Pro Tip: The "best" investment depends on your goals. Real estate offers leverage and tax benefits, while stocks offer liquidity and true passivity. Many successful investors diversify across multiple strategies.

How we compare: All strategies are measured on your full capital. Any capital not deployed (e.g. cash left over after buying whole rental properties) is assumed to earn your stated stock return as an opportunity-cost baseline, so a strategy isn't favored just for using more cash. Rental cash flow is based on your cash-on-cash return applied to the cash actually invested. Fix & Flip assumes failed flips lose about 15% of the capital tied up. Syndication returns are solved so interim distributions and the sale together hit your Target IRR. Figures are estimates, not guarantees.