I agree about real estate except disagree on time frame. If you need the money in 12-18mths a real estate flip might be more in the cards for you - this is where you buy a beat up house for a huge discount and repair then relist the property and sell at a profit lots of money to made in that biz one man's trash is anothers treasure. I also think that the price of gold will be continuing its uptrend this is a great mid to long term investment Look at the biggest gold mining corp around Newmont Mining (NEM) I really feel that gold is going to take out the all time highs it made of $800/once (right now its around $400) best.