.

Interestingly, I recently saw a Summary of the finances of a Pension
Fund run by a UK University and the value of their Liabilities was £55
million; their Assets £40 million.

Their investment 'strategy' (sic) had been to 'invest' in (approx):

UK Gilts 20%
UK & Overseas Equities 60%
Corporate Bonds 20%

Of course, you can be sure that the 'professionals' who had advised on
the investments would have come out smiling.

Beware: 10% returns are not easy!

Bryan

Real estate may offer the best return, but iamchmod-ga wants liquidity.
The possible needs for immediate liquidity can usually be estimated, however.

The usual advice on investment is to put some of the money in less
liquid but more promising investments, and keep some in easily sold
investments, based on anticipated need, which could be emergency
medical costs (depending on how medical insurance covers these),
sudden need for a new car, or other more personal eventualities.

If you think the majority of your money will be invested atleast 10
years then I recommend an S&P 500 index fund.  It is hard to imagine
imagine the stock market as a whole losing money over a 10+ year time
period.  This previous answer describes this well:
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=438180

The first S&P fund (Vanguard) has averaged 12% annually since
inception in 1976, and over the last 10 years (not a great time to be
invested) it averaged 8.8%.  I think it is safe to say that 10% is a
very reasonable expectation for this index over a long period of time.

Vanguard offers special free services to large investors ($250,000+)
that you can take advantage of.  Their fees are already about as low
as you can find, and you'll even get discounts on those with the large
account.  Here is their page describing the special services you'll
get as a large investor:
http://flagship2.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/content/AccountServ/Premium/ATSVoySvcsOVContent.jsp
Check out their S&P fund and the "Admiral Shares" option for large
investors... it has an expense ratio of only .09%:
http://flagship2.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/FundsSnapshot?FundId=0540&FundIntExt=INT

You might want to spend some time learning options trading. While
popular opinion is that options trading is very risky, options are
actually risk management tools used by many institutions and there are
some strategies that are structured to create investment portfolios
that provide 100% capital protection while offering a chance to enjoy
substantial gains (>10% per annum)

A very good example is the Costless Collar strategy. Many senior
executives at publicly traded companies who have large positions in
their company's stock utilize costless collars as a way to protect
their personal wealth. To learn more about this particular options
strategy, go to <a href="www.theoptionsguide.com/costless-collar.aspx">www.theoptionsguide.com/costless-collar.aspx</a>

With 300k, you can setup costless collars on a handful of growth
stocks to diversify the risks.

I'm amazed that you said: "No Real Estate"! Absolutely, real estate is
the best option, even more when you have 300 Grand to invest! Look at
my case: I'm a nobody who, with 7000 deep in debt was able to buy a
Condo for 140,000 in 2004. I had no idea of how to manage my debts and
I bought a property just for the sake of not losing it all on renting
an apartment. With my bad habits I got deeper in debt up to 20,000.
But two months ago (this is 2 years after I bought) my money problems
forced me to sell my condo and use the equity to get out of debt. I
had no choice since i was facing foreclosure... but anyway, I had
managed to create an equity of over 50,000 in just two years because I
just sold it for 190,000!! that's more than what I made in the same
two years in my regular job!!! of course, I'm far from having a great
pay job. anyway my point with all this is that: I HAD NO CASH AND
STILL MANAGED TO MAKE A GAIN OF 50000 IN 2 YEARS FROM REAL ESTATE!
Imagine having 300K to be a full time real estate investor!! I got out
of debt and still had some money left, just for buying a property even
without thinking that it was AN INVESTMENT. I hope you get the point.
Remember, what makes real estate so great is in one word: LEVERAGE.
Ah, I'm light-years far from being a real estate expert but I can tell
you that now that I had this ONE experience in the field, I'm totally
fired-up and ready to follow the steps to become a real estate
investor!
Ok, this was my little grain of sand (as they say in spanish). Good luck!!

You should try looking at this Indian financial website, that enables
NRIs-non resident indian & some foreign nationals/citizens to invest
into indian mutual funds and indian stock markets online.
http://www.nriinvestindia.com/how_to_invest_indian_mutual_funds.html.html

I would still invest in foreclosure homes. The benefit of buying
foreclosure homes is not only a low down payment, but also the
possibility of negotiating low interest rates with the lender.
Foreclosure listings include details about current owners of
foreclosure properties, and by contacting them you can start
negotiating on the price and rates of the foreclosed real estate you
are interested in. Find out all you need to know about foreclosure
sales by subscribing to a foreclosure service providing foreclosure
listings such as http://www.foreclosuredeals.com , and you will
certainly locate attractive offers of foreclosure homes in your
region. By searching through a comprehensive list, you will get the
best tips on properties for sale by their new owners and will be able
to take your pick among the great investment opportunities available.