<prompt> Human: I think my parents are getting some bad advice from the bank...background: 70s with 1m to invest; very risk advise and capital preservation is key; very unhappy with the 1 rates of money market funds; they would like liquidity of that money. The bank is steering almost pushing them to a LIBOR interest rate based annuity that pays 2.4 variable but locked in for 7 years. I think they should put the money into some vanguard products or similar that are low risk and long term. Id like to ask two pieces of advice. 1. Any suggestion on investing that money in a safer investment with 2-5 return. 2. How to I explain to them that the LIBOR annuity that the bank is pushing is a bad thing?  <response>: 1. There is nothing risk averse that is going to get you anywhere near 5. The only totally risk free return is the US Treasury and for 10y the return is 1.55 per year. You can get higher returns than that, but you are either taking more risk or sacrificing liquidity. Do not fool yourself into thinking Vanguard or any other product is going to change that fact. If you find something higher than 1.55 you are taking on extra risk someplace, you might not be able to identify it, but it is there because otherwise the professionals would have push that risk to 1.55. 2. Your parents are giving the bank there 1m dollars and letting them invest it. If another 2008 happens, and the banks go under, this investment is not FDIC insured. Does getting 2.4 Libor seem enough to take on the risk that all of their money will be gone if the bank fails? The bank is only willing to pay your parents 2.4 Libor, because no other large professional investors think Pension funds, Endowments etc arent willing to give the banks that money so they have to go to the less informed to find investors suckers 