Gold can have much larger price swings and doesn't have the potential of creating a passive income stream.Real estate values can fluctuate as we all have learned, but I believe if you looked at gold over a significant period of time you would see that it more volatile.

How volatile do you think your income is?

So have a handful of volatile currencies that routinely go up and down 10% on a literal daily basis.

It was interesting to me that some of the marginal inland areas like Riverside and Sacramento rise towards coastal levels during booms, then head back toward US levels during busts..BUT IT'S NOT ALL FUN AND GAMESCA is volatile!

These have historically more similar to bonds than real estate (and produced higher returns with less volatility than bonds).

Hi Katrina,First piece of advice stay away from stocks the market is to volatile. 

Jumping into REI can be overwhelming at first with the different lingo, terms, avenues to choose from...not to mention the volatile market right now.

In understanding your number, multi-family real estate is a great asset class to consider because of its tax benefits and low volatility/risk adjusted returns.

Make sure there is more than one established industry that is creating jobs and be wary of areas that rely heavily on industries that are volatile by nature and cycle through booms and busts regularly.

How much volatility are you comfortable with?