When you own stocks or stock mutual funds, you do own something tangible. You own a piece of that particular company or companies. That has an inherent value based on the ability of that company to generate future earnings (plus any existing assets that the company owns). True it is possible for individual companies to be mismanaged or for stocks to fall out of favor temporarily. But likewise, the value of a real estate investment is no more fixed than a stock price (as we have recently seen!). There is no such thing as a sure thing. The best strategy is to diversify your investments. You can own some real estate through a REIT fund, but make it 10% of your portfolio or less. Owning investment properties inside of your IRA doesn't allow you to take full advantage of the tax benefits of real estate.
Eventually stocks will come back into favor and the money that is sitting on the sidelines will come pouring back in. In order to make a return, you want to be in the market before that happens, not after.
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