3 tactics the ultra-wealthy are using to invest in 2026 that you can mimic with the right tools

A new year tends to make people pause and think about what they want to do differently with their money.

One place people seem to be curious about is what the wealthy do. CNBC Select spoke with Michael Sonnenfeldt, founder of TIGER 21, a peer-to-peer network for high-net-worth individuals, about how his clients are going “back to basics,” putting their focus on long-term investments in real businesses, real estate and diversified portfolios instead of trying to time the market.

While you may not have millions of dollars to invest, you don’t need much money to take something away from these strategies. Many of the principles the ultra-wealthy rely on — like long-term thinking, diversification and discipline — can still apply to everyday investors.

According to Sonnenfeldt, wealthy investors commit to their investments for the long haul instead of chasing quick profits or reacting to market noise.

“The longer-term players will say, ‘If you don’t know whether this stock is a better buy at 15 than at 20, you shouldn’t be in the stock,'” he explains. This means they only invest when they truly understand the underlying business, including its revenue model, growth potential and profit margins, rather than getting caught up in daily price swings.

This long-term mindset helps rich investors avoid panic selling during market drops and rewards them from the economy’s growth over time. For everyday investors, the lesson is to do your homework before buying stocks and focus on holding quality investments for the long term. Trying to time the market or chase short-lived trends usually leads to emotional decision-making that causes you to lose money.

Sonnenfeldt explains that many wealthy investors turn to index funds to access the public markets without the complexity of picking individual stocks.

Index funds are designed to track a benchmark index like the S&P 500. When you invest in an index fund, your money is spread across all the companies in that index, which helps diversify your portfolio more than buying single stocks would.

For example, the S&P 500 includes 500 of the largest U.S. companies. Investing in an S&P 500 fund means your returns reflect the overall performance of these major players.

Because index funds aim to replicate their benchmark’s holdings, they tend to carry less risk than owning a handful of individual stocks. Historically, indices like the S&P 500 have generated solid average returns over time, around 10% annually, though it is important to remember that past performance does not guarantee future results.

Sonnenfeldt points out that, on average, most investors do not outperform the market, so a straightforward approach like owning index funds often makes the most sense. For everyday investors, low-cost index funds offer a smart and accessible way to grow wealth steadily without needing deep expertise in stock-picking.

For easy access to index funds, Charles Schwab offers a popular S&P 500 fund with no minimum investment and a very low expense ratio of just 0.02%. Fidelity also provides a zero-expense-ratio fund focused on large-cap stocks, making it an excellent cost-effective option.

To get started, you’ll need to open a brokerage account or use a traditional or Roth IRA. Many employer 401(k) plans also offer index fund options. Once your account is set up and funded, you can pick from a variety of funds — including those tracking the S&P 500, government bonds or international markets.

If you’re new to investing, robo-advisors like Betterment and Wealthfront provide a simple way to invest in a diversified mix of index funds and ETFs tailored to your risk level and goals. They handle portfolio management and rebalancing automatically, often at much lower fees than traditional advisors.

Real estate is a major part of wealthy investors’ portfolios because it offers income and diversification. But buying property directly usually requires a lot of money and expertise. However, Sonnenfeldt says everyday investors can still get in on real estate by investing in Real Estate Investment Trusts, or REITs, which are public funds that invest in real estate assets.

You won’t get the same return you’d get with owning private real estate outright, but REITs offer a convenient and accessible way to benefit from the real estate market without the hassle of managing property.

“If you don’t have the resources or knowledge to invest in long-term private real estate, you still get the market return, which historically has been 8% to 10%, just by doing the ETFs,” Sonnenfeldt says. “So, no matter how you get it, when you think about risk, return and effort, buying the ETFs has been the winning play.”

This makes real estate investing possible for almost anyone, even those with a smaller budget. You can invest in publicly traded REITs through any brokerage account at places like Vanguard, Robinhood or E*TRADE.

At CNBC Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. For this story, we interviewed Michael Sonnenfeldt, founder of TIGER 21, a peer-to-peer learning network for investors and entrepreneurs with $10 million to $1 billion of personal net worth.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every investing article is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of investment products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.

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