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Last year was an excellent time to be an investor. According to the annual World Wealth Report from Capgemini, 562,000 Americans became millionaires in 2024 — a 7.6% increase from 2023.
This rapid increase had two major contributing factors: interest rate cuts and the explosion of AI investments. Americans invested $109 billion in AI in 2024, far exceeding every other country in the world, according to Stanford University’s 2025 AI Index.
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According to Kris Bitterly, head of Citi Global Wealth at Work, alternative investments are another important element contributing to this rapid wealth accumulation.
“Many investors, presently, when you look at their asset allocations, they’re significantly underweight on alternatives,” Bitterly told Bloomberg, noting that alternatives present “unique opportunities that are not available in public markets that you want to express in your portfolio.”
If you’re interested in exploring some options that are usually reserved for the ultra wealthy, here are a few alternative investments you can easily add to your portfolio today.
Low barrier to entry real estate investments
Real estate is a well known driver of high-net-worth individuals’ wealth. The National Association of Realtors found that approximately 90% of all millionaires in the U.S. grew part of their wealth through real estate.
But it’s not easy to break into property investing if you’re not already wealthy. Many new homeowners can only access the market because their parents have provided the down payment. As Redfin reported, one-third (36%) of Gen Zers and millennials expect to receive a cash gift from family to help fund their down payment.
If you’re considering real estate investing, but don’t have enough saved for the down payment quite yet — or you just don’t want the hassle of being a landlord or homeowner — there are some real estate investment options with a lower barrier to entry.
If you’re not an accredited investor, crowdfunding platforms like Arrived allow you to enter the real estate market for as little as $100.
Arrived offers you access to shares of SEC-qualified investments in rental homes and vacation rentals, curated and vetted for their appreciation and income potential.
Backed by world-class investors like Jeff Bezos, Arrived makes it easy to fit these properties into your investment portfolio regardless of your income level.
For accredited investors, Homeshares gives access to the $34.9 trillion U.S. home equity market, which has historically been the exclusive playground of institutional investors.
With a minimum investment of $25,000, investors can gain direct exposure to hundreds of owner-occupied homes in top U.S. cities through their U.S. Home Equity Fund — without the headaches of buying, owning or managing property.
With risk-adjusted target returns ranging from 14% to 17%, this approach provides an effective, hands-off way to invest in owner-occupied residential properties across regional markets.
Read more: Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan ‘works every single time’ to kill debt, get rich in America — and that ‘anyone’ can do it
Gold is your neighbor’s best-kept secret
While it might not be the trendiest investment, gold still holds value in a properly diversified portfolio.
Over the past few months of tariff uncertainty, gold has done incredibly well. Gold breached $3,000 per ounce in April — avoiding some of the up-and-down spikes that rocked the S&P 500. Gold could even surpass the $4,000 benchmark by the second quarter of 2026, according to a report by JPMorgan.
Hedge fund managers like Ray Dalio are bullish on gold for this reason. It can hedge against inflation and help shield against volatility, ensuring high-net-worth individuals can weather any financial storm.
One way to invest in gold that also provides significant tax advantages is to open a gold IRA with the help of American Hartford Gold.
Gold IRAs allow investors to hold physical gold or gold-related assets within a retirement account — combining the tax advantages of an IRA with the protective benefits of investing in gold, making it an option for those looking to potentially hedge their retirement funds against economic uncertainties.
Even better, you can often roll over existing 401(k) or IRA accounts into a gold IRA without tax-related penalties. To learn more, get your free 2025 information guide on investing in precious metals.
Qualifying purchases can also receive up to $20,000 in free silver.
You don’t have to be a celeb to invest in fine art
For many, the trickiest part of investing is learning how to get started. Do I need a finance manager? What should I invest in? And what does everyone mean by diversified anyway?
But some investments don’t just sit in an account. In fact, the wealthiest among us often invest in beautiful works of art they can keep in their homes and enjoy every day.
David Bowie was known for his large collection of modern art, including works from Marcel Duchamp, Henry Moore, Frank Auerbach and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
While hanging a Basquiat on your wall someday might sound like a pipedream, that doesn’t mean investing in the art world is completely out of reach.
With Masterworks, anyone can diversify their portfolio by investing in fine art.
From their 23 exits so far, Masterworks investors have realized representative annualized net returns like +17.6%, +17.8% and +21.5% among assets held for longer than one year.
To earn a profit, you can either wait for Masterworks to sell the painting — the typical timeframe before a sale is between 3 to 10 years — or you can sell your shares yourself on the secondary market.
Masterworks takes care of all the heavy lifting: from buying the paintings, to storing them and to selling them for you — no art experience required.
Get started with Masterworks today and you could make your portfolio as beautiful as a Starry Night.
The crypto rise continues
Once considered a fad, crypto is now dominating the alternative investment conversation.
Bitcoin hit a record high in May, skyrocketing by 3% and surpassing a $110,000 valuation for the first time ever. Its rise could continue once the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve’s final plans are unveiled by President Donald Trump’s administration on July 22, 2025.
A recent study from Greyscale Investments also found that 38% of high-net-worth Americans with at least a million in investible assets expect to invest in crypto in the future, pointing to its relevance in a high-net-worth portfolio.
So all the bullish crypto sentiments coming from the office of the president just might be the real reason your neighbor was suddenly able to buy that new Benz sitting in the driveway.
For those looking to hop on the Bitcoin bandwagon, new crypto platforms have made it easier for everyday investors.
For instance, Gemini is a full-reserve and regulated cryptocurrency exchange and custodian, which allows users to buy, sell and store bitcoin and 70 other cryptocurrencies.
You can place instant, recurring and limit buys on their growing and vetted list of available coins.
Gemini is also offering new users $15 in free Bitcoin with code GEMINI15 when you trade $100 or more. However, the trade needs to be revenue-generating for Gemini — meaning no stablecoin or withdrawal-deposit shuffling. Just remember to act fast, the promotion is only good for 30 days after creating a new account.
But if you’re not ready to buy just yet, you can still invest in crypto with their Gemini credit card, which transforms a percentage of every purchase into bitcoin or a coin of your choice.
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
