Six Creative Investing Ideas for Profit-Seekers

Are you bored stiff with the traditional investing choices? Have you had your fill of vanilla stocks and boring bonds? If so, you are not alone. Every year, plenty are discovering creative ways to put their money to work for them. In today's incredibly varied financial environment, there are so many choices that it's no wonder people are exploring the extensive menu of profit-making ideas. It's important to dispel a major myth about creative or alternative investment choices. They're not necessarily risky. In fact, many of these popular money-earning approaches carry much less risk than corporate shares and bonds. Real estate ownership, to name just one example, can be a very conservative and reliable way for working people to grow their wealth.

Your portfolio's risk level has little to do with what you buy. Even a few stock-related ideas are considered non-traditional based on the way they're set up. Dividend-reinvestment programs (DRIPS), for instance, can be a wise, targeted way to put every penny toward shares that produce current income and add it to your account balance for enhanced asset growth. Other ideas that are enjoying a sort of renaissance in the 2020s include options trading, precious metals, peer-to-peer lending, art, startups, exotic metals, and more. Here's a look at nine ways anyone can earn acceptable returns on something other than traditional securities.

DRIPS

Technically speaking, DRIPS (dividend-reinvestment programs) contain at least a fraction of old-school attitude in their DNA, but the way they're structured is what makes them different. When you sign up for one of the many online DRIP accounts, you only opt for companies that have long histories of paying out dividends, either quarterly or otherwise. But instead of pocketing the payout, the plan uses it to purchase additional whole or fractional shares. The strategy is a sort of super-charged way to grow wealth and one that is catching on with a new generation of market enthusiasts.

Options trading

Options have been around for decades but are just now making a major move as one of the world's most active asset categories. Yes, they're totally market-based securities and you buy them via your standard brokerage platform. Their benefits, however, make them attractive to people who like the chance for outsize earnings and the power of controlling large blocks of stock for relatively small amounts of money. Check out a helpful essential options trading guide to learn the basics of getting into...

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