Land is the best investment as they stopped making it ages ago.
Gold/stocks and shares etc are a bag of shite unless you are the broker.
Best land returns abroad are presently land in Northern Florida (I bought 6 acres @ $3.5 per acre that are now doing $20-35k per acre) and Northern up state New York (I am going over to view some sites next month) due to the recent declassification of some areas there, most of the large Eastern block cities are really on the up (got 3 flats in Prague that have tripled in value in just 18months). If you dont fancy sitting on some land and want properties to rent/renovate its worth paying for a specialist to advise you where to buy. Unlike the UK the govts of most EU countries will divulge information on companies/individuals offering info etc and only go with one they endorse esp in the East.

Cam