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Most folks know where to invest money in good times, but when it appears like the sky might be falling, knowing where you can invest money and how exactly to invest it becomes a puzzle. In 2014 and 2015 good investments may be hard to find, especially if yesterday’s good investments like stocks and bonds tank. This is simply not a prediction, but rather a “heads up.” You can’t prepare if you’re not aware, so let’s take a closer consider the sky.

Everybody knows that safe choices like money market funds and bank savings accounts don’t appear to be good investments for 2014 because they pay peanuts. But what if the sky starts falling: either interest levels ignite and/or the stock market tanks? Either way or both… where you can invest money may be the question of your day. Safe choices can look like good investments for parking money that must definitely be safe.

Wall Street’s traditional response to where you can invest money: put about 60% into stocks with about 40% in bonds holding a cash reserve on the sidelines. Problem: in 2014 and 2015 losses in stocks will not be offset by gains in bonds… as was the case going back 30 years roughly. If interest levels soar from today’s record-low levels, neither stocks nor bonds appear to be good investments.

For over 30 years interest rates were falling and bonds were generally good investments. Binomo With today’s ridiculously low rates (created by our government to stimulate the economy) a rebound in interest levels is in the cards (as the government unwinds its stimulus). When that occurs, bonds will no longer be where to invest money for higher interest income with relative safety. Bonds aren’t good investments when rates go up; they lose money. That’s the way it works. How exactly to spend money on bonds in 2014 and 2015 if rates take off: reduce and choose safety.

Stocks had been excellent investments five years running as the year 2014 began. This was at least in part due to government stimulus and cheap money. In a way, stocks were where you can invest money because nothing looked cheap aside from money (short-term interest rates were set at about one-tenth of one percent). With a gain of over 150% in five years, the downside risk in the currency markets is mounting. This begs the question of how exactly to invest profit stocks if the sky starts to check ominous.

Remember that the stock market is truly a market of stocks, meaning that almost all stocks get hit once the market crumbles – but at least a few will undoubtedly be good investments. And the ultimate way to find good investments in a negative market would be to watch the price action. For example, because the market climbed 30% in 2013, some gold stocks were down about 50% by early 2014. Unless you know how to spend money on or how to pick a specific gold stock… you might like to know where you can invest money to obtain a piece of this action. The answer would be to invest profit gold funds and let them select the gold stocks for you personally.

The bottom line is that in 2014 and 2015 investors face an uphill battle, because both stocks and bonds look pricey. That displays a fresh challenge to today’s investor searching for where to invest money. We are facing uncharted waters in this modern electronic world, where no one really knows how to invest or how to locate good investments for future years. This includes the big investors like life insurance companies and pension funds.

My suggestion is to take some profits in your stocks and bonds, as the tide will turn eventually or even in 2014 or 2015. Then you’ll have a cash reserve, so you can take advantage of the situation because the skies darkens. Smart investors are always searching for where you can invest money next, especially when a big change of trend is in the cards. At such times, yesterday’s underperforming sectors or industries often become today’s good investments.