Often, investing can be a real challenge. With so many vehicles and possibilities to choose from, many potential investors struggle to pick the correct investments or even invest at all, and this is a huge challenge that we would like to address!

To properly set you on the correct path to investing, here are ten ways to invest your capital and get the best returns possible:

1. Index Funds
2. Debt Mutual Funds
3. 401k Retirement Plan
4. High Yield Savings Accounts
5. Treasury Bonds/Bills
6. Stocks
7. Cryptocurrency
8. Real Estate
9. Physical Commodities
10. Create a Business Venture

Looking at a more long-term outlook on your investment? Worry not, for there are many alternatives in this category! Our top five picks are low-cost and low risk, making it perfect for conservative and new investors looking to dip their feet into the investing world.

1. Index Funds

Index funds are a type of mutual fund or exchange-traded fund (ETF) with a portfolio constructed to match or track the components of a financial market index, such as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500). Why is this a worthy investment you may ask? Well, index funds are a safe investment because you do not get individual company risks while giving you several benefits including lower costs, broad-based diversification, and lower taxes. Index Funds also perform consistently! This means that it makes an excellent investment vehicle for the long term.

2. Debt Mutual Funds

Another investment vehicle that will be a good fit for low-risk appetite investors would be the debt mutual funds. Similar to index funds, it is low cost and relatively stable, as most debt mutual funds invest in corporate and government bonds, corporate debt securities, and money market instruments, which are not all that volatile while giving a slightly higher margin than other mutual fund counterparts.

3. 401k Retirement Plan

One of the best (if not the optimal) plans for financial independence or retirement, the 401k is a consistent gain of capital, as it is not only tax-free contributions from your paycheck, but in some cases, employers even give an additional contribution equal to yours! This makes it a very viable option for getting into investing, as when you inevitably get your contributions back (with sizable gains) in the future, you can then invest the amount on more aggressive investment options.

4. High Yield Savings Account

A savings account, at this point, should be a mandatory investment for everyone. Being very accessible due to the wide availability of banks and very lucrative zero-risk investment, one should be avail of this very early on if possible, as it overs interest rates that are over 20 to 25 times the amount of normal savings rates.

5. Treasury Bills/Bonds

Treasury bills are short-term U.S. government debt obligations backed by the Treasury Department with a maturity of one year or less. These bills are very risk-free, given the probability of a government defaulting or credit risk occurring is next to nothing. However, the drawbacks here is that these have extraordinarily little interest rates (1.59% to 2.33% per annum), in exchange for absolute security in your capital.

6. Real Estate Investment Trusts

With the high prices of real estate nowadays, your capital of $10,000 certainly is not enough to buy a property or a piece of land. Yet, this does not mean you cannot invest in real estate (which is a growing industry)!

Do you have a higher risk tolerance? Perhaps you want higher gains, even at the cost of more risk? Our next three investments may just be the perfect one for you.

7. Stocks

Providing the highest possible return on investment, stocks are a really good investment for your $10,000. Not only can a stocks portfolio build up savings, but it can also protect your capital from inflation and taxes, while maximizing your principal (if you invested correctly)! Also, it provides another stream of passive income through the issuance of dividends, which issue a certain amount of capital per share invested in a stock.

8. Cryptocurrency

While certainly a very volatile and risky investment, cryptocurrency has proven itself to be a worthwhile investment, especially for your $10,000. Whether it is Bitcoin, EOS, or even Ethereum, all these cryptocurrencies have proven itself to be a very profitable and valuable investment. Be careful though, short-term trading is key for cryptocurrency, as prices spike and dip very quickly within a short span of time (few weeks). Invest carefully!

Are you a builder? Perhaps, rather than investing solely on paper investments or digital assets, you would prefer to build something that lasts, controllable, and profitable? Or maybe you just want the thrill of venturing while being profitable? Regardless, here are some more investing tips for your capital.

9. Physical Commodities

If you want something tangible, you could opt to go for investing in physical commodities, primarily gold bullions. While it may be outrageous to think that an average (or even beginner) investor can invest in physical quantities of gold, precious metal brokerages or even banks nowadays offer ways to purchase these without too many problems. Investing in these bullions are also very safe, given that gold prices are not tied to market movements or events.

On the other hand, if you don’t want to physically invest or obtain these bullions (for safety reasons), you could opt for gold futures contracts, where the risk involved would only concern the premium you put in, and the principal risk of determining whether gold prices go up or down.

10. Business Ventures

Finally, with the availability of lots of different information online, you can just skip investing in paper investments or commodities and just create your own source of income with the $10,000! In fact, that capital is more than enough to get you started with many different options, such as e-commerce, Amazon FBA, dropshipping or drop servicing, or even non-traditional sources of income such as blogging, starting a YouTube channel, or even launching a podcast! Then, if your business succeeds and you want to supplement it, you can now invest in the other nine ways we listed!

Investing can sometimes be challenging. But it does not have to be! Thank you for checking out this guide and have a great investing journey.