A well respected advisor in investments, Jim Cramer, has produced his third book, Jim Cramer’s Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World. Simon and Schuster, April 2005. $26.00. This book is about stocks, not real estate. One item in it is that he says an investor needs to spend one hour a week on research on each stock that he owns to keep up. So, if you own ten stocks, there is ten hours shot to hell each week, and 500 hours a year.
Perhaps investment in a mutual fund would require much less time, but picking a fund is not easy. Normally people rely on past performance, but in truth, the research should go into what stocks are being held and what is purchased after the investment. So, if a person was serious about mutual funds, research of their investment activity would also require time.
My thinking is that a person might as well buy some rural real estate and spend the 500 hours enjoying life, perhaps by hanging out at a tract that is also an investment.