Knowing that you're a EU resident, putting the money in a savings account will only compensate for inflation. Any other option with 'about the same risk level' of 'practically none' is not available. So, your question is wrong, because of the absence of the major limitation you put on the particular investment (a risk-free gain or something very similar).
Depending on the money and time you wish to invest, you can invest a small portion of your money in crowd funds, whose return on investment is too high for its risk. If you have a lot more money and time to spare, you can start your own hedge fund, which by buying derivatives will reduce its risk.

Buy gold.

Interesting idea about the crowd funds, so could you elaborate? Fund what? How big a percentage? How much interest would that give? What are the risks and how big are they?

As for gold: why? I suppose it takes the inflation problem away, but is it worth the hassle? Transaction costs? Increased risk I assume? Does gold beat bank account? Other opinions?

Anything but put it into a bank. Interest rates are so low at the moment that inflation will erode its value. Does holland have any children's trust funds that could provide a bit better return at low risk?

Other than that find something that you think will be collectible and enjoy researching the subject and making an investment. Look at art, magic cards, pottery, handbags, music memorabilia (Michael Jackson or Beatles stuff). Obv these arn't risk free but can be rewarding.

With regards to crowd funding look into funding circle.com if Dutch people can invest. The returns can be quite good, but the risk is higher. I can provide a low ( but not zero) risk strategy if you're interested.

I am not qualified to give financial advice and any advice given is in good faith, one should always make your own enquiries and decisions and only invest amounts you feel comfortable with. You whole life is at risk if the whole lot goes wrong.

Gold - no guarantees gold will be worth more in 2 years than it is now. Gold traditionally is a safe haven purchase. If stocks and shares and the world economy are buoyant, gold doesn't increase too much or reverses. If the economy tanks, gold price can increase as people withdraw from other markets and put it into gold.

Give it all to an animal charity.

steephie, numerous crowd funding sites pop-up on Google, also aimed at (local) dutch investors. According to dutch law they provide information regarding investments and the usual tricks (spread the money along different opportunities). Next to all opportunities are medium-term to long-term investments, which could conflict with your wish to use the money after two years.
An idea could be that you note down what you want to do with the money (e.g. only in sustainable energy), think about what percentage of your money you'd like to invest, and what percentage you'd like to invest in selected projects. Then argue why you'd like to invest in those projects and talk to your parents about it. I need to join Maniac regarding further advice, especially to minors. Getting a loan in order to invest more money (as some derivatives work) is usually a bad idea (and I don't think you're capable of running such a business at your age).

I'm definitely interested in the low risk strategy. And don't worry, I'm only looking for idea's to consider when I'm bored. I'm not going to do anything with money just because you say so. Besides, I will most likely discuss with my parents as well before doing it, if I decide I want to. And I'm not going to invest all, I don't even feel comfortable with having all on one bank account with government's insurance lolz...
(overstatement)

That was to Maniac. Thanks for the advice so far guys.
And I may be willing to be unable to touch my money for longer if that's lucrative, since I'm not investing all my money in anything anyway.

As for getting a loan: hell no! I'm not a gambler, and not exactly a bussiness man yet either, I'm merely trying to figure out how I end up with the most money or at least still enough money by the time I'm 18.

So to be clear: if the reward is huge, I would still risk only maybe 10% of my total money, but that's really if the reward is like 50%. I'm willing to take risks but only risks where I lose little if I have bad luck and where I gain a bunch if everything goes as planned. Like, in the above example, I earn 20% on average if I have bad luck once and neutral luck the other time.

I'm aware of the fact that I have high demands, but I'd just like to know what's the best possible deal for this.

As for gold: how much trouble is it to buy gold? What happens to the actual gold? I mean, I have no desire to have all my money in gold at home, and a bank or something else would probably want a payment for the storage? Where is the gold kept? Does that cost me? Does the storage come with the gold, meaning it doesn't move but just changes owner? I know it wouldn't be a container full of gold, but it still has to be kept safe, and someone other than me has to have the responsibility.

So how does that work?

You can 'buy' gold on a site like IG index. In effect you are not buying the gold but betting that the price goes up. This is a spread betting site that is worth billions and is used by market traders to trade, shares, metals, currencies etc. I think you need to be 18 or have account in an adult's name. Spread betting is highly leveraged, you can lose your entire investment. It is interesting to look at the site though as you will be able to see graphs of how gold has performed over an extended period. You will see that gold can fall steeply as well as gain massively. The only fee is the 'spread' and interest charges that cover currency variations. 'Gold is traded in dollars so there is daily conversion adjustment to take into account if the dollar strengthens/ weakens against the Euro.

You are thinking about it the wrong way, steephie. You are you and (presumably) have a bright future. This is the time to be *more* risky, not less.

For a 2 year time frame you could buy shares in a stock index fund and have a good chance that the economy will improve enough that you will see a gain.

Collectibles work best over more than 10 years unless you buy into a fad and sell before the bubble bursts.

24 month CD has the same risk as a savings account but with a better interest rate.

@Maniac: thanks. So as I understand it, gold doesn't seem to be where I'm looking for, right?

@uclabb: How so? Why would I risk what I have? If I already have a bright future, why risk that? Furthermore, when would I stop taking risks? When I lose my money?

For now at least, I will only consider taking calculated risks that are practically not risks anymore, like, when having taken all odds and rewards into account, less than 1% chance of losing a big sum (like half my money, I just won't risk it all) and 99% of making a big sum. And I know that is probably unrealistic.

@Randomizer: What profit would I be looking at if it improves indeed? What if it doesn't improve?

@Draugnar: Sounds good, but for some reason so far I can only find deals that are worse than my current interest at the big banks locally. Should I consider foreign banks? Should I look at small banks? Are those safe?

I will of course check if the things you say count for me here too but I'd still rather do it this way than throw myself in the deep.

Sign up to 10 or so sports betting sites, taking advantage of their "free bet if you join us" offers.

Use the free bets from different sites to bet on all the likely outcomes of several sporting fixtures (or, if you're confident about your sporting knowledge, gamble properly)

Rake in a few hundred Euros. Never use the sites again.

This is best done when there is a major sporting event on, such as Euro 2014, as you get better offers. It is essentially free money, takes very little time, and is far more enjoyable than investing a few thousand and waiting a year.

if you are not massively rich, you cannot guarantee to hold onto anything. but i would def not suggest buying gold over an exchange or something. so-called paper gold. because the banks have sold way more gold than they actually have. they are banking on american recolonization of africa working out perfectly so that those contracts can be fulfilled.

if you want to invest in gold i would say buy it and take possession. but i am not even sure on gold. then again i am not sure on much. the thing is you are a have-not, and they are trying to take all of your money now. if you can follow current trends, then we will become a completely have and have-not economy. so maybe owning stock in a massive company? or owning land? you need to invest in things that people are forced to pay for. maybe medicine or law or something. but the banks control those prices too, and artificially inflate them. but you really should not put your money in anything that relies on discretionary consumer spending. because the consumers are getting all their wealth stripped.

Please, blankflag. No conspiracy theories and all. I am guaranteed to hold onto my money if I keep it where it is, in this context at least. It will just be worth less. And I would like more. That is where this is about. Having a starting capital as big as possible with almost complete certainty by the time I'm 18. From there I'll make myself massively risk, but for now I just want the best deal to get the most money in 2 years for certain.

haha, ok. good luck with that. ok, well, you are not really telling me anything so i cannot comment, but that advice was contingent on things continuing as they are. and you see the government stocking up on ammo and tanks and crap, so it looks like things will continue as they are. in america, at least.

people like you are maybe screwed. because you likely cannot invest yourself and if you try to hire someone they will likely just screw you out of your money and be protected by the government from any prosecution.

but if your criticism is that it is a conspiracy theory, then you obviously do not understand my advice. or you do not understand economics.

and if by investment capital you mean you are starting a business then you had better make sure it does not rely on discretionary consumer spending if you want a decent chance at success.

No offence, you just seem to be starting up about how 'the elites' try to ruin us all again.
I'm looking for a future plan, not an exit strategy.
Why can I not invest myself? There is this thing called economy. I have no reason to assume I will have any trouble earning money. Other than that I'm working on not needing to earn money. Why would someone who screws me be protected by the government?

By the way, massively risk has to be massively rich. I also forgot to add a smiley since it was meant funny although I am going to do it :P

the american banks committed massive fraud and obama issued orders to all police that they could not go after them for any fraud they had committed. saying that it would be done by the federal government. and then the federal government actually did nothing...

i just do not see any safe place to put your money now. that is the problem. you may not even be able to rely on things going on as they are. people have not been under this much oppression in the west... since who knows how long.

to be honest the best way to ensure you have money is to take the if you cant beat them join them approach. just whore yourself out to the most politically connected people you know. or try to work for the biggest corporation around. forget trying to make money independently of the system, like a startup with a great idea, because that is not the future. unless things make a dramatic turnaround.

For the record: this is not America. You earn money by doing nothing if you want, because that's what we can afford as a country. Gotta love those elites. Just because people want more doesn't mean it's not working; in fact it's vital for it to work.

For another record: just because the rich get richer doesn't mean the less rich get poorer.

And even if you're right, so what? You think it's a bad idea to turn my money into a bit more money? Is that going to ruin me?

What you are telling me is that I'm screwed and that you don't have a clue what I can do to help me. Meanwhile a fellow student smashed his phone so his insurance company gets him a new one for which he pays extra so he only has to pay 300. That's the biggest issue I've seen so far. People abusing 'the elites' and wasting a lot for it. Everybody profits here.

Even if I don't get a job I'll have a good life because I'm not really materialistic. I just get a new phone because my dad insists on it. I don't need more than half the subsidies you get for not doing anything here.

That isn't much. Who cares? I see a bunch of oppurtunities to earn a bunch of money every day. The beauty of it is that I don't want to become rich for myself, so I don't need to actually have the money, I just want to shuffle it from the rich to the poor and leave a nice insurance and a good life (by my measure which you would probably consider poor, but I would not want any more) for myself.

As for your latest post, which I just read, again, America is a long way from Holland. Thank god or whoever you believe in. As for your best approach, maybe I will try to work for the biggest corporation around. So? I asked how to make the most money out of my money by the time I'm 18.

not only is corruption in my opinion unfair but it is also inefficient. people could argue that communist china when the state controlled everything or the ussr were efficient. but i do not think so. when you have a very few controlling everything you have inefficiencies. you gave an example where someone broke his phone on purpose to take advantage of the system. but there is also lost opportunity. people have good ideas. they need an incentive to run with their ideas. if you have a centrally controlled society these new ideas are less likely to come out. and people are less likely to care if they are all always going to be have-nots, no matter how hard they work.

the elites are kind of stupid from time to time. and the more power they have the dumber they get. maybe the first few generations, or the ones who got the power are smart, that is how they got it. but then their children or whoever is appointed next in line probably is no genius, just got there from heredity or something. and pretty soon they are spending so much money on corruption that it is a massive drain on resources. corruption does cost money. propaganda costs money. buying tanks and ammo and maintaining a police state costs money. these are all massive inefficiencies.

for two years, it is not a long time, so i do not know. holland has a different property market than america so maybe buying a building and renting it out makes sense there. my first advice is that if you are renting some resource buy it. because then you will always have a customer. ... see i would say put it in a bank, since it is only 2 years, but with the eu and bail ins.... they may just take your money if they feel like it. so who knows.

Stop with this crap you're giving steephie, guys.

Look, steephie, you have unrealistic expectations for your returns. 20% average returns is not going to happen. Period. Even the best funds average 12% returns in a good year. And those are *very* risky funds.

If you want no risk, and I mean absolutely no risk, then buy some government bonds. In Europe they should give you a nice 4% return or so right now, which is better than inflation and beats what the bank is giving you.

Don't let these guys try to talk you into hedges or commodities or other *very risky* asset classes.

blankflag: I think you made at least one typo and possibly a couple, causing me to not understand your point. Although maybe I just don't understand your point.

Corruption is obviously unfair and inefficient, but what's the point in mentioning this?

What you say about communism: again, what's your point? Holland isn't a communist country. We just level the economy a little for everyone's sake. There's a lot of incentive to work and enough profit to make. For rich and poor alike. The poor aren't starving and the rich aren't ruling. That's all. Sure, the rich have more influence, but that's economy. Not communism. America is probably closer to the bad sides of communism than Holland, whatever you think about it. We are not being controlled. You'd do well to follow the law, and you have to pay some taxes and get some in return, and there is definitely some corruption (in my opinion it would be much more efficient to just tax in weighted percentages and give everyone the same amount of subsidy as base, instead of having people decide over every deal based on personal opinions. There would be less corruption. But hey, no government is ideal these days.) but that's pretty much it. We are truly protected by the law and it isn't as easily bypassed by either side, which is where it's for.
An example of why it isn't perfect: a family member has an illness which is effectively a handicap as well, and she needs a wheelchair which she deserves to get from the government given the laws we have, but she doesn't get it, instead she gets a lot of researches that cost more than the wheelchair. But our issues are nothing compared to some American issues, like the occasional government shutdown, besides, thanks to our relatively beautiful economy (IMO, the official numbers don't mean that much to me, I think we currently have less official growth for example but that's more because we better braced ourselves in my opinion) we can just buy a wheelchair unlike many Americans.

Has little to do with what I can best do with my money though :P

Now, what to do with the money. That's actually a reasonable suggestion, but the thing is that houses don't sell over here. And I want to make extra money, not buy a house and make some money. So I fear the renting is not going to work in this economy here, and it could lead to trouble, even if the economy wasn't a problem, couldn't it? I want to be able to have my money back at 18 at the latest if I invest it.

Now your "first advice" (I just quote it because it's the second advice the way I count, doesn't matter to me, just so people follow): sounds good in theory, but I can't think of an option in practice. Could you give an example of what you mean?

And you think putting it in a bank beats the other options you mentioned or am I misunderstanding?

goldfinger: They are not expectations. I know those are unrealistic. My point was rather that I am not a risk taker unless you can't really call it a risk, just a chance.

So government bonds: what you say sounds good. But doesn't that sound too good? 4% return, no risk? Can I get my money with profit back in 2 years as I want?
Also, what is it you actually buy with them? Is it like selling a loan to the government? Or are you buying something, or a part of something, tangible?

If I was Steephie I'd invest a virtual 10,000 using several different techniques and see which one feels right.

In the UK I've got a few grand in an ISA at 3% purely because of it's easy access. in real terms it doesn't generate much cash. Indeed, I get as much money via cashback using a credit card. The fact of the matter is that if you spend more than a day trying to work out what to do with your money you'd have been better off just taking the first half decent method you find and mowing a few lawns for pocket money.

Well, I'm more of a thinker when it comes to these things. I don't mind thinking about it for more than a day, in fact there's little I can do to stop it. But it will sort of put my mind at ease. That's worth more than pocket money for me :P

Also this is sort of a learning process. This could become about more than the money I get from it. I could advice my family and friends too, for example. I could use the theory for many years to come, even though it would be a different scenario. This isn't something I think I can easily let go until I have some clue of what the other options are.

Besides, I think I'm better off by the time I'm 18 if I think this through rather than taking the first half decent method I find and mowing a few lawns for pocket money :P

So, could someone confirm/elaborate on what goldfinger says about government bonds? Is it 4%, no risk and retrievable after 2 years or is there a catch? Is it safe on paper as well as in practice? I fail to see the reason why you get 4% if it really is without a catch.