A volatile financial market, recession, inflation, undesirable interest rates, and more – these are the realities that those who wish to invest their money have to face today.
Still, that shouldn’t stop you from investing! There’s a lot more to the game than buying stock in a company, and we encourage you to explore the depths of the market to find out how and where you can get creative with your money.
While we don’t suggest unloading all your wealth into these ventures, there’s no harm in dipping your toe in to test the waters. With everything being up in arms, politically and economically, now might be the time to consider some alternative investments. In fact, tons of other people have found success in investing in these wacky ventures!
Here are 7 creative ways to invest your money.
1. Fine Art
The stock market has been fluctuating over the past few years, so try venturing into the world of the rich (who only seem to get richer no matter what).
Buying and selling famous paintings has always been an investment option that was explored by the wealthy, but now, you and I may be able to get into it too with the help of companies like Masterworks. They pool people’s money to purchase blue-chip artwork, which they then resell to their clients. According to their promises, you can earn up to 10% or more on your investment per year. That sounds like a pretty good deal to us!
2. Music Royalties
Songwriters often auction off shares of their royalties on websites like SongVest.com and TheRoyaltyExchange.com. They can cost anything from a few dollars to several thousand! Once you make the purchase, you’ll become a part owner of the song even though you played no part in the creation of it. And as part owner of the song, you are also now eligible to receive part of the royalties earned by the song. You will continue receiving royalties until the copyright is nullified, which is typically 95 years after the artist’s death.
Remember the song “hey, hey, we’re the Monkees”, the theme song of the band The Monkees? Royalty shares for it cost around $3000 and produce an average annual royalty of about $10,000 even today! And according to current laws, it’s copyright only ends around 2099!
3. Horse Breeding
Most of us probably can’t afford to have a full-blown stud farm to our name but even those of us who live by moderate means can invest in and profit by horse-ownership. No, we’re not horsin’ around – it’s a real thing!
We’re talking specifically about racehorses. Investing in these prize horses can help you win big, but it’s no secret that the risk is higher than your average investment. Not to mention the maintenance cost of housing, grooming, and feeding your potential money-maker can be quite an undertaking. In case you’re not willing to risk it all but are still interested, you could opt for an ownership-partnership. This will help you spread out the risk and can even be a means to socialize with like-minded people. We’re basically discussing crowdsourcing a racehorse!
As we said, returns aren’t a sure thing with this type of investment, but prize purses have been steadily increasing over the last several years – so if you do win, you could win pretty big!
4. eBay Land
eBay is a weird place, and anyone who has ventured onto the website will vouch for that. Who can forget the “Virgin Mary” grilled cheese sandwich that was auctioned off for $24,000?
But I bet you didn’t know about the corner lot in the Mojave Desert that someone sold for $57! Yes, it’s true, and you can find many other gems like this on the site. So much so that eBay has earned a bit of a reputation for being home to similar cheap land auctions.
We’re not going to lie; these lands sell for cheap because their locations are far off and there’s no demand for it. But that hasn’t stopped people from buying them. Maybe they do it for the bragging rights that come with being a “landowner” or maybe they’re holding out hope that it becomes a prime spot one day. If history is anything to go by, there’s no telling where a KFC or McDonald’s is going to pop up!
5. Hurricane Options
This investment option is something that would be best suited for weather enthusiasts and those who watch the tropics very closely. Weather Risk Solutions has initiated an online trading market where traders bet on when they think a hurricane might land. They buy and sell Hurricane Risk Landfall Options (also known as HuRLOs) representing different regions of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. If a hurricane hits the land in a region in which an investor has placed their bets on, they split the winning money with others who made the same bet.
This one might just be the weirdest of them all, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is a lucrative option that has already attracted a range of investors from weather enthusiasts, coastline businesses seeking extra insurance, and traders who are familiar with other disaster markets like flood options.
6. Tax Lien Certificates
It’s no secret that the economy is pretty downtrodden at the moment and that many homeowners are struggling to pay their property taxes. On another side of the market, investors are taking advantage of the situation and purchasing the country’s lax lien. Local governments don’t like waiting long periods of time for outstanding tax bills to be paid back, so they send their tax liens to auctions where investors scoop up these certificates.
Tax lien certificates are best suited for those who like their interest rates high and risk low. Prices for these certificates can even be as low as $100, with interest rates ranging anywhere from 5% to 50%! Typically, the annual interest penalty is applied on the day after the lien is acquired, so investors are a guaranteed an interest payment regardless of when the lien is actually paid back.
7. Bank Account Bonuses
The Bank of America might not have a great strategy for attracting new customers (charging a new fee every month, it seems like), there are other banks that still pay large bonuses to customers than open a new account.
This is an instant return on your investment, and you don’t even have to give up any of your money to earn it! Bank bonuses are one of the quickest and easiest ways to get a significant return on your money in a very short period of time.
