Most investing lessons focus on stocks and bonds, ignoring alternative investments like real estate, collectibles, and private holdings. Alternative investments have become more accessible to individual investors in the last two decades. The sales pitch for adding alternative investments is that they offer a better risk-return tradeoff, with higher returns for any given risk level. This is because alternative investments have low correlations with financial assets, allowing for diversification benefits. Alternative investments also have the potential to earn excess returns or alphas. However, the net benefits of adding alternative investments have been modest at best and negative at worst. The alternative investment universe includes long-short strategies, private businesses, and asset classes like real estate and collectibles. The strongest pitch for adding alternative investments is that they offer a greater chance of finding market mistakes and inefficiencies. The correlation argument is that combining investments with low correlation can yield mixes that deliver higher returns for any given level of risk. The sales pitch for alternative investments has been successful, but the net benefits have been modest at best and negative at worst, raising questions about the need for more guardrails for individual investors.