Money News
Forget fast cars and swanky bars, today's young professionals are starting to put their cash into collecting valuables according to new research from leading home insurance company Zurich. The most popular collectibles are first edition books and comics (12%), paintings and prints (11%), stamps and medals (11%) and vinyl records (10%).
Others are investing in items like cigarette cards (such as the 1909 one just sold in the US for £1.2 million), exclusive glassware and pre-1950 football programmes.
Of the 50% of people who do collect, one in six do so purely for an increase in value. Of those eyeing up classic collectors' items, 11% put collections on a par with traditional investments such as stocks and shares.
In the past five years they have spent an average of more than £2,000 each on classic collectibles such as paintings, sculpture, furniture, books and coins. The perception of these collectors is that they will also bank a hefty 190% each, forecasting their collections' value to have rocketed to £6,123 over the same period.
Men in particular are more lured by investment opportunities rather than aesthetics - 24% scour antique markets for pure value-add potential compared to 17% of women. But female collectors are much more likely to buy second-hand classics because of their unique status 17% like the fact that they've got something different to their friends, compared to only 9% of men.
12 March 2007 © Moneyextra.com
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