Best Investment options
Everybody wants a secure future with a comfortable financial cushion. But, how do you go about building one? How can you earn more without having to work 24×7? You make your money work for you. That’s what investment is all about. The best thing money can buy is more money – you need to be investing to get to your financial goals. Now investing isn’t all that easy. You need to identify the right asset, evaluate whether it is in line with your personal goals, and then build a strategy to generate good returns. But don’t stress out. To make it easier for you, we bring you the best investment options to choose from.
#1 Stock Market
If you’ve been keeping up with stock market twists and turns lately, you have probably heard the rumors that a correction is on its way. But, if you’re investing for the long haul and have a long time to ride the wave before you retire, you may not have to worry too much. If you don’t feel comfortable buying individual stocks, consider investing in globally diversified, low-cost index funds. If you need some help and guidance along the way, you can also use the services of a robo-advisor like Betterment.
Betterment will help you outline your investing goals and figure out a long-term plan to achieve them instead of focusing only on returns. They can help you move into investments with lower fees than you’re paying now, and you can receive personalized advice for less than you’d pay a traditional financial advisor.
Finally, don’t forget that there’s an incredibly easy way to invest more money into the stock market that could also help you save money on taxes.
#2 Real Estate
Just like the stock market, many experts believe that real estate is in a bubble across many parts of the United States. Prices continue to go up and up with no end in sight. Unfortunately, this type of scenario never seems to end well.
Still, many real estate investors that buy rental property don’t seem to be worried. Even if the real estate market tanks, people need to live somewhere, right?
If you’re not someone who wants to invest in physical real estate, you can always buy Real Estate Investment Trusts or REITs. REITs allow you to take advantage of the upsides of the real estate market without getting your hands dirty or dealing with the hassles of being a landlord.
#3 Gold
One of the oldest investment options, gold has historically been a very popular asset. The simple reason is its consistently increasing price over time. While it isn’t performing nearly as well as it used to, the markets have evolved to offer customers many new ways in which you can invest in gold – like gold deposit scheme, gold ETF, gold bars and gold Mutual Funds. Starting from 3 months, the investment period can go up to 5-10 years as well.
India (NRIs included) is crazy about gold jewellery. With the World Gold Council (WGC) aggressively marketing social and religious functions as gold buying events, the demand has shot up in the recent years to record levels. Research shows that over 16,000 tonnes of gold are there in Indian households predominantly in the form of jewellery. The value of this as per market price is a whopping Rs. 27.2 lakh crore. That is close to twice the foreign exchange reserves held by the RBI.
#4 Investment in Bonds
If you are not comfortable in investing in any of the above schemes, then you need not worry. There is still one very safe investment option – bonds. There are many bonds that offer a nominal rate of interest, and many are floated by governments, making them fairly safe options!
Benefits of Investing in Bonds are:
Steady Income – Although lower as compared to equity, returns onnvestment bonds are assured.
TAX ADVANTAGE – Tax-Free investment bonds are one of the best options for you if you fall into the higher tax bracket.
#5 Company Fixed Deposits
Bank fixed deposits do not offer a lot of returns. But a different kind of fixed deposit – called a company fixed deposit – offers the same model, but with higher returns. The money invested in such company fixed deposits cannot be withdrawn before maturity. So you should analyze them well before selecting the investment period.
The company fixed deposits do not come with any insurance, and are neither controlled by RBI (Reserve Bank of India). It is an ideal option for the investors who are willing to invest for a longer duration and take some risk at the same time.
