There’s simply no doubt that, over time, investing your money is better than saving it. If you want your money to grow and work for you, investing is the right choice. But how can you invest money, and where?

The best way to invest money depends on your financial goals. If you want to invest your money to have a stable and secure retirement, your investment strategy is very different from someone who wants to invest and get financial returns right now.

Investing for immediate returns carries more risk, as investments like stocks or cryptocurrencies can rapidly escalate in value and just as quickly decline. To earn money off these kinds of volatile assets means paying attention to the market and moving at the right time.

While we’re all familiar with the movie stereotype of someone reading the stock pages in the newspaper and then calling their broker to make transactions, it’s not really realistic.

Today, stocks move more quickly, and investors need to move more rapidly as well. The best way to manage your investments is with a powerful and robust phone app, so you can get customized notifications when things change and act just as quickly.

Once you know your investment strategy, here are some of the best ways to invest money right now. 

The Royal Mint

Many people feel that gold and precious metals remain one of the most secure and stable investments globally. Gold provides competitive returns with minimal risk because it is an asset with timeless value. The value of gold isn’t simply driven by investment demand, so it is less volatile, and it’s incredibly liquid.

Over time, gold tends to remain stable in value even as the value of currencies declines.

The Royal Mint, founded in 886AD, has been producing coins for the United Kingdom for over a thousand years. Today, the Royal Mint allows the public to invest in gold, silver, and platinum and purchase unique collectible coins as an investment.

In addition, you can buy precious metals in coins or bars, and The Royal Mint also offers secure storage of your bullion in The Vault, a Federal Standard 832 Class A Secure Vault.

Storing your precious metals in the most secure vault in the industry gives you peace of mind without the need to ship or store your bullion yourself, and The Vault is easily accessible via M4 or Cardiff Airport.

The Royal Mint also offers new digital investments, allowing you to invest and trade precious metals from your computer or smartphone. Your digital assets are backed by investment-grade physical bullion, but with all the convenience of real-time trading and instant liquidity.

The Royal Mint also offers investment plans specifically to care for a child’s future or plan for your own retirement.

Peer Street

Real estate debt is a new way of investing in real estate without the hassle of owning a property. Real estate debt arises when real estate owners (often developers) take out private loans rather than seeking bank financing.

These private loans are repaid over time as the developer repays the investment, and they are backed by the value of the property itself, making them a more secure investment.

Peer Street is a platform that allows individuals to invest in real estate debt with convenience and control. Their real estate investments are sourced from a nationwide network of lenders and brokers, and you can browse and choose from hundreds of investment opportunities with transparent terms.

In addition, Peer Street has automated investing where you can reserve investments that meet your criteria and consider them for up to 24 hours. Or you can manually manage and diversify your portfolio.

Peer Street has been featured by Forbes, Bloomberg, CNBC, The Los Angeles Times, TechCrunch, and more. You can get started investing in real estate debt for just $1,000, and all investments have the security of being backed and secured by real property, with a first-lien position, so you are first in line to be repaid in case of default.

In addition, Peer Street investments are usually short-term, lasting for only 1-36 months, so you don’t have to invest for years before you see returns. And their app makes it easy to manage your investments from where ever you are.

Rocket Dollar

If you contribute to an IRA or 401(k), you may find that you are only allowed to invest in a small selection of mutual funds. Conventional retirement fund managers offer just a few funds and only a mix of stocks and bonds for you to invest in.

However, there is a wide range of alternative assets that are more volatile but may present greater returns. For example, investing in currency, commodities, real estate, venture capital, cryptocurrencies, and other assets have made enormous returns for some investors. Still, many companies don’t even offer them as an option.

If you’re tired of investment firms that limit your options to a limited selection of funds or only offer stocks and bond investments, Rocket Dollar puts you in control.

Featured by Inc., Siliconhills, Forbes, the Austin Business Journal, and more, Rocket Dollar offers self-directed accounts and lets you control your investments.

You can choose a traditional IRA, Roth IRA, or SEP-IRA account or manage a Solo 401(k) with incredible flexibility and control.

Once you have an account, you can invest in more than just stocks and bonds. Rocket Dollar also allows you to diversify with a broader range of assets, including peer-to-peer loans, real estate, startups, and even cryptocurrencies.

Investing is risky, and self-directed investing may be even riskier, so Rocket Dollar offers a wide range of tools to help you make the right choice. They offer a free eBook, an online Knowledge Base, guides, webinars, and more, to help you make smart investment decisions.

Plans start at $15/month with a one-time $360 setup fee, but with no minimum opening deposit and free transfers from your existing retirement accounts. Rocket Dollar pricing also includes a free LLC to hold your IRA investments and Fair Market Value Reporting for IRA accounts. Rocket Dollar lets you control your investments and your future.

Robinhood

There is a vast range of apps that allow you to invest in the stock market, but many of them cut into your profits with commissions and other fees that add up over time.

Robinhood is transparent about their fees, many of which are required by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and never charges commissions. Robinhood also allows you to diversify your portfolio with crypto, gold, options, and other asset types.

Robinhood offers commission-free investing and allows you to invest in a broader range of assets. For example, with Robinhood, you can access the latest IPOs, buy fractional stock shares, or invest in gold or cryptocurrency.

Robinhood also offers cash management services that give you interest on your uninvested cash, giving you more flexibility with your brokerage account.

It offers an easy app to make investing more affordable, more intuitive, and more fun. In addition, the app allows you to manage your portfolio from anywhere, with custom news and notifications, so you have as much control as you want over your investments.

Robinhood is dedicated to making the financial system work for everyone. They believe in challenging the status quo while making customers happy and working to protect their privacy and security.

Their devotion to customer success includes a wide range of support and education services to make sure customers make informed decisions about their investments. New investors with Robinhood get their first stock free (limitations apply), so it’s easy to start investing right away.

Investing money always carries some associated risk that you will lose your money, although some assets, like gold, make that extremely unlikely. When choosing how you will invest, carefully research your options to determine how comfortable you are with the associated risks.

It’s always best to invest some of your capital in a low-risk, stable asset so that if you lose big, you don’t lose everything. Protect yourself by diversifying your portfolio and looking at the big picture.

For this reason, it’s also essential to choose an investment method that offers excellent support, advice, and guidance to help you make good decisions with your money. Our favorite investment tools and apps are backed by a reliable team that supports their customers and helps them develop the best investment strategy for their needs.

Conclusion

Whatever type of asset you choose to invest in, select an investment partner with a great reputation and excellent communication. Compare fees and fine print, and review things like downtime, tax reporting, and the privacy and security of your data.

Your future wealth and well-being can hinge on the financial decisions you make right now, so do the research, make a plan, and stay informed about the value of your portfolio. The best way to invest money right now is the way that will protect you in the future.