Whether or not you consider yourself an oenophile (don’t worry, that’s just someone who loves wine), immersing yourself in the potentially lucrative world of fine wine isn’t a bad idea as a medium- to long-term investment. “Even in times of macro-economic downturn, wine tends to remain more robust than many other investments,” says wine merchant Berry Bros & Rudd. Wine is one of many tangible investments, and, like whisky, will immediately make people believe you are sophisticated.

It is, however, a world with an old-fashioned image that can intimidate outsiders. Vinovest might sound like a top you would put on specifically to drink wine, but it is an app that makes investing in wine more straightforward for younger investors. “They are bringing an often impenetrable investing market to a wide audience,” says wine expert Ms Kate Dingwall.

Many of the factors that can scupper a wine investment – poor storage, not knowing whether a bottle is 100 per cent legitimate – are handled by Vinovest’s experts, which leaves you to choose the vintages you think will gain in value or, if all else fails, taste nice.

Pro: Even if you don’t become wealthy, you still get to drink your investments.

Con: If you drink your investments, you won’t become wealthy.

A less tangible but similarly tasty investment is buying the royalties to songs, TV shows or films. If you hear a song you like, you can find out if the royalties are available to purchase. This comparatively new type of investment comes with plenty of caveats, but Royalty Exchange, a website that helps investors purchase royalties, says the average annual return on investment is more than 12 per cent.

If a singer needs an injection of cash, rather than the trickle of money royalties provide, they can sell them to the highest bidder, who then has a stake in the song and the potential to become richer if it is, for example, used in a high-profile film or advert.

This might all sound a little uncertain – and it is, that’s sort of the point of investment – but there is a reliability to music that other investments may lack. As finance expert Mr Jimmy Stone points out, music publishing income has little correlation with our spending activity. In other words, even when we spend less on other things, we always spend roughly the same on music.

Pro: You can make yourself feel like the next Mr Simon Cowell.

Con: “Candle In The Wind” probably isn’t available.

Robots aren’t going anywhere, so you may as well give them some pocket money. A report from Grand View Research estimated that AI, an area already valued at well over £200bn a year, would undergo 42.2 per cent annual growth between 2020 and 2027. Where should you throw your money? Rapidly expanding companies such as Tesla, up 2,817 per cent in the past five years, could certainly be worth investing in.

Instead of focusing on one company, however, a safer bet could be broad-based collective funds, which spread out your eggs into different robot baskets. By investing in AI in this way, you’re improving your video games, helping Instagram recognise your emojis and making sure Alexa can understand you when you stagger in and ask her to play “something funky”.

Pro: If the robots take over, you might be rich. If they don’t, you won’t be rich, but at least you’ll still exist.

Con: You may be about to spend a lot more time listening to Mr Elon Musk.

They may not look like much, but comic books often sell for tens of thousands of pounds. One sold for £2.8m a few months ago, when someone bought the comic in which Superman made his first appearance. Comic books appreciate in value and have a devoted fan base. Business writer Mr Rob Salkowitz of Forbes says there was “nose bleed-level growth” in the collectible comic market in 2020.

As with any investment, a newbie should jump in with their eyes wide open. Research will help you work out what’s priceless and what’s worthless. The “blue-chip” characters are Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain America, The Flash, Green Lantern, The Avengers, Thor and X-Men, says Mr Vincent Zurzolo, owner of the world’s largest dealership of vintage comics. It’s always worth keeping your ear to the ground about which films may be in development at Marvel, because these tie-ins can send a comic’s value skyrocketing.

“A number of baby boomers are now selling off their collections,” says Zurzolo. “As a result of this, all kinds of rarities are appearing on the market for the first time in decades.” There may never have been a better time to pretend you care about Green Lantern.

Pro: You can call seeing the latest Marvel film research.

Con: People may start calling you a nerd.

“Whether the overall economy’s in a recession or booming, people still have to eat,” says Mr John Linton of Investopedia. He recommends investing in cattle. It’s not something for the faint-hearted, but unlike comparative luxuries, such as comic books and vintage wine, staples such as beef are likely to be valuable for ever because everyone needs them regularly, despite changing eating habits. Plus, global demand for beef and pork is increasing, says the financial website InsideYourIRA.com.

One cow is unlikely to sell for as much as a sought-after vintage comic, but if you increase your scale, you are likely to see your returns increase. More cows (should) mean more money.

Pro: All the benefits of farming, none of the early starts.

Con: Your investments end up on someone else’s plate.