When you think of making an investment, you probably think about buying something that will appreciate in value so you can sell it later on for a profit. However, that’s only one half of investing.
Every investment you can possibly make has multiple benefits beyond the profit you can make. Some of the most common investments provide practical benefits, and here are just two of them:
1. Bitcoin (or any other cryptocurrency)
If you haven’t joined the Bitcoin train, there are several different benefits to investing in cryptocurrency:
- There’s a high potential for profit. The most obvious reason for investing in Bitcoin is to make a profit. Although the price has gone down a bit from its $19,000+ spike in December 2017, Bitcoin keeps gaining value. It’s also one of the easiest investments for beginners to make. If you’ve never invested in the stock market, Bitcoin is a good choice.
- There’s less risk with Bitcoin futures. When you invest in Bitcoin futures, you’re buying and selling contracts for future prices rather than dealing with the actual goods.Trading Bitcoin futures can be a great investment because there’s often less risk and more tax benefits.
When trading actual Bitcoin, most trading platforms take 3-5 days to put the Bitcoin in your account. If Bitcoin goes up the next day, you can’t sell yours because it’s not in your account yet. Futures are traded almost instantly, making it possible for you to sell quickly if needed.
With Bitcoin futures, 60% of the gains are treated as long-term capital gains, with 40% treated as short-term. It doesn’t matter how long you hold the contracts, the way they’re taxed doesn’t change.
- You can keep your transactions (mostly) anonymous. If you don’t want the government, a bank, or credit union knowing what you purchase, cryptocurrency is a good solution. As long as the company you purchase from accepts your cryptocurrency of choice, you can make relatively anonymous purchases.Your purchases will only be relatively anonymous because cryptocurrency isn’t as anonymous as people think. Experts have proven that it’s impossible to completely prevent your Bitcoin purchases from being traced to you, even with added security protections like CoinJoin.
When Steven Goldfeder from Princeton investigated how easy it is to link supposedly anonymous transactions to their owners, he found it was extremely easy. Goldfeder told TechnologyReview.com that web trackers and cookies send a person’s payment information to at least 40 third parties for marketing and advertising purposes.
Goldfeder also states, “We find that many merchant websites have far more serious (and likely unintentional) information leaks that directly reveal the exact transaction on the Blockchain to dozens of trackers.” According to his investigation, this includes 130 websites like Microsoft, NewEgg, and Overstock.
Someone would need to be tech-savvy to make the link between the Blockchain and the person who performed the transaction, but it can be done. It’s probably not a big concern if you’re investing in Bitcoin for profit.
2. Precious metals
Buying gold and silver bars, rounds, and coins has always been a worthwhile investment, but it’s not just for making a profit. Investing in precious metals – specifically silver – can support you in an economic crisis.
Everyone should have at least a small amount of gold or silver bullion in case the economy crashes. When the US dollar isn’t worth anything, you can still trade gold and silver for food and supplies.
Buying gold before the price goes up isn’t a bad idea. However, you’ll want to invest in more silver than gold for some practical and obvious reasons.
- Silver is more affordable. If you don’t have the funds to invest in gold, you don’t need to wait. Silver is more affordable, and you can buy one coin at a time if you need to. There’s no reason to hold out for gold.
- Silver is easier to trade in small quantities. If you buy a one-ounce gold coin for $1,300, good luck cutting it into pieces when you need to trade it for a loaf of bread. Silver, on the other hand, has a lower value, which is in your favor when you need to trade it for smaller items.
If you’re already investing in metals for profit, keep those investments separate from what you invest in for your future. Make a commitment to purchase a few pieces of silver each month and store it somewhere safe in your home.