Money Matters: These Are The Best Places To Invest

If you have been successful in your life and have money sat in the bank, you might be wondering what you can do to boost this further. After all, you haven’t got this far by resting on your laurels, and a chunk of cash is a great opportunity to make some passive income. Who wouldn’t want to earn money with very little effort? If you’ve found yourself in this situation, here are a few of the best places to invest your money.

Precious Metals

If you are looking to make a profit but aren’t too worried about it being made fast then gold and silver investments are secure choices. Over time, prices will always increase (the price of gold has almost doubled in ten years) so your best bet would be to put the investment down and leave it for a number of years. Keep a close eye on the market and buy from reputable sellers. If you have money that’s sitting in the bank and doesn’t need to be used for anything else, this is a low risk way to turn a sum of money into a lot more. Other precious metals and stones you could invest in are copper, diamonds, platinum, palladium, rhodium and much more. Check out a returns calculator to see what kind of returns you’d be looking to get in however many years.

Peer to Peer Lending

Another relatively safe, low risk option for investing your money is peer to peer lending. This method allows individuals to borrow and lend money without the use of an official financial institution (such as a bank) as an intermediary. It therefore removes the middleman, so that there are better returns for the borrower and better rates for the lender. The advantage of investing your money into peer to peer lending is that the loans generate income in the form of interest, which exceed the amount that interest that can be earned by traditional means- such as a high interest savings account. While there are risks involved, the way your money is split up does minimise them. For example, if you had 5k to put in, this wouldn’t be lent to a customer looking for a 5k loan. Instead it would be split up over a number of customers, that way if one of them stops paying you don’t have to chase (or lose) the full amount. It’s a good way to earn money in the long run, but again it’s not the best choice for those looking for a quick return.

The Stock Market

People have made their fortune in the stock market, but it’s not for the faint of heart. With the chance to make it big comes tremendous risk, particularly if you’re new and inexperienced. However if you do want to dabble in the markets, there are brokers on hand to give you advice- plus you have software you can use which replicates the market giving you a feel for things before putting any money at stake. Be aware that you can lose money quickly in this method, so if you have addictive tendencies towards things like gambling this may well need to be left alone. Commodities like oil and gas companies, precious metals and businesses associated with the armed forces such as weapons manufacturers are all good areas to invest in. Be aware that many brokerages will require a minimum deposit amount, some won’t even allow $1000 so you might need more than you think just to get started. If you’re new to trading stocks this is something to bear in mind, you can’t simply have a flutter with a small amount.

Bitcoin

You can’t read an article about investing these days without a reference to Bitcoin. This digital software is a hot topic right now with investors and venture capital firms betting that it’s something that’s likely to stick around. If you’re out of the loop, Bitcoin provides a simple and convenient way to transfer funds to a seller when you’re buying online- something that’s very important these days since so many purchases are made on the internet. You can invest in Bitcoin by buying from an ATM, purchasing them from another individual or checking out a Bitcoin exchange or online broker. It’s a brand new system so no one knows for sure which way this is going to go in terms of investment, but if could be a chance to earn big. In a few years time, you might be kicking yourself that you didn’t invest early on when you had the chance.

Property

There’s much more to making money from property than buying cheap, renovating and selling on for a profit. This is because the market can be unpredictable, and plus you never know exactly what expensive problems you will uncover when you start ripping out old buildings to renovate them. However if you know what you’re doing, property can be a fantastic investment and a good way to make your fortune. If you don’t fancy getting involved with the hands- on, practical renovation side, how about buying property to rent out? It could be anything from HDB flats to condos to apartments to houses, do your research and find out what kinds of properties are in demand on the rental market in your area. Being a landlord can be very lucrative, plus you can be as involved as you like. If it’s purely from an investment point of view, you could pay an agency to manage your properties for you so that everything is taken care of for you. If you invest in a number of properties, you will get a large amount of money hitting your bank each month without much effort from you.

Business

Finally, investing in business can be a smart move and is the chance to earn big. If you’re already an experienced business owner you will know what it takes to set up a successful company. You could either start a new venture from scratch, running it from the top. Or you could invest in bootstrapped businesses that you can see have a lot of potential but are struggling with startup costs. When you buy a share in their company, if they go on to do extremely well you will get your percentage cut out of it. Choose your business investments wisely, you need to know that the company have their figures right and that there’s a high chance of your money paying off. It should be selling a product or service that you know people want. Again you could be as involved as you want, you could be in it purely for investing money or you could act as a mentor, providing the startup company you’re working for with business advice to help them improve further.

Investing your money into one of these could mean you earn a significant amount without a lot of effort. Just always make sure you weigh up the risks, and be aware that investments can take many years to pay off. So if you’re looking for a shorter term fix some of these may not be the answer. When it comes to investing, you should only ever put in money that you know you can afford to lose- don’t gamble with anything that’s needed to pay for things elsewhere.

Where do you think the best places are to invest money? Have you personally invested in any of these areas, and if so how did you find it?

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