Everyone wants to find the best investments. That’s a natural thing to want.
However, it isn’t that simple. Are we looking for the best investments for the long term? The best investments right now or for the next couple of years? What’s the risk of either of these choices?
That’s what we want to explore in today’s post.
The stock market has a lot of people spooked right now. The massive swings from day to day, week to week, and from quarter to quarter are more than many people can take. The second quarter of 2020 is a perfect example.
Take a look at some of the returns (Source: Statista):
- February 12 to March 18, -27%
- March 4 to March 11, – 12%.
- On March 12, the index fell by -9.5%. That one day drop was the largest since 1987
That volatility was enough to drive many individual investors out of the market entirely. Others sold large portions of their stock holdings.
Then things got much better. From the March 18 low to June 3, 2020, the S & P 500 gained 31%, erasing all of what it lost. In the second quarter of 2020, the S & P 500 increased by 20.54%. For the year, it’s down -3.09%. That’s enough to make even the strongest stomachs queasy.
The truth is that these kinds of swings are now the norm in the stock market. As is always the case, information about the economy, earnings, geopolitical events, and many other factors can have a dramatic short term effect on stock prices.
Diversifying your investments has never been more critical. Those who have the right mix of stocks, bonds, cash, and alternative investments do much better in the topsy-turvey markets of today.
For those who feel like they lost more than they thought this year, I want to offer some investments to help you better diversify your portfolios. Doing so may help you stay invested in times like these.
Table of Contents
- Alternative Investments
- Finding the Best Investments Right Now
- Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS)
- Publicly Traded REITs
- Unique Alternative Investments
- Collectibles
- Fine Wine
- Farmland
- The Marketplace to Find the Best Investments
- Final Thoughts
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