What is the Best Type of Investment?

[Tea Bag]

The answer is obviously Waffruuu!!!

 

[Schadenfroh]

Gold and Apple stock!

 

[The-Noid]

Hedge funds and CTA's. Nothing over the last 10 years come close to the Sharpe's.

I would put specific currency overlay managers in there as well.

 

[iGas]

Gold and Apple stock!

<--- rate over price/sell

 

[dullard]

They have poor return, but you've said nothing about risk.

Poor return is probably the most risky thing of all. The risk is that far too many people rely on them and think that they have enough to retire on. When clearly they do not. That is far more risky than the risk that is generally talked about with stocks (which really is volitility and not true risk).

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

"best" investment is always the cheapest - the less you have to pay for one, the better the return.

at some price, "stocks" will be poor investments, but at others, they can be amazing investments. your return will be a direct result of the price you pay - pay too much and the greatest of all businesses (even a cure for cancer) will be a money losing operation.

 

[MidasKnight]

I invest in Lottery tickets .... it will pay off .... soon .... I think ... just need to be patient ....:sneaky:

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

It depends on what gives you the best low risk returns at the time the question is asked.

 

[dullard]

"best" investment is always the cheapest - the less you have to pay for one, the better the return.

The opposite is true, short term. In other words, historically the best investment is what did best last year. Great investments, on average, are far more likely to stay great for one more year than any random comparison investment. Just don't keep it there too long as that doesn't last forever.

Look at chart #1 on the link. If we follow your strategy and bought the cheapest 20&#37; of stocks, then over 110 years $1 would become $49 (about the same as inflation). But if we bought the stocks that had already gone up quite a bit, then that $1 would become $2,300,000.

Buying value, because it is a good investment that happens to be temporarilly on hard times is a great idea. Buying an investment simply because it happens to be the cheapest is often a horrible idea. Often there was a great reason that it was cheapest. You might just get your money's worth.