Foreign currency and commodity investments

When it comes to investments, if private individuals do make these then by and large they will be in stocks and shares. However there are other investment products too: other articles in this section have already looked at things like bonds and funds.

Other options are out there too for private individuals: these include things like investing in foreign currency and also commodities. The latter simply refers to actual tangible items rather than abstract entities that seem to just live as figures on computer screens. We are talking about things like platinum, copper and so on, and indeed certain food crops too when we talk about commodities.

And of course no article on investments is not complete without mention of property: many people have decided to invest it seems in property as opposed to having a pension fund, particularly with the shake-up of pensions in recent years and under the New Labour government and all the well publicised problems that caused for the pension industry.

When it comes to foreign exchange, this is usually referred to as forex, as in FOReign EXchange. And there are dealers that specialise in forex. One difference that it is worth understanding is that of the differing levels of something called liquidity with different assets.

Those that can readily be bought and sold easily through a defined marketplace are liquid assets, those that are not so easy to trade in this way are called illiquid, or at least less liquid.

For instance if you have antique cars they are not as liquid as shares, because there is no simple defined marketplace in the same way as there is with stocks and shares.

Buying Property

Mortgages

Buying Overseas

Tools and Resources

Foreign currency and commodity investments

House Prices