I'm trying to purchase a short sale condo here in Florida. There are a ton of them around with a decent cap rate -- 8 to 12%, which is a nice return. During normal times I would prefer to purchase bonds (preferably tax free) since they provide efficient income without the hassle of property maintenance, HOA, taxes, unruly tenants, etc. Right now however, it's a great time to buy a house/condo at a discount because you can generate a higher return than with an inventment grade bond (4%).
Stocks are great sometimes but it has been proven that very diversified portfolios (10 or more stocks) don't generate healthy returns, so you're better off picking 3-4 stocks that you're an expert on and go all in with a percentage of your net worth. The key here is spending a lot of time researching the companies you invest in, which requires several hours a week/month and some complex number crunching, which most people don't do (it's quite boring).
I was actually trying to compare the prices of metals (gold, silver, platinum) to comparable baseball cards to see what the ROI would have been over a decade or two. I never quite finished this project but I'm willing to bet that a portion of the baseball card market greatly outperformed the metals. I think cards, like metals, are hedges against inflation.
I think collectibles should be a part of every young adult's investment portfolio. Buy rare art, books, cards, wine...enjoy it, hold it in your hands. It's great (better than a number on a computer screen).
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