Invest in Real Estate or Stocks???

For the period 1987 to 2012, the S&P Index has risen about 550% yielding an average annual return of more than 20% (S&P 500 Index History by Prime Rate, S&P 500 History). For the same period, residential home prices only rose about 186%, amounting to less than 8% annual return (S&P/Case - Shiller National Home Price Index).

So it seems that stocks give you a greater return but it is without risk so you have to know what you are doing. Real estate is an active business. Compared to stocks, where you sit back and collect divided checks, there's a ton more work to real estate investing. If you don't know how much money you can make on an investment property, you should figure that out before venturing in to one.

It's about location, location, location.

Hi, the fact is you cannot decide that which investment out of two will be safe in future, so i would suggest you that before you make any decision make sure you do complete analyzation and if needed take guidance from good financial advisor. All the best.

I think is a better options for anyone.

Invest in real estate is good because if you buy some property or home then you can easily make more money or earned more.

I have invested in both real estate and the stock market and I believe real estate is hands down the better investment. Even with the stock market increasing significantly I am making more money on my rental properties and they allow me to retire much earlier than the stock market.

Knowledge /Experience matters everywhere. If you have knowledge about stocks, but your cousin had a set-back. This time real estate is also a good investment sector, but first get experience in the field then invest in it.

If you're still undecided on where to invest, I suggest a combination. For real estate, use a location that has a popular university such as Austin. For stocks, buy into index funds provided by Fidelity or Vanguard. You can decide on the ratio between the two, and make annual adjustments to maximize your return.
I had investments in both rental property and stock funds, but sold my rental property when I retired, because I didn't want to 'manage' anything in my retirement. In addition to the rents I collected, I sold the rental property at a great profit almost doubling my investment.
The rental property provided for a great cash flow that allowed me to invest more in stock funds as well as taking vacations to foreign countries (83).

Real Estate investment is better than Stocks.

If you have good knowledge...then you go to further....

So, where did you decide to invest?

It's easy to talk about the past when the numbers are already in.
What would you recommend for investment now?