Joanna Marie, Negosentro | Investing your money smartly can allow you to grow it over a sustained period of time. There are plenty of investment vehicles out there which offer a wide of variety of different risks and potential returns on your original investment.
These range from the absolute safety of paying off existing debts – yes that is an investment, as we’ll explain more of in a minute – to investing in the volatile worlds of foreign currency exchange or the excitement of cryptocurrencies.
In order to help get you started, here are four of the smartest investments to help your money grow with varying degrees of risk.
Pay off your debts
The simplest and most risk-free way of making a financial investment is by paying off debt. You’ve probably never seen paying back the money you owe as an investment before, and it certainly doesn’t look like one on the face of it, as it won’t turn your $10,000 into $20,000.
However, anything that lessens your financial risk is an investment. By paying down your debt, you are reducing what you could owe at a later date at a time when conditions are more favorable to you. It increases your future spending freedom and can remove the dark cloud that debt can leave hanging over us.
Real estate
As the world’s population continues to grow, so will the world’s demands for housing. That makes real estate a secure investment opportunity. It’s simple enough – find a town that is set to grow in the not-too-distant future through investment in its infrastructure or a new wave of companies moving into the area. Those are factors that will increase the desirability of the town as a place to live and the workforce required in the local area. That, in turn, drives up demand for properties, pushing up house prices. If you’ve invested before the town’s boom, you’ll be set to make a solid return on your investment.
Cryptocurrencies
Cryptocurrencies can be a risky investment, but if the gamble pays off, it pays off big time. By investing in Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum or one of the many other cryptocurrencies on the market, you are making a bet that eventually, digital currency will overtake hard currencies such as the Dollar and Euro as the dominant currency used in international trades and held by central banks. If that does happen, then the value of the cryptocurrency you’ve got stored in a digital wallet, such as Trezor which you can click here to learn about, will soar.
Foreign Currency Exchange
Foreign Currency Exchange, or FOREX as it is known, is one of the more risky investments you can make.With some careful research and latest currency exchange rates, it can be a goldmine though. Essentially, you will be predicting the buying power of a variety of currencies as they relate to other currencies. The Foreign Currency Exchange is particularly volatile at times of uncertainty or when a major political event is taking place. For example, if there is an election or announcement coming from the EU that is likely to increase the value of the Euro against the Dollar. You buy Euros with Dollars and then when the Euro rises, convert them back into Dollars for a profit.
