In today’s climate, there are still a number of ways to invest, which this article will cover now.

For newbies to investing, most people invest for two main benefits. These are:

1) capital growth of the funds invested and 
2) income generated from the investment.

Although what you invest in can be split in numerous different ways, I am going to talk about 3 different types of investing:

1) Investing in companies: this can be through shares purchased on the stock exchange, where companies pay you a dividend (income). You can also make profits from the change in value of the share or shares you purchased (capital growth). Bear in mind that the value can go down as well as up!

It is also possible to provide private loans to companies in return for income over a period of time. You will need to be a certified investor, what is called in the UK a High Net Worth (HNW), as decreed by the financial regulatory body of the time, previously known as the Financial Services Authority (FSA)

2) Investing in Assets – investors can also invest in assets, predominantly for capital growth over a period of time, but income is available on some investments too. The most popular of which is investing in property, either residential or commercial. Larger investors also invest in land, either commercial or even agricultural, which is particularly popular in a volatile market like we have today. Commodities attract many investors too so one can also consider investing in precious metals such as gold or silver. Their values typically rise in a downmarket, and are again popular today.

There is also a booming alternatives market where you can invest in anything from films, stamps, wind/solar energy to carbon credits!

3) Investing in yourself – finally it is also possible to invest in yourself by starting and building your own business! There are literally hundreds of business ideas out there, with investors either building businesses with high income levels, or to sell further down the line as a capital growth strategy, particularly for retirement purposes.

So we have briefly covered a number of generic investing ideas here, which should hopefully give you some direction when searching the internet for the product that suits you best!

In further articles, we will delve into the investing sector in more detail to decipher what may be working and what may not. It is a case, I believe, of understanding the current market dynamics and forecasting the economy based on understanding economic trends and factors. Investors will then hopefully see that it is not all doom and gloom, and it is possible to invest sensibly, and profitably, over the next few years.