Financial products for consumers are made available to provide the public a means to save, invest, and get insurance and loans. There are several types of these instruments according to their risks and returns. To be educated about these is a very useful thing for citizens as they might consider availing of the offers in the future.

Government departments and private establishments can open up offers for bonds in which they invite potential creditors in. The funds gathered through the issued instruments would be used for the functions of the issuers. Creditors are guaranteed profit in the fixed interest rate they propose which is payable long term, together with the exact amount provided for credit.

In contrast, the Treasury bills or T bills issued by the government are payable for a matter of less than a year, the longest being six months. They are passed to address the short term financing needs of agencies and investors can gain profit that amounts to the difference between the face value and the price at which the T bill was issued.

Short term notes are more or less similar to government bonds in that their interest rates are fixed; however, they are issued by financing institutions such as banks for a period of one to five years. These tap issues can be subscribed to at anytime of the year unlike government bonds that can only be available four times annually.

People can also invest by buying shares from certain establishments. In doing this, they are guaranteed to received dividends annually or several times a year, and are allowed to partake in the decision making processes for the companies. Companies offer these to again finance, continue and expand their operations.

Investment funds are another set of issues from the banks, insurance companies or brokerage firms. They are also considered as shares but the funds are used not to manufacture or provide products and services. Instead, they concentrate on real estate assets.

Options and warrants are two other instruments that allow citizens to sell and buy rights to shares. The latter can be used for a longer period though compared with the former; they are also capable of providing opportunities to increase capital.

In order for citizens to decide better on what course of action to take for the financial products for consumers, they can find an adviser. These people would be able to help individuals assess the pros and cons of each instrument in order to get the best returns and lower risks.