An investment account is held at such financial facilities as banks, brokerage houses or even insurance companies. The main purpose of this account is preservation and capital growth as well as fixed income gains through long term deposits in the asset portfolio.

Generally, 'investing' signifies a proactive use of assets in a very broad definition – such as patents, trademarks, rare wines or gold coins, as well as small businesses, real estate and antiques. In this respect investment account holds less physical assets: cash, stocks, bonds and mutual funds. Meanwhile, the fundamental aim of the investment remains unchanged - to buy the asset and keep it long term and sell it at some point in the future, when the investment value is more favourable. Depending on the asset that you have decided to invest in, you must evaluate your investment as a long term process as it is required to wait while the certain object grows in its value.

Functions of investment account
Before opening an investment account, you should evaluate whether this kind of financial service is the most suitable for your risk/return or not. Moreover, liquidity preferences embody your goal. Investment accounts are usually operated with long term objectives. Traditionally, long term is considered to be 7 years or more, but this number should not be the main determinant while choosing whether or not to open an investment account. This bank service is frequently used when a certain event is going to take place in your life, which will require bigger amount of income, such as sending your child to college, buying a house or facing a retirement.

As one of the main determinants of investment account is its long term nature, you should be ready to face another attribute of it – liquidity. Any financial instrument has less liquidity in comparison to cash in your checking or savings account. In addition, this type of deposit is typically charged with higher transaction costs, in case you want to access the cash earlier than at certain point of time defined by the agreement between you and the financial facility.