When women ask me what the most important piece of financial advice is, I reply: the best time to start investing is yesterday (open in new tab). Today is ideal because it is not (yet) possible.

But in reality, not everyone is accustomed to the risks of investing. Several people have asked me how they can invest with no risk. Or even better, investments that will give them really high returns without heartache (i.e., they want to find stocks like they did before they became Apple or Google).

I'm here to tell you that investing doesn't work that way. When we invest, there is no such thing as a return without at least some risk. And even if that guy at work says it's a "hot stock," there is no sure thing (open in new tab). (If you're in a Zoom meeting, feel free to turn off the camera and roll your eyes as often as you like.)

That's because markets tend to be "efficient (open in new tab)". There are plenty of professional traders, portfolio managers, and analysts who spend their entire careers researching and investing.

But there is good news: there are some non-sexy, low-risk ways (open in new tab) to earn returns.

1. pay down credit card debt

Credit card companies typically charge double-digit percent interest on balances (currently averaging around 16 percent (open in new tab)). This is the money you pay the credit card company instead of borrowing from them. If you plan to pay it off (opens in new tab), you can save double-digit percentages of the money you owe.

2. Take advantage of your employer's 401(k) match

If your employer offers a 401(k) match (opens in new tab), do whatever you can to take full advantage of it. Every employer's benefit package is different, so you will need to check the details of how your employer is structured, but usually it is set up so that if you contribute a portion of your salary to your 401(k) (open in new tab), your employer will contribute some as well. There may be conditions regarding when that money becomes yours, but it is literally free money. And the most common match is 50 cents per dollar (opens in new tab) until the maximum amount is reached, which is like a 50% return on your contribution.

3. If you really only want minimal risk and accept minimal return, there are old-fashioned savings accounts (opens in new tab) that are FDIC-insured (low risk) and pay a small amount of interest. Today, the average interest rate on a savings account is 0.06% (opens in new tab). (Again, expect "low risk" and "low return.")

At Ellevest, we typically use emergency funds (opens in new tab). (We don't want to take any risks.) and savings accounts only for funds you expect to need in the next year or two.

4. Examine Government Bonds

When you buy government bonds from the government, you are in effect lending money to the U.S. government. Government bonds are considered low-risk because most people expect the U.S. government to be around for the long term and repay its loans. (After all, the government always has the power to print more money.) The current interest rate on 3-month Treasuries (open in new tab) is 0.06%. Investing in long-term government bonds (open in new tab) will yield a slightly higher return of 1.89 percent over 30 years.

5. Have a diversified portfolio-this is the best bet for building wealth

I know, I know, it may not be the advice you came here for, but hear me out. If what you really want is a way to mute (not eliminate, but mute) the stomach-churning market declines that come with investing, that's where diversification (open in new tab) comes in.

Diversification basically means not putting all your financial eggs in one basket. Diversification means building an investment portfolio consisting of different types of investments, a tried-and-true investment approach we employ at Ellevest (open in new tab).

How to get started: start by diversifying the asset classes (i.e., types of investments such as stocks, bonds, real estate, and other "alternatives") in your investment portfolio. Lower-risk asset classes can help soften the impact of market downturns and, in some cases, rising inflation, which can be caused by higher-risk asset classes. Then, within those asset classes, you can further diversify your investments. For example, within the asset class of equities, one could hold stocks of large, small, high-tech, retail, U.S., and foreign companies.

Of course, diversification has the opposite effect: if one of your investments becomes Apple or Google, your portfolio will not grow as much as if you invested in that one company. But that is a super risky approach. No one can predict (opens in new tab) what will happen in the future to an investment. Almost no one (opens in new tab) can even guess correctly.

TL, DR: Historically speaking (opens in new tab), the best way to build wealth (and thus power (opens in new tab)) if you want to make your big goals a reality is to invest consistently, little by little, from your salary.

Ellevest is giving Marie Claire readers $20 to start investing today. (Open in new tab) Go ahead, start investing.

Sally Krawcheck is CEO and co-founder of Ellevest (open in new tab), a financial firm by women for women. She is the former CFO of Citi and former CEO of Merrill Lynch and Smith Barney