When the term “forget-me-not” is used, it is usually associated with a flower or relationships but not with investing. What do I mean? I want to suggest you add the term to the scope of your investing thinking or mindset. When most people think of investing, and let’s be honest, up until now, I have not discussed these other investment opportunities in prior Money Mondays; they think about stocks, bonds, and cash investments. However, there are other investment options you may choose to consider besides the aforementioned usual suspects. I refer to them in this article as the forget-me-nots.
Commodities
What are commodities? A commodity is an essential good that may be used to produce or make another item. In this context, you could identify a commodity as the raw material. A commodity can also be considered an excellent used or traded with other goods of the same type. But for simplicity, I am referring to items such as gold, silver, wheat, oil, and the list goes on. Now that you have an idea of what I’m referring to, there are investment opportunities here. You can invest in commodities as a speculator (someone who basically tries to predict price changes based upon events and economic factors, thereby profiting when the asset price moves). Commodities are traded on commodity exchanges worldwide, such as the London Metals Exchange or the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), to cite a few places.
The Futures Market is a place (auction market) where commodities are bought and sold, and futures contracts are delivered at a fixed price. In English, you agree to purchase or sell a commodity at a fixed price on a particular day. In practical terms, it means you bought a gas contract when it was being sold at $1.75 per gallon last summer, hoping that the price would increase within a year. Because of inflation, oil and gas prices have spiked, and you can sell your contract on the futures market and make an excellent profit. You pretty much bet that prices would rise by the summer of 2022 and won! You need to understand that commodities are investments that do not rise and fall in tandem with stocks and bonds. Commodities generally perform well in times of rising inflation. People have to eat and drive cars; therefore, commodities will always be at play!
Convertible Bonds
Convertible Bonds are corporate debt securities that pay fixed income interest but can also be converted into a predetermined number of stocks or equity shares. This provides investors with almost two for the price of one. The conversion from bonds to stocks can occur at certain times during the life cycle of the bond at the discretion of the bondholder. In a perfect world, a person could convert their bonds to stocks when the gain from the stock sale exceeds the face value of the bonds, plus the total amount of remaining interest payments. There are various convertible bonds, so you will have to decide which one fits your strategy best.
Besides the two forget-me-nots mentioned, others include private equity, cryptocurrencies, and real estate. Remember these investment opportunities as you plan to diversify your portfolio.
WHAT’S UP!
Today’s what’s up is about one way to lower your vehicle auto insurance cost. If your vehicle has antitheft devices, blind-spot detection, or anti-lock brakes, your vehicle insurance company should be applying a discount between 5% and 15%. You can also sign up to have your driving habits monitored in exchange for a discount to lower your insurance bill. And that’s what’s up!
Ruthven R. Phillip, Esq., is a tax attorney, Stewardship and Philanthropy Ministry Assistant, and CEO of Give2Getrich, LLC. Give2Get Rich, LLC 2022. All Rights Reserved. Any distribution or reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited.
