Is it time to buy tangible assets?

[ITSA426]

If you knew all the answers Paul you could be a bazillionaire, and probably a decent financial/retirement planner.  We had some tax issues with mutual funds, not held in a qualified account, when they recovered after a serious downfall.  Still, not against them, but they aren't the safe haven a lot of planners make them out to be.  Bank CD rates are generally tied to other interest rates and are usually covered by FDIC protection.  It's nice to have some.  They are liquid.  US savings bonds are overlooked, I think, because there is no commission for selling them but they are as safe as anything else, and there is some inflation adjustment.  I bonds can be particularly useful. 

We've probably gotten way off topic but I think if you're going to buy tangible assets as an investment, you still need to think long term.  If you're thinking short term you probably just need to buy lottery tickets.  They have a lot more risk but the payoff could be great.

[Chad L. Magee]

Rare coins won't put food on the table when other folks have no money to buy the said rare coins.... buy AMMO!!! and make sure your rifles are clean!! 

Actually they would put food on the table, but you would likely get less for them than you want.  You would be trading them for their precious metal value at the least, which if all goes wrong, becomes higher in value at that point in time.  Still, the amount would probably be less than the nusmatic value at regular market times depending upon the type of coins.  Ammunition is not the answer to everything in times of hardship, even if you have the most powerful guns at the time.  Guns can be trumped at that game. ...

[twodko]

This was exactly my point with regards to having a stash of small weight precious metal modern coins. In times of barter only the actual weight of such coins will matter. Ammunition would be a form of currency as well. Same same with "community" skills.
I would submit gathering such things right now is a prudent thing we should all do. The "Boy Scout" theorem......always be prepared.

[ws23rt]

If you folks want something to really worry about its the latest chatter from the pres.

Our investments for the most part are in the countrys economic engine.  

The new thing is invest your IRA with the gov.---If you like your IRA you can keep your IRA.

If you invest in the gov plan you will never ---ever lose your retirement savings--

You see the idea?---The gov can spend and invest our retirement savings in a much better way then we have been doing. ( Kinda like Social Security)

And since they manage money so well we can kick back with that assurance.

Does this make anyone nervous?------After our IRAs all that is left are the pensions

The whole deal in a nut shell is we are possessions of the gov. and they will spend their possessions as they see fit until we are depleted or broke.

BTW we are broke now.

[ws23rt]

I have just a bit more to add.

For those of you that buy gold/ tangible assets/etc. Good for you for future planning but that planning is for the greater good because what you have that is of value belongs to the greater good---And it will be taken as needed---

[polywideblock]

don't forget a good stash of quality booze to swap/trade   if the sh*t hits the fan there wont be any distilleries/breweries  working , this stuff could be worth more than gold ( just about everybody has a use for booze ,fuel ,antiseptic, intoxicant   etc)

[moparsr2fast]

  Another thing you could do, is take 2 weeks from work, and live as if fuel stations, grocery stores, the power company were all shut down/closed. At the end of that 2 weeks, you would have an idea of what you need to aquire to ride out a minor emergency. If the crap hits the fan, medicines will be up there for assets also. 

[68X426]

---And it will be taken as needed---

Anyone who thinks he's joking - that is exactly what the great Democrat comrade Franklin Delano Roosevelt did in 1933. For the greater good.

[twodko]

  Another thing you could do, is take 2 weeks from work, and live as if fuel stations, grocery stores, the power company were all shut down/closed. At the end of that 2 weeks, you would have an idea of what you need to aquire to ride out a minor emergency. If the crap hits the fan, medicines will be up there for assets also. 

Here is a guy who has his eye on to ball! IMO

[ws23rt]

---And it will be taken as needed---

Anyone who thinks he's joking - that is exactly what the great Democrat comrade Franklin Delano Roosevelt did in 1933. For the greater good.

If I was joking I would have used something like

Preparing for a natural disaster is one thing. But expecting to be the neighbor hood banker with a spendable commodity pushes practical thinking a bit much.

What I see coming is not destitution for the masses. It is stripping individuality and ingenuity from us. When we don't have to make our life decisions for ourselves and are forced to comply where is the incentive to excel let alone enjoy our own accomplishments.

[Patronus]

I would seek out and purchase any/all 2nd gen Charger door and top of quarter moldings. Also lower dash vinyl is always a safe bet.

[twodko]

 

[Chad L. Magee]

This was exactly my point with regards to having a stash of small weight precious metal modern coins. In times of barter only the actual weight of such coins will matter. Ammunition would be a form of currency as well. Same same with "community" skills.
I would submit gathering such things right now is a prudent thing we should all do. The "Boy Scout" theorem......always be prepared.

But, if you pick out better quality (ie. collector value) coins out of the ones you can buy, it will hedge your bet a bit if the worst does not happen when you go to sell them.  At the worst situation, you lose nothing over the price of the silver but your time looking for them.  People are doing this right now with bankrolls of pennies, culling out the pre-1982 ones for copper content.  Are they worth more right now?  No, because you can't melt them yet.  Whenever you legally can, the price of them will go up due to the price of copper being larger than the amount on the coin.  Same can be said of wheat pennies (1909-1958).  Some people search change for silver coins (I am one of them).  When dealing with silver, it is common to buy American pre-1965 dimes, quarters and halves for the 90% silver content in them.  Cherry picking out the ones worth more is a common thing that happens everyday.  Most coin dealers buy in bulk quantities ($1000 face bags for example) and do not always have the time to go through it all to check for rare ones.  That is especially true if a large collection comes into the store, gets sold in bulk, and the dealer uses some of the bulk coins to finish a transaction that he needs to do.  Older type coins can end up in the junk silver boxes, marked for sale at a multiple of their face value based on silver content.  Some are worn pieces that the dealer does not want to price out because he has better ones for sale for more money.  Over the years, I have cherry picked 1820s-1830s bust coins for scrap price this way (three halves, two quarters and five dimes), not to mention two 20 cent pieces that were overlooked as silver quarters.  Heck, one collector lucked out and found a 2 1/2 dollar gold die that was struck on a silver dime blank in poor condition last year.  He paid a few bucks for it.  You have to be knowldegeable in the coin designs to see the difference between the two, most peole would not see the difference.  If I remember it right, it neted him $10,000 after the auction was over....

[twodko]

Knowing what to look for can really payoff thats for sure.

[Chad L. Magee]

I have just a bit more to add.

For those of you that buy gold/ tangible assets/etc. Good for you for future planning but that planning is for the greater good because what you have that is of value belongs to the greater good---And it will be taken as needed---

Not always.  One of my great uncles (who died in the 1980s) still had his early 1800s gold coins from his grandfather (who died before the Black Friday event of 1929).  I saw them as a small lad back in 1985 while visiting my great aunt.  (I did not inheiret them, they went to another side of the family.)  Here is why he still had them:  The Gold Reserve Act of 1933 had a little exception on collector gold coins that most people missed.  Yes, people were legally required to submit their common gold coins above a certain amount (they could keep $100), but any of the earlier collector ones were not required to be submitted.  Many simply did not know of this exception and dropped their gold collections into the government bucket.  They were then melted and made into bars still stored at Fort Knox today.  Did people hide what they were required to turn in.  Yes, some did.  The challenge was that most did not have the resources to simply hide that much money out of their budget for long term.  There is a story about the most valuable US gold stash and it involves coins dated 1933.  Why is that a problem?  They were not protected by the Act and were not supposed to be released.  Israel Switt hid 10 $20 gold coins dated 1933 (yes, the rare ones) until well after his death and a family member submitted them into the government for authentication.  Of course, they were then seized because they violated the Act because they were not vintage collector coins at the time that the Act was started.....

[Chad L. Magee]

Knowing what to look for can really payoff thats for sure.

So true.  I once bought a bag of 800+ buffalo nickels at a local coin auction a decade ago.  At the time, I paid $50 for them and got laughed at by two jerk coin dealers who bid me up.  They said it would just be dateless junk and that I would be begging them to take them off of my hands.  True, some of them were acid dated (non-rare ones), but most had full dates naturally.  Out of the bag, I pulled 95 1913 Type I P mints, 5 1913 Type I D mints, 3 1913 Type I S mints, 5 1913 Type II P mints, 2 1913 Type II D mints and 2 1913 Type II S mints plus most of the other semi-keys for my set, including a 1917-1918 overdate and 1937 D 3 legged.  Was it worth it? ....

[AKcharger]

Well, the part about being prepared couldn't be more important. Just think of those people in New Orleans after Katrina wondering around for days waiting for some nameless/faceless bureaucracy to provide them food and water    I'm not counting on anyone when disaster strikes...and it will. If help comes super! but I'm not betting my family's life on it

http://www.ready.gov/natural-disasters

[dukeboy_318]

I'm waiting for the gold bubble to burst. Buy buy buy gold ads are everywhere. It's only a matter of time. Once it does drop though, I shall buy some   

[twodko]

My plan as well. I don't think it will drop to the price point before the huge bubble exploded but I've been watching.

[ACUDANUT]

For me, mutual funds are the best bet. I have lost enough money in common stock to build me a big block, seriously. I dont play that game anymore. I moved the lions share of my 401K in to a fixed income fund 2 years ago. The market went up 30% since then, my K went up 3%, but I can sleep at night knowing it is safe.

Problem I foresee is inflation rearing it's ugly head. With all the money that has been printed in the last 3 years inflation is coming. No way around that fact. Money sitting in cash earning 3% will loose value, wont keep up with the coming inflation rates. What to do? 

Back in the 70's when inflation was in the double digits interest rates were high as well. CD's were paying double digits. Will it be the same way in the near future? 

Question. When you moved your 401k plan, did you have to pay out 35 percent, to the Government ?

[Paul G]

I moved the lions share of my 401K in to a fixed income fund 2 years ago. The market went up 30% since then, my K went up 3%, but I can sleep at night knowing it is safe.

Question. When you moved your 401k plan, did you have to pay out 35 percent, to the Government ?

No I didnt have any penalties at all. I was able to move the money to another type of investment within the same fund family. Nothing changed as far as the IRS was concerned.

[ACUDANUT]

 I see. If the Government is printing too much money, how can you prove it.  Why haven't I got any of it. Who is getting this free printed money.

[Paul G]

The Gvmnt is buying bonds with the money. The bond holders have the Govmnt money to invest. They buy stocks, stock prices go up. What do we get from all this? Umpteen trillion dollars to pay back, and artificially high stock prices. Now that there is more cash in the system, and the same amount of gold to back it up, each dollar is worth less. Foreign country's are not so keen on that.   

[ws23rt]

This is not a complicated issue but is made so by talking about several things at once.

The simple reality is that when money is printed beyond the replacement of rotted bills it dilutes the value of the existing money. This happens automatically and is called inflation.

The gov takes money from our pockets to pay for what they buy. When they print money they are spending fake money.  The fact that they borrow money as well just adds to the mix.

Their are tons of pallets of money sitting--waiting for the ok to spread around.  But what it will do ultimately is reduce the value of the money already out there. There is no printing fix to the power of economic growth.  There is only an illusion that bit by bit takes buying power away from us.

To grow the wealth and power we have is to grow the economic engine. When the engine idles we go nowhere.