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Picture yourself at some point in the future doing whatever you like. Sailing yourself around the Mediterranean, shuttling from summer home to winter home, or even being able to move close to your grandkids in California. I am sure that you can picture every detail. Unfortunately, those scenes all have one thing in common: money. They all require that you have a significant amount of money saved up to enable you the freedom to do them. So how do you get there from here?

The key to successfully reaching all of these is that they are Long Term goals. That means that you have time to plan and prepare for them. The further away in time that they are, the more likely you will be to successfully get there. How you get there will be a matter of personal choice, but there are many options. Which ones you choose should depend on your personal risk tolerance level, how much money you have to invest, how much time you are willing to spend with your investments, and how much time you have to grow your money before you need to start using it.

It is unfortunate that so many people just equate investing with the stock and bond markets. It is true, that within them there are a huge variety of investments available that cater to all sorts of investors. Mutual funds call out to inexperienced and time-harried investors alike. Individual stocks provide all sorts of opportunities for those who can look deeper. Bonds provide security and a counter-balance to equity ownership. Hedge funds glitter with the promise of riches hidden behind a wall of risk. Even with all of those options, it still does not cover the full range of investment opportunities.

Hedge funds and commodities markets offer their own set of risks and rewards that can be large. Real estate supports a lot of people's ambitions for long-term goals too. Even the lottery offers the potential for high rewards, although I cannot think of any professional advisor who would seriously suggest it.

Individuals to reach their own financial goals have used each of these options, and each of these options could be your ticket to reaching your financial goals. I am going to go through each of these options at a very high level. Most of these investment options have entire libraries written about how to invest in them, so I cannot address any single one in full detail in a short article like this.

Stocks, Bonds and Mutual Funds

These are the most commonly thought of method when somebody mentions investing. Who hasn't thought of finding

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