If, like me, you’re a hands-on person used to being busy, then a retirement with time on your hands can sound a bit daunting. Don’t get me wrong; I love being able to spend a few days on the beach, cocktail in hand. I relish the opportunities for travel that I have. But that alone doesn’t cut it for me. And it may not for you, either.
Turquoise waters, bountiful lobsters and unspoiled countryside—this is what the island of Sark is known for. Within sight of the French coast of Normandy, it’s popular with French and English tourists alike.
It takes a magnifying glass to locate the Isle of Man on a map, however, in the financial industry at least, the tiny speck of land in the Irish Sea is proving to be an increasingly serious contender. Last year, this island of 80,000 inhabitants achieved 10% GDP growth, mostly on the back of its burgeoning financial industry. Finance companies have to pay a flat 10% tax on profits, and thanks to its semi-independent status, the Isle of Man does not fall under the scope of bureaucratic European finance legislation.
Investors’ tunnel vision is the key reason why you can currently pick up shares of an interesting former star performer for a bargain price.
It's the world's largest hotel company, and as such, probably about as difficult to steer as an oil tanker. InterContinental Hotels owns around 3,800 hotels with more than 500,000 rooms, all spread out over at least 100 countries.
Warren Buffet raised a few eyebrows when he invested some $4 billion into an Israeli company, Iscar Metalworking, last year.
Forests have long been considered a steady, yet boring investment. But recently, an upturn in timber prices has led to a renaissance in timber shares. However, none of this was felt at Highland Timber plc, a tiny English forest company listed on London's AIM market. Ever since the mid-1990s, the share price has only ever gone downward. That is, until a few months ago.
What sounds tempting in theory is often so much more difficult in practice. Figuring out that German property is the cheapest in all of Western Europe is one thing, but actually buying an investment property in Europe’s largest economy is an altogether different matter.
That is, it will be, if the company's ambitious expansion plans work out. Chances for this happening are looking good, which is why, if you missed out investing in Starbucks 10 years ago, you should carry on reading.
The U.S. is still the place where most of the world's new trends are born. Just like the ripple effect of water, new products and services usually originate in America and eventually reach foreign shores.