Should You Invest In Real Estate, Stocks or Treasury Bills?

image: investopedia.com

The perfect answer is YES. Yes, all of them.

An ideal investment portfolio will have a well thought out mix of these major investment asset types.

What about the imperfect answer? 

Say you have just enough to do one and not all? Or you are like me and really really obsessed with picking the best rewarding one and focusing on it. Which would/should you pick?

Sorry to disappoint you but the imperfect answer is not straightforward. If you are highly number literate, have the heart for high risk and long term focused, go for stocks. Just be like me. But if you love real estate, have the money for it and understand how to navigate the real estate jungle in Nigeria, then go for real estate. And if you like peace of mind more than everything else and risking your life savings adds a few numbers to your blood pressure (you are the opposite of me), then by all means go for Treasury Bills.

Why am I saying all these? It is because history backed up by numerous Ph.D thesis (or the other way round) has shown that stocks are the best rewarding investment type; followed by real estate while Treasury Bills (generally money market) are the least rewarding but safest. And as usual there are people who feel otherwise. Contrarians or one street folks. They do either none or just one and would swear heaven and earth that all those theoretical research backed by history are horse shit. I have nothing to say to them.

But if you are open minded and would give facts more weight than your feelings, then I would say investing is nothing to be done lightly or merely just talked about. Listen more to people doing it than those just talking about it. Then become one of the doers too and listen to yourself. Learn from actually doing. Read all the theories and make technically sound decisions.

That is the route I am following. And my imperfect answer led me to putting all my life savings in stocks (mostly). 

Isn't it very risky and dangerous? Yes it is risky but as long as I keep my two eyes open and brain/computer running the analysis, it is not dangerous. Risky is driving on Nigerian roads (especially Benin-Ore road) while dangerous is driving with your eyes closed. One can be unavoidable to achieve some goals while the other is totally avoidable (in fact, should be avoided). 

I have identified my destination/goal, best possible long term gain based on sound reasoning and analysis, and stocks is the road that will lead me there. So I sleep very sound at night even when the markets go up and down. I know what I signed up for. Getting to that destination is definitely only by the grace of God but knowing which road leads there is very straightforward. 

You just have to find what your investment personality is, and that is after thoroughly educating yourself on financial investments.