Investing can seem intimidating. You have to understand the financial tools and terminology, spend hours researching companies, and read countless financial blogs. However, the Internet is chock-full of resources to help you get started. That being said, there are several valuable ways you can invest besides stocks, bonds, and mutual funds.
What can you invest in besides the stock market? Bonds, mutual funds, real estate, commodities, or gold, to name a few. The catch is that not all of these options may fit your financial goals and temperament. It’s not a good idea for a child to invest in stocks. And an older person may want to invest in bonds, but not risk the volatility of the stock market. You might also be looking to invest for other reasons. Perhaps you want a nice nest egg for retirement. Or maybe you want to buy a house and you need to know if the price is right. Or maybe you want to buy a new car and you’re wondering if you should put a down payment on the vehicle.
The stock market is a dynamic and exciting place to invest but not every investment is a good idea. There are quite a lot of things to look for before investing. These factors include your current location and the value of the currency at that point in time. For example, if you’re considering investing for Canadians, you’ll need to know the Canadian dollar’s value, among other things. What funds should you put your money in, what stocks to buy, and how to price stock are just some questions you should ask yourself before letting your money ride on the ups and downs of the stock market. Here are other Investments aside from The Stock Market that you might be interested in.
• Peer-to-Peer Lending
The peer-to-peer loan industry has exploded over the last 5 years. It’s currently worth a whopping $25 billion, but that number is expected to jump to $80 billion by the end of the year, according to the 2015 Lending Club Annual Report. Unlike the traditional banking industry, P2P loans cater to borrowers with bad credit scores, who traditionally have a difficult time getting a loan. P2P loans are also perceived to be more “fair” than traditional loans.
Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending has been around for a few years, but this year saw the start of a truly new kind of investment product. In December 2017, a new kind of P2P platform called Bitbond launched, and it has attracted a lot of attention. While most P2P platforms have been the traditional type that lets you lend money to other people, Bitbond was based on blockchain technology.
• Equity Crowdfunding
Equity crowdfunding has been around for a while now, but it’s been a little overshadowed by its more popular cousin, the public stock markets. The difference is that when you invest in a company’s stock, you are buying a piece of a company’s assets at a price set by other investors. When you invest money in the equity of a start-up or early-stage company, you are buying a piece of that company. What’s the point, you may ask? Well, if you’re an early-stage investor, buying stock in your company means you are directly invested in its success, without needing to rely on any outside party. If you’re a start-up founder, equity crowdfunding works just like the
• Owning Your Own Business
Every day, millions of Americans go to work for someone else, whether that’s a small business, a large corporation, or a government agency. Many of these people get paid a salary to work for an employer, and they don’t have formal ownership of the company they work for. In other cultures, this would be regarded as an insane arrangement. Why would you be paid to work for someone else? Because you have a job, a job to do, and you are paid to do it. If you have a passion, and you have the confidence to start a business, there’s no reason why you can’t follow your dreams and start your own business. The world of business is full of possibilities and opportunities, and if you have a good idea, you can start a business and create a new business model. All you would probably need is a business idea, an office, some trustworthy employees, and business alarms to protect your assets. That’s it, you are all good to go! When you have the kickstart to your new business, nothing would seem impossible. Even those accounting-related tasks that may seem daunting to you in the beginning, experts like the ones at Early Growth (https://earlygrowthfinancialservices.com/finops-done-accounting/) may have plausible options for you on how to go about it.
You could also invest in trucks capable of transporting goods from one location to another, whether intercity or interstate. It has the potential to be a very profitable investment. You merely have to ensure that you hire professional drivers and obtain truck insurance for all of your vehicles. The reason is that in the event of an accident or truck failure, you will not have to bear all of the expenses, but the insurance company will. And if you are wondering – can I get a bespoke truck insurance policy? The simple answer is – contact a reputable truck insurance broker who might be able to answer your questions better and if everything goes well, eventually handle everything on your behalf.
So, if you want to do something out of the box, then go ahead, explore and embark on the journey of entrepreneurship.
Most people on this planet don’t like the stock market. That means that a lot of people don’t know how to invest, much less how to do it well. This is especially true if you are just starting out. It’s tempting to think that investing just means buying a lot of shares in a company. But that’s not necessarily the case. What if you want to be an investor, not a stockbroker? To get there, you need to know what you’re doing.
