If I had $5,000 sitting in a high interest savings account gathering more dust than interest, I would consider putting it to work in the share market.
After all, the All Ordinaries (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) has carved out a return of 9% since this time last year excluding dividends. This is vastly superior to anything you'd get from savings accounts or term deposits.
With that in mind, here are three shares I would consider putting that money into:
Lovisa Holdings Ltd (ASX: LOV)
I think this fast-fashion jewellery retailer is the one of the best retail shares on the Australian market right now. Not only is the company growing sales at an above-average rate thanks to its expansion internationally, it is also generating strong same store sales growth despite the retail industry's struggles. The main attraction for me is the company's expansion into the lucrative U.S. market. While it is early days, if this expansion is a success then it could support significant store network growth over the next decade. I expect an update on its expansion in August when its results are released.
Macquarie Telecom Group Ltd (ASX: MAQ)
Don't be put off by the word telecom in the company's name. Macquarie Telecom is not another Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS), but is closer to being another NEXTDC Ltd (ASX: NXT). In fact, it could be a great alternative to the latter due to its reasonable valuation and exposure to the cloud computing boom. In the first-half of FY 2018 the company's Cloud Services business delivered a 30% increase in half-year net profit. I expect more of the same in the future as cloud computing demand gathers pace.
Rural Funds Group (ASX: RFF)
Investors that are interested in dividend shares might want to consider this real estate investment trust. As its name implies, Rural Funds is focused on investing in rural assets. At the last count it owned 38 rural properties which operated across six different agricultural sectors and had an average tenancy of 12.5 years left to run on each of them. I believe these long-term tenancies provide a lot of visibility around its future earnings and distribution potential, which is something that I find attractive in a dividend share. Its shares offer a trailing distribution yield of 4.8% at present.
