Where To Invest Your Money Outside Of The Bank

By Author: Ricky Dean
Total Articles: 23
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There are other places other than banks for people to invest their money for their financial security when they retire. Here is a list of some places where investments can be made:

U.S. Treasury Bills and Bonds

There used to be a time where you needed to have a lot of money just to invest in treasury bills. One of the requirements used to be an account in a legitimate brokerage firm and a minimum of $10,000. Today, all it needs is $1000 dollars to get to invest. Treasury bills are much like certificates of deposits and do not have credit and default risks as they are under the direct supervision of the federal government. Bonds on the other hand, are long term investments of up to thirty years and interest payment twice a year until the maturity date. Upon maturity, you get your face value payment.

Tax Liens

A lien is a claim on property which in enforced by the law to make sure that the taxes are paid accordingly. A tax lien may be implemented for delinquent taxes owed on a real property or personal property or as a result of failure to pay income taxes or other taxes. You can invest on a lien when ...
... the government sells their tax lien and investors buy them and earn a high interest on it. If you are an investor and the taxes are not paid, you can actually foreclose on the property and have the right to do whatever it is that you wish to do with it. Government agencies do this because they need to spend even if the taxes are not paid.

Metals

Gold and silver are metals or elements which can be invested on because they mean money. The gold is especially valued more than silver and the federal reserves are based on gold. However, the price of gold is highly dependent on the economy of a nation and it may rise and fall drastically. When the financial crisis hit almost two years ago, the rise of gold was up to $1,200.00, today it has increase a fraction because of the resulting bad economy in Europe. Silver has also risen by two dollars since November of 2009 at $18.66.

Stock Market

Investing in stocks is a risky thing to do nowadays, however it is still worth it when you are financially secure and have a fall back if you lose. It takes a lot of studying before investing in a particular stock and sometimes the prices could fall drastically if there is an issue that is against public sentiments. A good example of a stable stock of the British Petroleum which had a lot of investors selling shares when the oil leak occurred.

Real Estate Investing

The hardest hit by the economic plunge of 2009 helped the fall of the real estate market and a lot of people lost their homes on foreclosures and this started the domino effect of the fall of Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac. Today, however, through the efforts of the government to prevent foreclosures, the real estate market is slowly gaining ground and more and more new families are investing again in homes.

Investing in places other than the bank is really dependent on your financial stability. Today, because of the financial crisis being felt worldwide, may not be the best time to invest if you do not have financial back up you need all the money that you have in order to survive. However, if you have enough to invest without hurting your position, today is also the best time to invest because prices in real estate are low and gaining back investment when the economy recovers could be quite high.

Ricky Dean is a professional article writer for Dinosauric.com. For more finance articles, visit Dinosauric Writers Community. Note: This article may be reprinted in your ezine, blog, or website as long as the credits remain intact and hyperlinks remain active.