What is the best investment for my future

Introduction

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, we have noticed a surge in investments in financial markets from students encouraged by being stuck at home and the gamification of FinTech platforms. This situation created an instability, which played a key role.  We can discern two kind of young investors that have a different vision on how to make money on financial markets.

A part of this profile thinks that they can make quick money from speculative investments, while other young investors believe that passive investments are the way to create wealth for their future. As Warren Buffet would say, “all there is to investing is picking good stocks at good times and staying with them as long as they remain good companies”.

Social class differences: creating a disparity in capital availability

Students coming from contrasting social classes inhibit different behaviours. It plays a huge factor in understanding their interactions with the investment community . Coming from different social classes heavily affects your education and financial knowledge. Students originating from lower social classes may have minimal or no financial knowledge compared to other students with more privileged backgrounds. Knowing how financial markets and investments work, may also shield these students from ending up losing their money.  

A variety of assets that students can invest in

Assets can either be tangible or intangible. They have their own specificities, advantages and disadvantages. Assets can be public, such as stocks and bonds that are related to companies. Other public assets can be related to different sector, such as commodities and oil. A more unique market that requires specific knowledge is the currencies. When investing in those, students can become more risk adverse, meaning they take on riskier investments, i.e buying more stocks than bonds. Students can also invest with indirect exposure to public markets, by choosing listed investment trusts (LITs) or Exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Private assets also exist, but they are mainly available for institutional investors. However, there is an access for individuals, with different products, such as European Long-Term Investment Funds (ELTIF).

The importance of investing at the best moment in the right asset

Markets fluctuate all the time, especially when overall sentiment is threatened by a general fear, fuelled by bad economic conditions or geopolitical tensions. It is then important for students to understand when they should invest in a specific asset rather than another.

Stocks react when listed companies share their financial results every semester (and every trimester for their revenue performance), when macroeconomic news is released, (such as inflation), when Fed and ECB decisions come out, or when any other events of different nature are happening, like Russia-Ukraine war or the US tariffs.

Additionally, bonds are related to the Fed and ECB decisions, following inflation and policy rates evolution. This asset is known for being secure, as well as gold, that allow investors to protect themselves against inflation. Investing in the Brent (oil) can be interesting depending on if OPEP or an oil producer country decides to reduce the production of oil in the region. If the production is reduced, there will normally be an increase in oil rarity, leading to higher prices.

Understanding the market is vital to make the right move at the right time. Students can allow diverse their portfolio by investing in different assets to reduce risk.

Investing is not always about financial markets

We usually link investments to financial markets, but other kind of assets can be profitable. If we think about real estate, a student could contract a mortgage to buy a small property and rent it out, before selling it at a higher price after several years. If a higher capital is needed for this kind of investments, contracting debt for buying real estate is not without risk, as the bank wants to be paid on time, penalties could appear and increase the total amount of the investment if the student fails to do so.

A low-capital need investment that could be interesting for students with small investment capacity could be collectibles, such has Pokemon cards for instance. This collectible came back trendy these last years and are highly speculative, with the rarest card sold for several thousands. As there is a high demand for it, students could trade them on an important collectible market. Sneakers are also similar to collectible. They can be sold on a marketplace like StockX and are also speculative, depending on the model. Art is also a niche market, where all kinds of piece of art are exchanged on a market, with rare pieces that can be sold at a higher price, such as Daniel Arsham’s work of art, that are usually sold out within few hours after being released on his website.

Conclusion

Investing always require a capital to start with and  students don’t always start at the same point. Those coming from lower social classes having generally less money to invest compared to privileged background students. Students that decide to invest, whether they believe in short or long term investments, have plenty of assets to choose, from public to private assets to niche markets. Every asset or market is unique, with their own advantages and disadvantages, and for which implementing a strategy is always different. If several of these assets were not available for individuals several years ago, private markets start to become more democratized and students have more and more choices to invest in and makes investment even more diversified.

References 

Fernando, J. (2025). Investopedia. Bonds: how they work and how to invest. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bond.asp

Hayes, A. (2025). Investopedia. Stocks: what they are, main types and how they differ from bonds. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/stock.asp

de Jong McKensie, M. (2025). Cambridge University Press. Young investors, precariousness, and the maturing asset economy.

Nguyen, J. (2020). Marketplace. Why are Pokémon card prices rising? https://www.marketplace.org/story/2020/11/20/why-are-pokemon-card-prices-rising

ThinQ. (2025). Education. How can individual investors access private markets? https://eqtgroup.com/thinq/Education/how-can-individual-investors-access-private-markets