Looking Into Investment? Here are 4 Great Avenues You Might Not Have Considered

If you're interested in the investment world, you're certainly already aware of stocks and bonds as investment assets. There are, however, many other types of assets you may not have thought about yet. 

These non-traditional investments can help to diversify your portfolio and improve your overall returns. Here are four great investments you might not have thought about adding to your portfolio.

Shipping Containers

Believe it or not, many of the shipping containers that are used to transport goods around the world aren't owned by transportation companies. 

These companies instead lease them from owners, often at very generous rates. Owning and renting out shipping containers can be a great way to put your money to work, especially since they are always in demand.

Peer-to-Peer Loans

If you don't mind a higher-risk investment, peer-to-peer lending may be a good addition to your portfolio. This is a type of lending in which individuals lend money to other individuals, then collect a return on their investment in the form of interest paid on the loan. 

Interest rates on these loans vary by the creditworthiness of the borrower, but they can often range well above 10 percent. There is, however, a risk that the borrower will default. As a result, peer-to-peer loans are usually best reserved for investors with somewhat higher risk tolerance.

Wines and Spirits

Over the last several years, the collector demand for wines and spirits has gone up tremendously. Prices on limited-edition whiskies, hard-to-find wines, and other beverages have also soared, producing outsized returns for the few investors specializing in this market. 

Although it can be a tricky and volatile market to navigate, there's definitely money to be made by buying and holding certain types of alcoholic beverages.

Campgrounds

Although you may never have thought of a campground as an investment before, owning one can produce generous cash flows over time. 

To get into this market, you'll need to find a campground or RV park broker who can help you find the right piece of property. Once you acquire the property, you can begin earning a relatively passive income as campers rent out parts of it.

Even though they're far removed from the traditional stock and bond markets, these four non-traditional investments can help you realize your financial goals and build up your portfolio. 

Be sure to thoroughly research any investment before putting your money into it to ensure that you have a complete picture of the risks and rewards of your chosen asset.

A Starter’s Guide to Nontraditional Investments

While almost everyone is familiar with common investments like stocks, bonds and real estate, there are also a huge number of less common investment vehicles that can help you make the most of your money. 

These so-called nontraditional investments allow investors to diversify their portfolios and earn higher overall returns on their capital. Here are four of the nontraditional investments you need to know about if you’re thinking about broadening your portfolio.

Peer-to-peer Lending

Over the last few years, peer-to-peer lending has emerged as one of the most important classes of nontraditional investments. In peer-to-peer lending, sometimes abbreviated P2P, groups of individual lenders fund loans for borrowers. 

These lenders then receive both their principal and interest as the borrowers repay the loans. Interest rates vary based on the borrower’s creditworthiness but returns of 10 percent or more are not uncommon.

Monetized Websites

Websites are among the most overlooked investment vehicles out there. Sites monetized with ads and affiliate links can generate considerable passive income for their owners, making them a useful inclusion in your wealth management planning for guaranteeing monthly cash flow. 




Best of all, you can buy existing, well-established websites from their creators, meaning you won’t have to set up a site or create all of the content for it yourself. This investment does require a bit of work and maintenance, but it can be very lucrative under the right circumstances.

Cryptocurrency

Digital currencies like Bitcoin, Ether and Dash have become quite popular as investment assets over the last few years. While cryptocurrency investment is certainly speculative, it has produced excellent returns for many investors. 

When it comes to trading cryptocurrency, it helps to have a bit of background knowledge in the more traditional foreign exchange market. Cryptocurrencies may also be a useful hedge against inflation in your portfolio.

Shipping Containers

Oddly enough, one of the investments that can make you a very high rate of return is the common shipping container. By buying shipping containers and then renting them out to shipping and logistics companies through a specialized broker, you can earn considerable rental fees on an asset that isn’t terribly expensive to begin with. 

This form of nontraditional investment does require some fairly specialized knowledge, but it can also produce extremely stable and attractive returns over the long run.

These are just four of the hundreds of nontraditional investments you may want to consider adding to your portfolio. As you continue to learn more about investing, you’ll find many, many other ways to earn returns on your capital. Always be sure to carefully evaluate each investment to make sure it is a good fit for your strategy and risk tolerance level.