An alternative investment is any investment that doesn’t include investing in stocks, bonds, and cash. When you choose an alternative investment, you don’t have to deal with a broker or online discount broker. Granted, some alternative investment opportunities require you to research a bit more and spend more time than usual but it pays off. Alternative investments are very popular nowadays but we highly suggest you avoid scams like “get rich in a month.” Instead, consider these 4 legitimate alternative investment ideas we’ve provided below.
Peer-to-Peer Lending
Short for P2P lending, this investment idea offers you to loan money to individuals, businesses, or anything you can think of. If you want to invest in P2P lending, you have to open an account on an online platform and you can choose whom to loan money to, given that the person qualifies for the loan. A good thing about P2P lending is that you will have no middleman taking a percentage of your income like the bank. Usually, your money will be pooled with other investors and together you will give a loan to someone.
A risk of P2P lending is the person you loan money to may not have been able to get it from a bank, but you can check that person’s credit rating and decide not to loan money. Usually, P2P lending investment offers more return than standard saving vehicles.
Real Estate
Investing in real estate is as old as time and it’s still a good way to earn money. You can invest in a property and be a landlord and earn money. However, if you don’t want to do that, you can crowdfund real estate. You will be investing with other investors in a property and it will require you to invest less money and time. You can invest via an online investing platform.
Gold
Gold is often considered as an excellent diversifier as it doesn’t correlate much with other asset classes. There are many ways to invest in gold. You can buy and hold physical gold like coins and bars; you can invest in gold exchange-traded funds, etc. Investing in gold is a long term investment that will give you a lot of profit in the future.
Crowdfunding Equity
Crowdfunding equity is another one of the best alternative investment ideas as you can own a part of someone else’s business. Startups need a lot of investment and there are lots of startups. You can invest in a company through a crowdfunding website, be a part-owner of it, and get profit if it succeeds. Even if you don’t have a lot of money, you don’t need to worry. You can invest in crowdfunding equity with only a few hundred dollars.
Conclusion
Every investor knows that not making your money work only decreases its value. When you invest in anything at all, make sure your overall investment portfolio is diversified. Never invest in one kind of asset class. Also, figure out if you are a risk-averse or risk-taker. You should invest depending on which type of person you are.
