Yes, there are alternatives to stocks

THE stock market has been strutting into the spotlight lately, with talk – however premature – of a new artificial intelligence (AI)-driven bull market popping up nearly everywhere you turn.

Amid all the hoopla, you can easily miss the solid returns being posted by far less glamorous but always important and, at the moment, compelling asset classes: fixed-income investments, including bonds and cash.

Especially for those with short time horizons – whether you are in retirement or close to it, or saving for a house, education, a car, a vacation or any other worthwhile purpose – these lower-risk investments are worth a close look.