High yield: Since, no offense, you do not sound like a hugely experienced investor for you the easiest route is probably through exchange traded funds. You will need to establish a brokerage account and probably have at least $5,000 to invest to make the commissions (fee charged for buying/selling) irrelevant at most internet brokers. From there, you can look into funds like Barclays iShares High Yield (symbol: HYG) or google "high yeild bond etf" to find others. Basic hazard: The underlying value of the bonds may go down, meaning you may be getting a decent yield but the value (equity) of your position has decreased. This could happen if the companies that the fund holds default on their debt, and a high yield fund inherently tends to hold bonds with relatively high default risk and high yield. (Example: If you were a bank, wouldn't you lend someone money at a lower interest rate if you felt more certain that they would pay you back? And vice versa at a high rate to that guy who never pays people back?) IMHO: HY ETF's are probably a pretty good bet right now. High yield bonds, which are the underlying holdings of a HY ETF, have historically been good investments. Also, do not be confused by the term "junk bond" or think that Mike Milken went to jail for trading in them. A junk bond is just debt that is rated lower and pays more cause of concern that the company might not repay the debt, ie, a high yield bond. Not illegal at all. Milken went to jail for other reasons. There is also the risk presented by the fact that if and when any underlying securities default, you will be very low on the order of people to be "paid" from what is left of the company. Another alternative would be to buy stock (=shares, equity) in companies that pay very high dividends. You have to analyze each company one by one to see why it is paying such a high yield. A company paying over 6-7% dividend is unusual. [H]edge funds: Probably stay away from these. These are private investment companies that, in general, go something like this: They have, as "limited partners" a number of wealthy people and institutions. Likewise, there are "managing partners" who make investment decisions with the money that the partners have put in the fund. This is as opposed to a public company, where shares are traded on the open stock market. In general, hedge funds have high barriers to partnership. They usually require between five to a hundred million U.S. dollars to become a limited partner so the limited partners (investors) are considered "experienced" or "savvy" or whatever and thus hedge funds have been exempted from a lot of laws governing traditional investment instruments like stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. Also, hedge funds are in a stormy regulatory environment that would be very unfavorable for a novice no matter how much money he or she has. An analysis of the full advantages and liabilities of private investment companies is very complicated and boring unless you are fascinated by math, statistic, econometrics, and law, which some people are. Best of luck & no intent to condescend, really. You've given me a great opportunity to reinforce the fact that 'i' goes before 'e' in 'yield.' I don't have a spectacular return record myself but I do believe what I've said above is true re: easiest way to get into high yield & [h]edge funds.