Born in a saving-frenzy nation where banks are the second overcrowded buildings next only to movie malls, people start planning their investment options as soon as they start working. While well thought out investment provides a high degree of security for the capital and at the same time providing a good gain, investment without thorough analysis is nothing short of gambling. As some investment firms may proclaim, there isn’t a rigid boundary between short term and long term investments. The former has shorter investment periods (1-10 years), higher cash mobility and lesser gains (but definitely higher than traditional savings returns) while the features of the latter are elaborated below.
We need a life-sustaining force beyond the age of 45-50 or after retirement to meet the daily needs and medical expenses. Here comes the need for long term investments. Planning for retirement and long term investments go hand in hand. For business firms, long term investments or just ‘investments’ are a secondary income stream and a means of attaining a strategic goal. Google acquired Motorola mobility for the sole reason of gaining greater control over mobile web, an investment of $12.5 billion just for the patent portfolio.
There are various forms of long term investment which vary on the risk involved, on the investment amount and the gain sought. 
Bonds are investment means where the person’s money is locked up for a period of time at a certain interest rate and is repaid on maturity . Finance company debentures are a kind of bond, an asset to a company but disparate from share capitals. They are not generally preferred because of their low returns, people mostly prefer a managed fund instead. Anything tangible or intangible, that has a value and can be converted to cash is called an asset. Assets can be classified into tangible and intangible assets. Tangible assets contain many classes, with the two prominent ones being current and fixed assets. Current assets include cash and anything that can be readily converted into cash during the operating cycle without disturbing the normal operation of a business. As a stark contrast to current asset, a fixed asset also referred to as PPE(property, plant and equipment) is something which is purchased for continued and long-term usage with the motive of earning profit. These include buildings, machinery, furniture,tools,etc..Intangible assets are those which have an intellectual value like patents,copyrights and trademarks.
Every available square metre of land on earth is owned by someone and there is fierce competition to be that someone. Property is the most widely invested in and sought after investment option. In real estate, the common intentions for buying a property are holding it as an asset, reselling, and leasing it out. It is a safe investment method and profits arise from monthly rents and from increase in the value of property over time. They are safer investments in the sense they dont need frequent scrutinizations like shares but confrontations over land and property have become prevalent enough to demand close administration and management. There have always been debates on ‘whether to invest in property or shares ?’ and naivety of people has always predisposed them towards property. But it has to be inderstood that they are two different forms of investment and both can yield equally good results with proper management.
A person who invested Rs.10,000 in Infosys Ltd. shares during its IPO in 1993 will be a crorepathi today (including the dividends offered), a 99900% capital gain!
Investing in shares in a public company, listed on a stock exchange, is like becoming a leaf in a huge tree. When the tree grows, the leaves grow along with it. Returns can be in two ways : Capital gains made while selling the shares at a profit, like the leaves attaining fruition and when the company pays out dividends, like the fruit seeding a new plant. The share value of a company depends on various factors, from its day to day trade to quarterly performance and prevailing country-wide economic turbulence and is generally unpredictable beyond a certain extent. Because of its volatility, short term investments in shares are discouraged. Investment in shares can be done either directly or through mutual funds. Direct management gives a sense of satisfaction and saves the money paid for fund managers but it requires careful observations and assessments. Fund managers pool money from various sources and decide the best form of investment. While some funds may invest heavily in high-risk shares targeting an all-out growth, others might play defensively and seek solid long term deposits from a wide range of deposits, bonds and shares.
In all, since the investment period and capital gain are counterbalancing, an optimum long term investments method can be identified by scrutinizing the available options.