If you have $1 million to invest, you are in a position of strength that many people never reach. Instead of squandering the money, investing it can provide you with financial freedom that you may be able to enjoy the rest of your life. Diversifying your investments is important if you want to be successful with this endeavor.
Stocks
Once you have money to invest, one of the best places to put it is in the stock market. Putting a portion of your money into the stock market can provide you with the ability to generate substantial growth over the long term. In some cases, you can also generate regular income from the dividends that you receive. When you put a large portion of your money into stocks, you could potentially generate a comfortable income from the dividends that you bring in.
Hedge Funds
Once you have $1 million to invest, you can enter into the world of hedge fund investing. This is essentially like investing in mutual funds except that they are for wealthy people. Hedge funds use techniques that many mutual funds cannot use. They are not regulated by the SEC, which means that they can use advanced techniques that are not available anywhere else. For example, many hedge funds use large amounts of leverage which helps amplify the returns for investors. Regular mutual funds have restrictions on how much leverage they can use. Some hedge funds aim to generate returns regardless of what the stock market is doing by investing in things like Forex, commodities and derivatives.
Commodities
Investing some of your money into commodities is generally a good idea regardless of how much money you have to invest. By putting some money into precious metals like gold and silver, you can create a hedge against inflation. Regardless of what the stock market or other financial markets do, your money still has the potential to increase. Hard assets increase in value when inflation goes up over the long term. You can even invest in commodities like oil, wheat, corn and soybeans to add more diversification to your portfolio.
Safe Investments
Even though it may not be to your advantage to put all of your money into safe investments, they can provide you with some benefits. For example, you could potentially put some of your money into CDs or high-yield savings accounts. This would provide you with a guaranteed interest rate on your investment. The issue with this is that you do not want to invest more than the $250,000 that is guaranteed by the FDIC in any one bank; you need to spread your investment over multiple banks.
Bonds
Putting part of your money into bonds could also be an option to consider. Bonds are issued by corporations and government entities. These types of investments are considered to be safe because they are secured with the assets of the entity that issues them. They pay a regular interest rate and then you get your initial investment back at the end of the term.
Real Estate
Investing in real estate could also provide you with nice returns. When you have $1 million to invest, you can potentially buy several pieces of property. Investing in real estate can provide you with regular cash flow and appreciation in value. It also helps you diversify away from the financial markets.