What do I invest in?

The type of investment suited to you depends on the amount you have to invest and the risks you are prepared to take. The sleep test is a good way to gauge this. If you invest $50000 with a 5-year plan and after twelve months the value of your investment has dropped what would your reaction be? If you would freak and not sleep at night then you should be in more conservative investments. If you understand that sometimes you need negative returns to achieve your expected return over this period then you can sleep well with more volatile aggressive investments.

Some investments like direct property need a large outlay or usually a large borrowing and you may be uncomfortable borrowing $500000 and having to pay $40000 per annum just in interest. If this is the case and you like property you may be better off borrowing a much smaller amount such as $50000 and placing these in a variety of property trusts.