Investment is a term with several closely related meanings in finance and economics. It refers to the accumulation of some kind of asset in hopes of getting a future return from it.

• In theoretical economics, investment means the purchase (and thus the production) of capital goods - goods which are not consumed but instead used in future production. Examples include building a railroad, or a factory, clearing land, or putting oneself through college.

• In finance, investment means buying monetary or paper assets, for example equity investment or real estate investment or bonds or postage stamps. These investments may then provide future cash flows and may increase or decrease in value.

• In Investing to purchase and sell securities for any reason.

• Investment clubs are groups of individuals who meet on a regular basis for the purpose of investing money. Various online communities devoted to this type of investing have recently emerged and have contributed to the personal investing boom in the United States. Two of the largest provide best practices for investment clubs (http://www.better-investing.org/) and extensive accounting resources (http://www.bivio.com/index.html) for these groups of investors. The latter site also has an extensive listing (http://www.bivio.com/pub/clubs) of U.S.-based investment clubs. A smaller international community (http://www.bivio.com/xcic/files/index.html) founded in 1997 openly allows individual investors to observe observe and learn (http://s6.invisionfree.com/crosscountry/index.php?act=site) from its activities.