America's Top Long Term Investment: Real Estate

When it comes to long term investing, there are a number of different avenues people can take. Whether it be for retirement, paying for college, building wealth or just saving for a rainy day, we all want to know our money is working for us. Stocks and Bonds have always been a popular choice especially in a growing economy, Bitcoin is building and making headlines in the process but one investment strategy has proven time and again to be a favorite amongst U.S. residents. When Bankrate conducted its nationwide survey this past June to see what America's favorite long term investment was, real estate reigned supreme. 

Despite the scares from the housing crash, roughly 31% of the responders to the survey claimed real estate to be their favorite investment for money they wouldn't need for 10 years or more. Last year stocks came in on top as the most popular long term investment but fell to second place this year with 20% of the respondents selecting stocks as their preferred long term investment strategy. Other investment options to make the list included cash investments (savings cactus/CD's) ranking 3rd with 19%, gold/ metals ranking 4th with 11%, bonds ranking 5th with 7%, nothing or no strategy in 6th place with 5% and Bitcoin/ Cryptocurrency rounding the list at 7th place with 4%.

Other interesting findings from the survey showed Millenials scored the highest across all age groups to prefer real estate as their long term investment of choice. 36% Millenials, 31% Generation X, Baby Boomers 30% and the Silent Generation 23%. Surveyors were also broken down into four income categories ($75K+ p/year, $50K - $75K p/ year, $30K - $50K p/year and $30K or less p/year) and even amongst ALL income groups real estate came out on top.