As a rule of thumb, you should always diversify your income streams and investments since all of them carry some level of risk. On one hand, there are the more widely known investments like bonds, stocks, and mutual funds, but on the other, there’s a world of possibilities that can bring a lot more profit and entertainment to investors. Here are the fourteen best alternative investments in 2020:

1) Investing in Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies that have gained a lot of fame over the years. Now they’re being regulated by governments all over the world and becoming even safer. The first and most known one was Bitcoin. After Bitcoin, many other digital currencies were created such as Ethereum and Ripple. With the massive volatility of these currencies, you can earn a lot of money. If you have a high-risk tolerance, this investment is for you. 

2) Peer-to-Peer Lending

Peer-to-Peer Lending, or P2P, is a way people can lend money directly to other individuals without a bank. Depending on the risk of the borrower, you can earn up to 27% interest. There’s a really low entry barrier, as low as $25 dollars. The most famous websites for these types of investments are Lending Club, Prosper, and Upstart.

3) Invest in Real Estate Without Buying Property

Do you want to start investing in real estate, but don’t have enough money to buy a property? You have to consider that real estate is not passive because you’d have to maintain and manage your properties. There are two leading companies for crowdfunding real estate, Fundrise and Realty Mogul.

4) Invest in Startup Companies

Did you know that you don’t have to be wealthy to invest in new companies? Since many companies fail, it’s important to remember that this is a high-risk investment, but it can bring you huge returns. They don’t ask much to start, and you only need $10. There are a few options to choose from, like Seedfunder, WeFunder, or MicroVentures.

5) Collectibles and Antiques

People love collecting stuff like comic books, magazines, coins, and art, which can be sold for a lot of money. If you have a good eye for this type of thing, you can attend garage sales, flea markets, and on sites like eBay to hunt for products with low prices and sell for a high price. 

6) Wine

People have been producing wine for thousands of years and it’s still popular all over the world to this day. A bottle of wine can go from $1.99 up to $188,336. That being said, wine enthusiasts have been buying wine with the intention of gaining a profit, since its value can increase over time.

7) Vending Machines

Investing in vending machines has been growing in popularity because of its low start-up costs, flexibility, the potential for growth, and passive income. Start by considering which product you want to sell, then you’ll need to decide where your vending machine will be located – airports, hospitals, shopping malls, schools. You can start small by buying a few machines to test and learn about the market, and grow over time.

8) Farmland

Farmland is another alternative long-term investment you can consider. You can make money in many ways such as growing crops, leasing the land for other farmers to grow crops or buying land to appreciate in value and selling it for a profit. An average 100-acre farm can cost anywhere from $500,000 up to over a million dollars.

9) Litigation funding

More often than not, lawsuits are won by people or companies who have more money than its opponent, and litigation funding is a way to try and equalize access to the legal system. It can be defined as a type of crowdfunding that is made by other people in order to help a plaintiff involved in litigation in exchange for a percentage of any financial recovery. There’s a potential return of 20-30% pa, however, you should keep in mind that it is a high-risk investment. CrowdJustice and Axia Funder are two options you can try for litigation funding investing.

10) Storage Units

If you like the idea of real estate, but think it has a high upfront cost, you might want to consider investing in storage units. This business has been growing in demand over the years, since it has low ongoing management, and low construction costs, and large earnings potential. You can build your own storage units by doing some market research in order to find the best place to build them or you can buy an existing self-storage facility at websites like Argus Self Storage, LoopNet, or Crexi.

11) Your Own Online Business

E-commerce is a trillion-dollar market, in which you can start investing without having to have a lot of money in 2020. The first step is finding a niche, in other words, the products you want to sell, and then evaluate market viability and market research. Then you need to launch your website and drive organic traffic to it by creating content or with ads.

12) Franchise

Starting your business from scratch is not easy, and it will take some time until people get to know your brand and start buying from you. However, when you buy a franchise, they already have a client base and a business model that works well that produces results. You can start with as little as $10,000 up to over $1 million dollars for famous franchises like McDonald’s. 

13) Distressed Debt 

You can also invest in buying the bonds of companies that are about to file for bankruptcy or already did it at a discount. When someone buys the distressed debt of a firm, they gain control over the business’ decisions. This is a very risky investment, so you must study a lot before buying distressed debt. You can buy distressed debt through mutual funds, the bond market, or the company itself.

14) Gold

Investing in precious metals such as gold increases in popularity during economic recessions. The reason why is because it’s a less volatile asset, and it’s a good way to preserve your patrimony. You don’t necessarily need to buy gold coins in order to own gold. Investors can also buy gold funds, future options, and gold mining stocks.