Alternative investments for the small investor

Alternative investments are steadily growing in popularity. Partly because they are more colorful way to invest and partly because they are often simpler than playing equity or bond markets. Carefully chosen wine, toys, antique rugs, furniture or film posters for example can often bring you higher returns than buying shares. Wine is one of the most popular investments with those who can afford to invest time in learning the trade and stacking up the bottles, but it is also a viable option for many ordinary investors. One way of investing in bottled wine is to go via a broker. Many brokers are available on the web and wine can be traded almost as easily as shares. If you don't fancy your odds with Claret or Bordeaux's, your attic may hold the answer to making a large amount of money. Rare and collectable toys have been going for record prices recently, as the toy market has gained huge popularity over the last decade or so. Dolls and action figures have been leading the charge in the vintage toy market and that plastic action man may fetch an alarming price. Movie posters memorabilia are the next biggest thing. It is important to remember though that you need to concentrate on famous celebrities to see worthwhile returns. Old carpets are seeing pretty good returns at the moment. The favorites in this genre have to be Persian rugs which can fetch incredible prices. When buying Persian rugs beware of fakes though, make sure your rug comes with a certificate of authenticity. Gold may be considered quite a conventional investment but the returns that are being predicted over the next decade warrant taking a closer look at the precious metal. While it used to be extremely difficult and expensive to buy gold, companies have now realized that gold should be made accessible to the small investor. It can now be purchased safely and cost effectively over the internet and stored in some of the safest vaults in the world.