5 Future Trends Worth Betting On

Investing is not a get-rich-quick scheme. You might have heard stories of people who made millions in one day or billions overnight. But if you look deeply, the story tells you that it took them years to arrive at that point of overnight success.

Building great fortunes in investing takes time. It takes a lot of patience. You miss 10 great opportunities and skip 100 bear traps before you learn how to really recognize an opportunity.

I like to tell people that if they would sell a stock tomorrow because the price tanks, buying that stock is a mistake. I know some people do day trading. But that is not an investor, instead, that is a trader.

Investors think far into the future. And there are things worth betting on for the future and other things that are not worth it. Today, I want to explain 5 things worth betting on for the future and why they are good bets.

1. Self-Driving Vehicles

Now, understand that I didn't say, "self-driving cars". There is a big difference. Let me explain...

The future I am referring to in this context is 50 years and beyond. We are talking about the year 2074 and beyond. The cities we have today will be different from what will exist then.

In the future, private cars will not be driven on city roads anymore. That will be left for the towns and suburbs. Every advanced city will have its own transport system which will be completely autonomous.

And instead of private cars, they will all be autonomous vehicles. In fact, most won't look like the cars we have today. Most won't have a driver's seat. And there will be a variety of them.

There will be those that function like taxis, buses, Uber, UberX, trains, trams, skateboards, bicycles, etc. And all of them will be fully autonomous.

I guess that there will be a couple of big players in it. I expect Uber to be among them if the company is still alive, Tesla will definitely be on board, Google will play a role also, etc. However, the biggest winner is probably going to be a company that has not been formed yet.

The company will be a kind of public-private partnership. It will become a transport giant. Maybe the founder has not been born yet. But I'm telling you something like this coming up, you know that it is worth an investment. (By the way, no investment is certain).

2. Energy Production

If you think energy production is the backbone of the economy today, you haven't seen anything. The energy demand will skyrocket over the next couple of years.

While it is true that there is a fundamental shift away from fossil fuels over the long term, many of the "green" energy technologies will fail woefully.

There are myriads of ways to source energy, but we have only harnessed a few. Some high energy production innovations that will change the game are;

• Inventing a super battery that can power cities for years

• Harnessing energy from the sun in space

• Storing energy from tornadoes and hurricanes. For example, having a hurricane or tornado can charge a super battery in minutes. Solving two problems with one device.

The company that brings any of these developments to life will make trillions. Keep an eye on this.

3. Quantum Computing

Quantum computing is so powerful that it is going to force us to change everything when we have a breakthrough in it. Even blockchains will have to be rebuilt.

There will be a new internet. And I think it would be the definitive step for humanity to become a multi-planetary. Quantum computing is the key.

This is currently in development and no company will perhaps claim ownership of it. The first adopters that focus on multi-planetary travel and exploration will be the largest businesses ever.

This might take more than 50 years though. And its impact will completely dwarf that of AI.

4. Space Exploration

I don't believe people will go live and settle on Mars. If it happens, I'm guessing it will end badly. However, I believe that Earth will be a residential planet, and operations such as mining will be carried out only on other planets.

The companies that build the capacity to be able to explore these other planets will be the biggest corporations. Governments are not going to do it. It will be left to the private sector.

If you get the chance, buy into the entire industry. This is because it might be hard to pick out which companies would win. This race hasn't started yet. And SpaceX seems to be the only player for now.

But you should pay attention when these things start gaining momentum.

5. Farming

One thing is sure. It doesn't matter how advanced the world becomes in science and tech, humans will still need to eat.

Some might be betting that we might get a trend that people might be taking in nutrients through pills and syringes. But I'm heavily on the other side of that. In fact, the pharmaceutical industry as we know it today might collapse.

Food will be more important than it is today. Fresh food will be more important today than it ever was. I'm betting that humans will grow wiser, not more stupid.

Instead of advancement in preservatives, I believe people in crowded cities will be able to eat potatoes that were harvested yesterday. The distance (in both space and time) between the farmer and the consumer is going to become very short.

Also, the idea that some things grow in certain seasons will be out of the question. There will be modern farms where farmers can grow anything at any time of the year. And they will be natural and very good for consumption.

Conclusion

I believe the moment space exploration kicks into high gear, wars will stop. Every country will focus on how to gain "space real estate".

If you are thinking 50-100 years into the future, think along the lines of these 5 things:

1. Self-driving vehicles

2. Energy production

3. Quantum computing

4. Space exploration

5. Farming

These are very long-term views for investing. It is worth keeping an eye on them.

Stay rich