Saving money is good, but earning money is better. For anyone who has had the good fortune of looking at their bank statement and seeing extras you can put into investments, the next question is where should you invest it?

Let’s look at five investment options that you can look into.

Entrepreneurship

Going into business is an investment option that will require a lot of your time and effort. But if it works out, could be the most profitable for you and you get the accomplishment of building something from scratch. The options can be endless but you can get more successful by going into a field that you know best. Investments can be as small or as big as you want so that’s what’s great about going into business. Take a minute to review your assets right now, do you have real estate you can rent out or turn into a store? A car that you can turn into an uber car perhaps or one that you can use for deliveries? See how you can earn money from those assets and you’re well on your way to becoming an entrepreneur! Just don’t forget to get the right insurance products such as comprehensive car insurance when you do decide to put your assets unto your venture.

Stocks

As a stockholder, you get a share of the company that you bought stocks in. There are two ways to earn money from stocks. When you buy a stock for say 10 pesos each and then see that its price went up to 15 pesos the following week, you could sell it and realize a profit of 50% on your investment. Another way to earn with stocks is through dividends. There are stocks (usually “blue chip stocks” that are shares of big established companies like San Miguel or Jollibee) that regularly give out dividends to their stock holders. These may be small but it can be significant depending on how many shares you hold.

To invest in stocks, you’ll need to open an account with a stock broker. These days, there are online stock brokers that let you buy and sell stocks online through their website and the advantage of this is that it’s convenient and you get access to charts that give you an idea of how well that stock has performed in the past. The stock market can be volatile meaning it goes up and it goes down and that’s the risk you face when you invest in stocks. The upside is that the money you need to start investing in stocks can be relatively small. You can open an account with an online broker and invest in the stock market with as little as PHP 5,000.

Treasury Bonds

Treasury bonds are financial instruments issued by governments. Compared to stocks, these carry less risk. You can look into investing in treasury bonds issued by the Philippine government. You can go to banks such as PNB and BDO which have desks that can help you put your money into these securities. Tenors for treasury bonds can be as short as 2 years and as long as 25 years. The downside to investing in treasury bonds is that it needs quite a hefty investment on your part. You’ll need a minimum of PHP 200,000 to invest in treasury bonds according to PNB.

Unit Investment Trust Funds

Aside from treasury bonds, the investment desks of banks may also offer unit investment trust funds. These are professionally managed funds that are invested in different investment types such as bonds, money market securities, etc. UITFs are regulated so the BSP has an oversight on these products. What makes these investments attractive is that these are affordable and have liquidity meaning you can redeem units at any time. There’s also quite a variety of funds to choose from so you can find one that fits your investment goals.

Pension Plans

Think of pension plans as an investment for your future. These are more of a saving plan that you can take advantage of when you retire. It’s easy to find a pension plan that has life insurance component so that your beneficiaries can get the benefits when these mature. These may not be a straight up investment product such as stocks and bonds, but these can compliment your savings nicely.

Investing can get risky and you need to study all the pros and cons of an investment before you put your hard-earned money into it. Diversification is one way to minimize risk and if you plan to go into business, making sure to buy the right insurance products for your assets can serve as a safety net for you.

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