Stocks, bonds or CDS? Q:

When investing for my kids, is it better to put the money in stocks, bonds or CDS? — B.P., Knoxville, Tenn.

A:

It depends on how old they are and your goals. For example, are they still quite young and not heading to college for many years? Or are they 16 and heading to college in a year or two? Or are they older, perhaps in their late 20s, and aiming to buy a home in a few years?

For long-term dollars that you can leave invested for at least five to 10 years, consider stocks, which have outperformed just about all alternatives over long periods. You can invest in stocks easily via a low-fee, broad-market index fund, such as one based on the S&P 500. It can also be good to invest in the stocks of a few companies your kids know and like. If you then follow them together, they’ll learn more about investing.

With shorter-term dollars that you’ll need within a few years, favor less-volatile investments, such as bonds, CDS or money market accounts. Learn more about U.S. savings bonds and Treasury bonds, bills and notes at Treasurydirect.gov.

Q:

What’s “front-running”? — R.A., Columbus, Ohio

A:

It’s when someone invests with the aim of profiting from inside information that can affect the investment’s price. For instance, a mutual fund manager might buy a stock for her personal portfolio and then buy lots of it for her fund, which could drive the price up, giving her shares a boost. Alternatively, a broker who knows that his firm will soon recommend a company might buy shares of it for himself. Some, but not all, kinds of front-running are illegal.