I think the general expectation is that an investment will make you more money than holding cash. A new car and a gold chain are both assets but most people wou

I think the general expectation is that an investment will make you more money than holding cash. A new car and a gold chain are both assets but most people would not call then investments. But that's not a strict definition, because if you intentionally buy cars and gold chains with the intent of using them as a store of wealth, they are technically investments, just really bad ones.