The backbone of being successful in life is saving. Investment is a broad field that can prove to be difficult. Acquiring some knowledge on investment goes a long way in ensuring that your savings are fruitful.
Living in the digital era is an advantage as well as a disadvantage. The advantage is that the internet provides a lot of information on ways to invest. However, the downside is that there may be a lot of misleading information that can make you lose all your savings due to poor investment practices. Here is a detailed piece on how to properly invest your savings:
Gaming
Gaming has proven to be an investment practice that could earn you huge returns in a short while, with forecasts showing that it will be worth $256.97 billion by 2025. Online gaming is a risky activity which means that you could either win or lose your investment in the process. However, it is worth taking the risk. If you are interested in sports and have some good money, you can start sports betting sites like gtbets.
On the other hand, you can become an online gamer and try your luck. In 2003, a 25-year-old player won close to $40 million at the Excalibur casino located in Las Vegas. The player secured this winning from a progressive Megabucks slot machine. The beauty of this is that the software engineer who won the progressive slot only invested $100.The return on investment, in this case, is crazily high. This shows that you still stand a chance to secure a big return on your investment, even with a small investment.
Savings Account
One of the common ways to invest your savings is putting your money in a savings account. A savings account ensures that you earn interest after putting your money in the account. A savings account is provided by a financial institution like a bank or a Sacco.
The catch in a savings account is that you cannot withdraw your money as frequently as a normal bank account. You can also not withdraw the money from the account using a cheque or even the ATM once the transaction limit is reached. It is, however, important to note that the interest derived from a savings account is not that high.
Certificate of Deposit
Commonly referred to as CDs, a certificate of deposit is a financial product provided by financial institutions to their clients. The product ensures that the client will receive an agreed interest on the maturity of the agreed term together with their initial investment.
The catch in the certificate of deposit is that you first have to deposit a lump sum amount of money to the financial institution. This amount of money is referred to as the principal and can only be granted after the agreed period, commonly referred to as the term. It is, however, important to shop for the right CD as they offer different times. One uniform factor is that the longer the certificate of deposits takes, the higher your expected return.
Treasury Bills and Notes
One of the common investment instruments available is treasury bills and notes. The beauty of treasury bills and notes is that it is the most secure form of investment you could embark on because the government offers it. This means that the government assures you that they will pay you no matter the situation. Not only are treasury bills secure, but they are also a short-term form of investment, usually more than a year and less than ten years.
This means that you expect to get a return on investment after a very short time. Treasury bills and notes are always sold at a discount. This means that you being the investor have the liberty to decide the amount you will receive at the maturity of the investment. It also means that since you are in control of how much to invest, i.e., the face value, you can pay way less that amount when purchasing treasury bills and notes, unlike bonds which are long term earn an interest semi-annually i.e., after six months until they attain their par value.
Bonds
Bonds, unlike treasury bills, are a long-term form of investment. They range from ten years and above. Although the percentage return is lower than other forms of investments, the security that comes with bonds is higher. This is because you are loaning to the government whose rate of defaulting is relatively lower. Bonds earn you interest plus your initial investment after maturity of the bond term.
Physical Commodities
The common way of investing your savings is purchasing physical goods. One characteristic of the physical commodity should be high resale value. Valuable commodities like gold and silver have a higher resale value.
It is important to find the most suitable form of investment. This is because the forms of investment preference vary from one person to the other.