Florida Town Named a Steal for Affordability

A handful of Florida cities are considered a real steal in terms of affordability, when it comes to cost of living, the average cost of a home and more. That's really great to learn, because housing costs have gone up drastically over the past decade, so finding a place with reasonable housing costs and a generally low cost of living goes a long way. If you're looking to relocate and want to live in an area with a reasonable cost of living, then you should do some research on the most affordable cities in your chosen destination.

The experts at Redfin have put together a feature on affordability and the most reasonable places to live in Florida. Redfin, which is based in Seattle, Washington, offers residential real estate brokerage and mortgage origination services. "We pair local Redfin agents with powerful technology to help you find the right home, sell your current home for top dollar, and save thousands on fees," they state. Some of the benefits the Redfin offers including refreshing their listings every two minutes, "so you'll get notified when the perfect home hits the market," as well as on-demand tours, so you can view homes quickly without having to actually travel there. That comes in handy when you're looking for a home far away and can't travel there to look at every house that perks your interest. To compliment their real estates services, Redfin also has a blog, which is where their experts shared information and research about the most affordable areas in the state.

For Florida, Redfin says the most affordable place to find a home in the state is Ocala. According to their research, the median home price is $260,000, average sale price per square foot is $163, average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $1,163 and median household income is $46,841. The closest major metro is Gainesville, which is about 40 miles away. "If you’re considering moving to this area make sure to visit one of the parks like Tuscawilla Park or Jervey Gantt Park, explore downtown historic Ocala where you’ll find shops and restaurants, or check out Petting Zoo Ocala," Redfin suggests. Coming in at No. 2 on the tally is Gainesville, which has numbers fairly close to Ocala. Some of the high points of Gainsville are the beautiful University of Florida campus, the city's Historic District, the Butterfly Rainforest and Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, according to the outlet. I'm happy to see both Florida cities on the tally for affordability.

If you have some money wasting away in a savings account that doesn't have interest, then you might want to consider making your money grow with low-risk investments. Financial experts say that certain low-risk investments can really help pad your savings.

Before we get into the best low-risk investments, let's look at what exactly is a low-risk investment. The official definition is basically what you would expect from the definition of a low-risk investment. According to the financial experts at Capital.com, it's "an investment where there is perceived to be just a slight chance of losing some or all of your money. Low risk investments offer you a security blanket as they’re not likely to suddenly drop in value."

In contrast, according to Investopedia.com, "A high-risk investment is one for which there is either a large percentage chance of loss of capital or under-performance—or a relatively high chance of a devastating loss." They add that, "The first of these is intuitive, if subjective: If you were told there’s a 50/50 chance that your investment will earn your expected return, you may find that quite risky." So, for example, a 50/50 risk might not seem risky to some, but it might seem risky to others. An investment with a 99% risk will obviously seem risky to everyone. But, with high-risk investments come big payouts, so that's what lures people in. For example, a separate article from Investopedia.com states that some high-risk investments can double your money. That's obviously a much bigger return than you would see in your average investment. As they state, "Make no mistake, there is no guaranteed way to double your money with any investment. But there are plenty of examples of investments that doubled or more in a short period of time."

So, if you're interested in making a ton of money, or losing it all, high-risk investments such as investing in foreign emerging markets may be of interest to you. "A country experiencing a growing economy can be an ideal investment opportunity," experts at Investopedia.com state. "Investors can buy government bonds, stocks, or sectors with that country experiencing hyper-growth or ETFs that represent a growing sector of stocks." They add "spurts in economic growth in countries are rare events that, though risky, can provide investors with a slew of brand new companies to invest in to bolster personal portfolios."

Now, let's move onto some low-risk investments for those who don't want to risk losing their money. Of course, talk to your financial advisor before making any of these moves.

You've probably heard of CDs being low-risk investments. Fidelity.com explains that "CDs provide reliable, fixed-rate returns on a lump sum of money over a fixed period of time, such as six months, one year, or five years." They add that the great thing is that if you "get a traditional CD at a bank or credit union where they are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or the National Credit Union Association (NCUA)." Usually, CDs have a minimum deposit, and you’ll have to pay a penalty if you take your money out too soon.

High-yield savings accounts are like your regular savings account, but they earn more interest. "You can use these accounts for long-term savings goals or to hold extra money from your checking account," CreditKarma.com states. "For example, if you want to start saving for a house or building up an emergency fund, this could be a great option."

Forbes.com says that right now, the risk level for U.S. treasury bills, notes and bonds is "very low." They add that, "U.S. Treasury securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. Historically, the U.S. has always paid its debts, which helps to ensure that Treasurys are the lowest-risk investments you can own."

Fidelity.com states that, "Money market funds are mutual funds that invest in short-term, low-risk assets like Treasury and government securities, commercial paper, or municipal debt—depending on the focus of the fund." They add that, "Because their underlying investments are typically high quality, they are generally less volatile than other types of mutual funds, such as stock funds."

Fixed annuities are a pretty safe bet. As Forbes.com explains, "Fixed annuities are a popular type of annuity contract that are frequently used for retirement planning, but can also be useful for medium-term financial goals." They add that, "Sold by insurance companies and financial services companies, a fixed annuity guarantees a fixed rate of return over a set period of time, regardless of market conditions."

People talk about stepping outside of their comfort zone in life, but really, investing isn't a place to do this. You know how much money you have to "play" with, so if you're worried about putting too much money in the market, these low-risk investments could still help you make money on your money.