What is a good investment? What are the characteristics of a successful investment? Find the answers in this guide to long-term investing. There are many different ways and means of making money by investing. This article describes and highlights the common characteristics of many of the best investments. This guide will help you choose the best investment, avoiding investments with a high probability of failure. Why should you invest? For us, investment is a way of lending money to the economy and thereby participating in the growth of the economy. Investments are necessary to create wealth, but at the same time investors can participate in such wealth creation. Investors are also rewarded for taking risk. Investing is the most reliable way to achieve your financial goals and become financially independent. Very few people earn enough in their lifetime to retire simply by saving. Money saved alone cannot keep up with inflation, let alone growth. Therefore, most people should take reasonable risk with a diversified investment portfolio.