Hard and Soft Assets

Hard Asset – Assets that have true tangible characteristics, i.e. they can be physically held, transported, have three dimensions, are durable, manufactured or created. Most of the world’s wealth is derived from natural (i.e., real or tangible) assets. Contrasted with financial assets, these non-financial assets tend to have an intrinsic value, usually in some manufacturing process or as a commodity. For our purposes, hard assets will refer to the actual physical property or building(s) (real estate).

Soft Asset – Assets in the form of money or easily convertible into money that are salable though not material or physical. Nonphysical items such as mortgage paper, tax certificates, stock certificates, bonds, bank accounts, and pension benefits that have value. More Information