Rather than leaving $5,000 in a savings account to gain only paltry interest, I would suggest savers consider putting it to work in the share market.
After all, as I have pointed out before, investing just $5,000 into the share market over a long enough period of the time can generate significant wealth.
This is because over the last 30 years the Australian share market has averaged a return of 9.1% per annum, according to data provided by Fidelity.
This means that if you had invested $5,000 each year into the share market for the last three decades and earned the market return, your investments would have grown to be worth over $750,000 today. I believe this demonstrates how rewarding investing with a long term view can be.
With that in mind, here are three ASX shares that I would consider investing that first $5,000 into:
Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL)
Aristocrat Leisure is a gaming technology company which I think is well-positioned to deliver strong earnings growth over the next decade thanks to the popularity of its pokie machines across the globe and its expansion into the social and mobile gaming market. On Thursday the company held its annual general meeting and management reminded investors of the sizeable market opportunity its Digital segment has. The social games market is currently worth an estimated US$50 billion a year and is still growing. At the last count Aristocrat Leisure's Digital segment had 8.1 million daily active users.
ResMed Inc (ASX: RMD)
ResMed is a developer of products that treat sleep apnea, COPD and other chronic respiratory diseases. I think it would be a great buy and hold investment option due to its leading position in a sleep treatment market which is tipped to grow strongly over the next decade. Furthermore, with its shares trading notably lower than their 52-week high following a softer second quarter, now could be a good time to pick up shares for a long term investment.
Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE)
Another company that I think could be a good buy and hold investment is Treasury Wine Estates. Earlier this month the global wine company released its half year results and revealed a 16% increase in net sales revenue to $1,507.7 million and a 19% lift in EBITS to $338.3 million. I was very impressed with its performance in the Asia market where it achieved EBITS growth of 31% to $153.1 million. Given the size of the market and the popularity of its products there, I believe it is well-positioned to continue this strong form over the next decade.
