Best options for saving for the future?

I have a savings account and some Cd's in the bank, also I have a retirement plan through work like 401K, but what else are good investments?

if i were you, id take advantage of roth-IRA's. Mutual funds are pretty good investments, the only problem is finding a good broker.

interest rates are rising-so very bad for bonds, i believe almost all countries are inflating their currencies, therefore all are losing buying power. we are now at a time where you will do well just not to lose any purchasing power. Everbank has a CD that earns 6 to 7%, and will do well when the dollar tanks. i say buy gold and silver non collectible coins from APMEX, still very cheap. warren buffet and bill gates have bought a lot of silver, the chinese and arabs are buying gold. COMMODITIES ARE IN A LONG TERM BULL MARKET!

I am somewhat in agreement with tapunger. However, the future is very probabilistic--not certain. Even though interest rates are currently rising, they are still less than the rate of inflation. That is why we hear all the discussion about the fact that Americans are spending more than they are saving. Why save when next year your money is going to be worth less than today? The government likes to lie about the inflation rate by reporting the core rate of inflation rather than the real rate. The core rate does not include energy and food.

You may have heard the term diversification. Because the future is probabilistic, investment advisors will tell you to diversify your investments. That is because no one knows what the future holds.

Since I do not know what your 401K contains, I do not know how well it is diversified. If it contains only stock in the company you work for, that is very bad. If however, it contains mutual funds that is better--more diversified. If it contains mutual funds with investments outside the US, that is even better, more diversified politically. However, if the mutual funds that it is invested in do not have a good track record, that is not so good.

As you are probably aware, because Greenspan reduced interest rates to zero back in 2001, there was a monumental housing boom with everybody buying a new house with essentially free money. There is a lot of worry and rightfully so that the chickens are going to come home to roost because of this. That is interest rates will rise. People's ARM's will rise and they will no longer afford to pay the mortgage on their 4000 sq ft homes, much less the heating bill. Banks will be stuck with foreclosed homes that they can not get rid of at any price, because people can not afford to heat them. The banks will collapse along with the rest of the economy. And of course the government will have to bail them out. We will be talking trillions of dollars. Money the government does not have. The only way the government will be able to save itsself is through hyper inflation. That way they can pay back the trillions they have borrowed with dollars worth only pennies.

Gold has always been considered a haven of safety in such times. I tend to believe that oil will be even a better haven of safety because the world can not function without oil and the supply is diminishing. However, if the world plunges into a depression, the price of all assests will diminish and cash is king.

Now for the bottom line. Unless you have a crystal ball, the future is unsure. So diversification is one way to minimize the chance that you are going to guess wrong.

A mutual fund strong in areas that appear to have growth prospecs is a good bet, one with investments in oil, gold, foreign securities, medical stocks, maybe a little technology. But if the chickens do come home to roost, there will be a major depression and major inflation both at the same time. The government will have no other choice.
They may even nationalize the oil companies. Gold will be the best bet.

I-Bonds from Treasurydirect.com would be a good addition to your portfolio. Curently pay 6.73% interest and has a built in inflation protector. You do not pay taxes on the income until you cash them in. You can therefore defer taxes for 30 years if you hold to maturity.

Open an account in ameritrade.com and drop me a line if you need more help.