Where should you invest €100?
| Category | Investment or business | Annual return | Main risk | Access to your money |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. government bonds | 3-month Treasury bill | 3.9% | No default risk in dollars. Inflation can reduce its real value | After 3 months |
| 10-year Treasury bond | 4.7% | No default risk in dollars. You can lose if you sell early | After 10 years, or sell earlier | |
| 30-year Treasury bond | 5.2% | No default risk in dollars. Inflation and selling early are the main risks | After 30 years, or sell earlier | |
| Company and country bonds | High-quality company bonds | 5.2% | The company could fail to repay | Easy |
| Alphabet/Google bonds | 4.8% | Low risk, but Google could theoretically fail to repay | Fairly easy | |
| High-yield company bonds | 7.0% | Higher probability that companies fail to repay | Easy through funds | |
| Emerging-country dollar bonds | 6.4% | The country could default or restructure its debt | Easy through funds | |
| Riskier emerging-country bonds | 7.3% | High default and political risk | Easy through funds | |
| Emerging-country local-currency bonds | 7.2% | The local currency could lose value | Easy through funds | |
| Stock markets | S&P 500 | 10.0% historically | Can temporarily fall by 40–50% or more | Very easy |
| Small U.S. companies | 12.0% historically | More volatile; worst calendar year: −46.1% | Very easy through funds | |
| Property | Listed real estate—REITs | 9.7% historically | Can fall by 40–60% during severe crises | Very easy |
| Private real estate | 7.7% historically | Property prices can fall, and debt can increase losses | Difficult | |
| Real-estate development business | 7.0% | Money can remain blocked for years; construction and selling risks | Very difficult | |
| Other investments | Private credit | 7–11% | Borrowers could fail to repay | Usually blocked |
| Private equity | 12.3% historically | Companies can fail completely | Blocked for 7–12 years | |
| Venture capital | 12–13% historically | Many startups fail completely | Blocked for 10+ years | |
| Private infrastructure | 11.8% historically | Project, debt, demand and government-policy risks | Very difficult | |
| Gold | 5.6% historically | Produces no income and can fall significantly | Very easy | |
| Bitcoin/crypto | No reliable annual return | Extreme losses and complete loss are possible | Easy but extremely volatile | |
| Hedge funds | Depends on the strategy | Manager failure, borrowing and hidden risks | Often restricted | |
| Start your own business | Software | 50.2% | Very high startup failure risk | Very difficult |
| Advertising agency | 37.3% | Depends heavily on clients and employees | Very difficult | |
| IT services | 36.4% | Depends heavily on skilled employees | Very difficult | |
| Consulting/business services | 31.1% | Can become a job rather than a real investment | Very difficult | |
| Machinery manufacturing | 27.3% | Requires factories, inventory and working capital | Very difficult | |
| Engineering/construction | 25.5% | Project delays, cost overruns and payment risks | Very difficult | |
| General retail—Walmart type | 20.6% | High competition, inventory and operating risks | Very difficult | |
| Restaurants | 18.9% | High failure, rent and location risks | Very difficult | |
| Education/training | 18.9% | Less attractive if every sale requires your time | Very difficult | |
| Data centers | 18.7% recently | Extremely expensive to build; recent AI demand may not continue | Very difficult | |
| Agriculture | 7.8% | Weather, commodity prices and low profitability | Very difficult | |
| Grocery retail—Carrefour type | 7.0% | Very small profits and intense competition | Very difficult | |
| Car manufacturing | 2.6% | Requires enormous investment for a low average return | Very difficult |
*Bond figures are current yields. Stock-market and alternative-investment figures are historical returns. Business figures represent average returns from established listed companies, not guaranteed returns for a new business.*