I was a personal finance consultant until 2006 (redundancy) and I still enjoy reading about economics - several hours a day - and offering my meagre ‘advice’.
I have retired old pensioner parents and a brother and sister who have families, so I like to keep up with conditions at home (I’ve worked overseas since 2006). I agree many websites tend to the negative side, and the economists and fund managers I read and/or am friends with are not so bearish.
If you’d like to read up on a better website, try Nouriel Roubini’s, who’s my favourite economist and a professor of economics, and TMF, Seeking Alpha, and Bespoke (the three websites I think are the best of the ten I refer to everyday).
I think you should keep your home, as having a house will certainly be a benefit if things do go south. The value of a roof above your head is one that cannot be measured, so ignore the valuations and don’t depend on them. Put spare cash in foreign equities, and don’t buy gold.
Whatever you do. Don’t buy gold as a hedge. Gold is nice and shiny but if things got really bad there would always be someone who wants it more than you and is armed. Like when you go on holiday you don’t walk around poorer areas with designer clothes and cameras. You’re basically a shiny target, and if things got really bad you’re better off being low-key and just getting by, or leaving the country. If you have gold, and barter with it, people will quickly find out you have gold. You might as well place a sign on your front door saying ‘Kill me for money!’. Very stupid, I’m sure you’ll agree.
In the real world, I doubt things will get much worse than in the 70s. But, who knows? This year could be difficult.
Say, how many gold bars can I get for a perfume vial of Glen Beck’s tears…? I have recent tears, semi-recent tears, some “How could we Lose to Obama???” aged in [del]French[/del] Freedom Oak…
Yeah, I remember the 1973 gas crisis. People were shooting each other over odd/even gas rationing. What do you think will happen when there’s no food in the grocery stores? It’ll make the Thunderdome look like Disneyland.
Don’t buy gold as a hedge against inflation because in a post-apocalyptic world, armed marauders might kill you for it. I can’t figure out if this is serious advice or not. Anyway, you know you can invest in commodities without having to physically store them yourself, right? Don’t make the same mistake I made back when I invested in pork bellies. Man, that didn’t turn out well.
For any TEOTWAWKI scenarios, I’ve always read that it is a good idea to buy as much pre-1964 {90% silver} dimes, quarters, halves, and dollar coins as you can afford. Then simply store them safely somewhere.
The coins would be instantly recognized as a legitimate currency {who says your silver bar has not been modified}. Plus, over time, it may be an asset that appreciates in value…
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A little late to the dance, aren’t you? Most of the buying was being done five or six years ago (I wonder why?) by old talk radio listeners who were buying gold “collectible” coins at a 100% markup from market prices of gold by weight.
It only has to go up $1800.00 an ounce to break even! (Oops, $2800.00)
Gee, I was in grad school in the late '70s and totally missed the roving bands of thugs. The only things that invaded my property was a toad and some crawfish, and the toad was there first.
Why do you think doom is around the corner? Are you one of the people predict runaway inflation next year for the past six years?
As for foreign equities, I have some as part of a diversified portfolio, and they’ve done the worst over the past couple of years.
But I agree about the gold.
I used to work at a coin shop that dealt heavily in metals. Bunker types would ask me which was better - gold or silver? My usual reply was lead and brass. With my .300 H&H all I needed was one good shot.
Now that being said, I did buy a lot of both back when it was at a really “modern historic” low. And I dumped over half when it peaked a few years back. Gold and silver are fine but when they are at the current levels? I don’t like the odds very much. You’ll need at least a 10% jump to break even and if it bottoms again (and I’m betting it will) you will be very injured.
Gold serves a vital economic function: when there’s too much cash chasing too few goods threatening an inflation panic, governments can dump it on the market to soak up excess cash from the pockets of idiots.
My husband bought physical gold in the early 00’s when it was between $350-$600 oz. A couple years ago he sold the majority of it back and paid off our house and bought a new car. The profit margin evened out around 300%. I agree, it’s not such a good investment if you are just now buying it.
And with a couple chemicals you can make a dandy explosive. :dubious::rolleyes:
Only reason I buy precious metals is for fabricating stuff - last time I bought gold was to reproduce some Scythian sequins. [Gorytos flowers for embellishing a costume.]
I did the same with a Titanium stock back then. And I’m sure others can chime in with tales of Google or Amazon or Apple stock. So, it’s not really about Gold, per se. It’s about getting into something at the right time and getting out at the right time.
The best overall advice is “Buy Low - Sell High”. Unfortunately, most people completely ignore this. The guy on the Radio/TV/Website hawks some “Hot Stock” and they want in. Nevermind that it’s hot because it has already made it’s big gains and at this point they’re just hoping for suckers like you to come in and give the stock a good bump before they sell out.
I only have about $5600 in my stock fund at present, but about $1900 is in cash. Why? Because I wait for bargains. When Target made the news for the big hacking issue, their stock fell, and I bought shares at $56.40. Today it’s rebounded to $77. Back last year before Wrestlemania, WWE stock soared into the 30’s, then promptly crashed to Earth. I bought shares at $11.06. Today it is $16.50 and I plan to sell it just before Wrestlemania.
Buying stock when it is “hot” or high is extremely stupid. Buying stocks that are temporarily falling for whatever issue, as long as you’re sure the company will still be around and financially sound (as with Target and WWE) is a wiser course of action.
I do own 35 ounces of Silver, worth about $550-600, but more because “Ooo! Shiny!” than for investment purposes. I don’t own any Gold nor do I plan to buy any, nor any more Silver.
In other cultures (India for one example), gold is purchased as a means of compact, portable wealth and jewelry. Unless you’re Mr. T, we don’t really do that here.
If people know you own gold, you’re likely to be targeted by stupid thieves. People tend to over-estimate what it is worth and only think “GOLD!!! I’ll be RICH!”.
