A tangible investment is something physical that you can touch. It is an investment in a

tangible Tangibility is the property of being able to be perceived, especially by the sense of touch. Metaphorically, something can also be said to be "cognitively tangible" if one can easily understand it. Law In criminal law, one of the elements of ...

, hard or real asset or personal property. This contrasts with financial

investments Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broade ...

such as

stock Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...

s, bonds,

mutual fund A mutual fund is an investment fund that pools money from many investors to purchase Security (finance), securities. The term is typically used in the United States, Canada, and India, while similar structures across the globe include the SICAV in ...

s and other financial instruments. Some assets are held purely for their ability to appreciate, such as collectibles, while others are held for the income they generate while they

depreciate In accountancy, depreciation refers to two aspects of the same concept: first, an actual reduction in the fair value of an asset, such as the decrease in value of factory equipment each year as it is used and wears, and second, the allocation i ...

, such as equipment held for lease. Others exhibit a combination of properties, appreciating in market value while depreciating in book value, such as rental real estate. Timberland exhibits depletion of timber combined with appreciation of land. Other assets’ values fluctuate with supply and demand, such as

commodities In economics, a commodity is an economic good, usually a resource, that specifically has full or substantial fungibility: that is, the market treats instances of the good as equivalent or nearly so with no regard to who produced them. Th ...

, which are

liquid Liquid is a state of matter with a definite volume but no fixed shape. Liquids adapt to the shape of their container and are nearly incompressible, maintaining their volume even under pressure. The density of a liquid is usually close to th ...

investments unlike most other tangible investments. These various properties, together with the lack of correlation to traditional asset class values, make tangible investments a means of reducing overall investment risk through diversification.

Types

All of the following are tangible investments: * Businesses * Real estate and land *

Infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and pri ...

as an asset class (as opposed to traditional government-funded infrastructure) *

Commodities In economics, a commodity is an economic good, usually a resource, that specifically has full or substantial fungibility: that is, the market treats instances of the good as equivalent or nearly so with no regard to who produced them. Th ...

and natural resources such as industrial and

precious metal Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high Value (economics), economic value. Precious metals, particularly the noble metals, are more corrosion resistant and less reactivity (chemistry), chemically reac ...

s and minerals, oil, agricultural commodities, fish, livestock and forestry *

Collectibles A collectable (collectible or collector's item) is any object regarded as being of value or interest to a collector. Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types of collectables and terms t ...

of all kinds, including: ** Antiques and ancient artifacts ** Fine art ** Postage stamps (see philatelic investment) ** Coins (see

coin collecting Coin collecting is the collecting of coins or other forms of Mint (facility), minted legal tender. Coins of interest to collectors include beautiful, rare, and historically significant pieces. Collectors may be interested, for example, in co ...

) and banknotes ** Autographs and historic documents ** Memorabilia, such as political, celebrity, and sports memorabilia ** Firearms and militaria ** Trading cards ** Jewelry and timepieces ** Fine wines and spirits ** Classic cars ** Rare books ** Musical instruments ** Toys

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tangible Investment Investment

Types

See also

References