Now that you have your goals in place, it's time to familiarize yourself with the most common investment instruments.

Standard & Poor's provides independent investment research including ratings on various investment instruments.

These investment instruments can be bought or sold, depending on what the Fed decides.

The yield spread analysis also helps investors and interested people understand the market's trend when it comes to various investment instruments.

But if you're just getting started as an investor, it's best not to leap into complicated, high-risk investment instruments.

Every month, you invest the same exact amount of money - whether it's $25, $100 or $500 - in the same investment instrument.

It is thus an extremely liquid investment instrument.

Although patient capital can be considered a traditional investment instrument, it has gained new life with the rise in environmentally and socially responsible enterprises.

"There is a secular shift as customers move out of traditional financing and investment instruments into other vehicles."

The only way to really diversify is not by country, but by investment instrument and level of risk.