Some investors are growing less confident in the stock market and have turned to real estate for returns—and others have become so risk-averse that they prefer operating in only cash dealings.
A recent study reveals one-quarter of investors name real estate as their investment of choice over a period longer than 10 years, 23% say they’d rather keep their money in cash and only 16% said they would invest in gold, precious metals or the stock market, according to a survey by Bankrate, MarketWatch reports.
People’s preference for real estate isn’t surprising considering REITs have averaged 9.8% annual returns since mid-2008 while bank stocks have achieved only 3.5% returns over the same period. But what is surprising is the preference for cash over stocks—cash doesn’t generate income. The comfort it provides is knowing it will still be under your mattress at the end of the day. [MW]
