Next Level: GOLD $1,350.00

That is a very good summary of the problem. You can take 1,000 folks who have passed the Series 7, CFA, and possess a degree in finance. A significant number will still be horrible investors, a small number will be excellent investors, and the vast majority will be about average. At the same time, nearly all of them believe they are in the excellent category.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

My point, exactly! So a quandary exists..what does one do when they realize they are not savvy enough in certain areas to make "best" decisions? Begin with small things, insignificant perhaps, and 'test the waters'? Maybe? Or, just plod along doing nothing? Stick with what one believes is "safe"? To this forum, the question is this; how does one pick a point to either jump in, or more to the point, when to jump out? How does one make the decision that a certain point is 'enough', with regard to pm's? Maybe we all are looking for that answer, and of course it will be a different answer for each of us, but quite frankly, I personally am afraid of "missing the boat"! I do honestly wish I knew a TOTALLY non-biased financial advisor, but the trust that is required simply does not exist. (For me) (At this point)

 

Some times the best action is no action at all. If you don't feel comfortable making the decision nor have a trusted advisor, then maybe PM are not appropriate. Put your money in something that your know, understand, and feel comfortable. Just my 2 cents.

 

I just hate it when someone poses a problem, and then answers every suggestion with another problem; it's almost as if they just want to hear themselves...so I apologize in advance if that's what I sound like..BUT, PM"s are the ONLY thing I trust! (They feel concrete; they will always hold a certain 'value' even if the $ doesn't say so..even if the price goes down, the relative value will always be the same...'a suit of clothes..) Everything else is so ambiguous right now -- properties, homes, paper dollars.. heck even the banks are questionable. Diversify (that's even in the Bible) but today what does one diversify in to? Thank you. I'll keep reading and learning (or trying to justify my beliefs Just sayin'...

 

Listen, you're just like me around this time last year. Hungry to learn more about the world of PM's. First off, it is a roller coaster so you have to prepare for that.

I am so glad I got in last year, I knew well ahead that there will be uips and downs, I still follow it casually everyday because well, it's fun. And I do have investments into them.

I don't think there really is any way to quantify what the best decision for you is to make because we don't know two things.

1) Your financial situation and risk
2) The future! LOL...


But there are folks here who I'd say are pretty well educated. Eventhough they may not know the future, they can at least give some "guidance" or some answers that you seek. of course you will still have to take it with a grain of salt, but I think you can use some slight instincts/judgements.

Plus everyone has their own POV. I make it no secret that I am just a casual observer with some investments. Did I need to become a pro and pass a series 7 or become a CPA in order to invest in PM's? Nope.

It doesn't make my decision right or wrong. At least from my point of view. You can't become an expert in everything that you touch. For example, you are using a computer, but are you an IT expert?

So really, for your own situation and risk tolerance, and with some instincts, purchase what makes you comfortable. Some say 10%, some say more....

Cash is still king though from my POV. I would not want to be 90% PM's and 10% cash, that would be too scary. Still need the greenback to do daily transactions, buy food, pay gas, emergency funds, etc etc.....

 

When do I go from 90% to some other %??? My husband told me at his death, (came rather quickly from stem to stern) with no more time to educate me or solve this, "you should be okay for your whole life if you do it all right". How do I know what that means? That, is the nuts and bolts of all my wordy posts; I am scared to pieces of 'not doing it right'. How will I know?
The dichotomy; " seek trusted advisors", and "trust no one with this, not even the attorney has need to know". Gentlemen, don't ever do this to your wives; figure it out for them, okay? Or ladies (Elaine), don't do it your husband.. whatever if the shoe fits... (Sheesh! Okay, I'm done now, and going back to the read only mode for a while.

 

gold high - $1,255.50/oz.
silver high - $19.59/oz.

 

CURRENTLY: In UK/EU markets Wednesday, 9/1/2010

GOLD: $1,254
Silver: $19.51
Platinum: $1541
Palladium: $521

US market opening in an hour twenty minutes...

 

CURRENTLY: In UK/EU markets Wednesday, 9/1/2010

GOLD: $1,253.80
Silver: $19.48
Platinum: $1541
Palladium: $517

US market opening in an thirty minutes...

​

 

There really is no right or wrong, just educated guesses and calculated risks based on those guesses.

How about all the 401K people who lost over 100K's because they did the right thing by starting out early and lost practically everything during the crash?

Where are all the financial advisors 20 years ago who showed them that wonderful compound interest bar chart of what they would receive when they retire?
How about the wonderful wording about how it's not a guarantee, but hey, "what's really going to happen right? a market crash? nahhh....wink wink"... They don't know either, and they do everything they can to sell you on how safe your money is without actually guaranteeing your money like banks/FDIC.

How about when you have an emergency and need to tap into your IRA/401K but have to prove your "emergency" worthiness in order to access your own money?

How many folks would have rather avoided 401K 20 years ago and just put their cash into a low interest rate savings account protected by the FDIC? I'd think they would have a decent amount of money right now. But instead they have nada....

Putting USD's devaluation aside, it is something tangible, you can feel it. You can go to your local bank, and pull out cash, no questions asked, no penalties...as a simple man, that's what I like. When you play with the stock market, it's all virtual....so to me, PM's and cash are really the closest thing to being tangible. I'm not smart enough nor do I trust any no name manager to run funds with my money.....

 

A New Month

CURRENTLY: In US markets at the open for Wednesday, 9/1/2010

GOLD: $1,254.30
Silver: $19.42
Platinum: $1541
Palladium: $523

 

CURRENTLY: In US markets after the open for Wednesday, 9/1/2010

GOLD: $1,251.80 -- High so far today $1,256
Silver: $19.42 -- High so far today $19.51
Platinum: $1537
Palladium: $526

 

CURRENTLY:

GOLD: $1,251.60 -- High so far today $1,256
Silver: $19.42 -- High so far today $19.51
Platinum: $1532
Palladium: $522

​

 

CURRENTLY: dow up 2.2%

GOLD: $1,247.40-- High so far today $1,256
Silver: $19.35 -- High so far today $19.51
Platinum: $1536
Palladium: $521

 

If someone lost "nearly everything" in the latest market correction then they were not diversified. Since no one has a crystal ball that works, diversification is the best bet. I always diversify, and bet against what others believe to be true. I was heavy in PM 20 years ago, and now have moved heavily into stocks. This is just for play money, my retirement is in diversified equities, (value fund, S&P, International, etc). I know the numbers, but would show anyone who wishes to see that for any time frame except arbitrarily manipulating them that diversified equities outperform savings accounts over any time period. Of course if someone is close to retirement or is counting on the money soon they should move more into bonds or fixed income instruments. Anyone in equities is taking a risk that it might move down before it goes back up.

The reason 401k's should be hard, (I say it should be impossible), to touch is that this is your RETIREMENT, not a savings plan. Everyone should have savings to go to for emergencies, not sacrifice your retirement and have to work as a Walmart greeter when they are 75, (no offense meant to anyone).

Lucy, I would find someone who is not selling you anything, and ask them to look at your finances and chart a path for you to move from where you are to where you need to be long term. PM's are a commodity and are risky themselves, and if you are counting on this money you need to diversify for your own protection. I would look for a CFP who charges by the hour and sells you NOTHING, that way you know you are getting unbiased advice. If you lived in MN I would do it for you for free. Any PM investments have done well the last ten years, but that means they can fall more easily because of this long run up. If you are counting on this money, I would diversify systemically into other assets to protect yourself.

 

Thanks for bringing up the diversification, you are right in that regard. I think the issue is quite honestly, nobody, unless you are really into finance understands what they are putting their money into. So my POV is to be proactive and protect the individual before they pour money into what they don't know.

You can say that it is ultimately up to the individual to research and diversify, yes technically this is true, but people put their money into Madoff too and look what that did to them?

So back to me being a simple guy, I don't want to worry about some money manager being dishonest and playing with my money as if it were monopoly money, ultimately, it is me, who suffers. He can go to jail, that does nothing for me when I'm 60+ and ready to retire.

I'd rather play it safe, know that my $100K's that are in my savings account will be protected by FDIC and that I will have access to it. When you sell me on the potential of making 3-4x more due to compound interest, I just don't want to buy into that anymore after what I've seen.

(BTW, I am nowhere near retiring and I have nowhere near $100K's in my bank account. ha!)

 

I saw in your other post that your husband told you that you would be okay. From that I presume that he believed that whatever he was invested in would be okay for you. If this was all bank CDs, then perhaps you don't need to do anything except roll them over. If he owned mutual funds, there is a good chance that you are okay with those too. Don't over-complicate this by believing you need to "do something." Gold and silver are probably some of the most difficult investments to master, and from what you have said, my guess [emphasis on guess] is that you shouldn't own them.

 

CURRENTLY:

GOLD: $1,248.30 -- High so far today $1,256
Silver: $19.39 -- High so far today $19.51
Platinum: $1539
Palladium: $525

 

Just as an aside, regarding Madoff, all of the warning signs were there for whoever wanted to look. His fund shouldn't have been allowed to operate, with no third party custodian, a rinky dink auditor, no correlation of his supposed positions and announced return. Everything that any finance professional has been taught as a red flag was there for everyone to see. Many people did try to get the SEC to listen, and posted warnings to investors of his funds, most either didn't read or refused to listen. He was a good salesman I guess. Never trust ANY financial salesman without knowing that someone besides him has physical control of what he is buying for you. Period.

This doesn't mean there are any of those risks in an index mutual fund with separate custodian of the assets. That setup was created to prevent any of this stuff. Doesn't mean you cannot lose money in the market, but you cannot be "Madoff'ed". Your choice is completely up to you, I just wanted to clarify that for others. To me, everyone talking bad about equities is music to my ears, since I am buying and I hope they sell me theirs cheap. It was music to my ears in the early 90's when everyone was talking bad about coins and PM's as well, the more they yelled about how bad they were the more I bought, (what I could back then).

Excellent point as well Cloud. If someone doesn't understand a market, and does not want to learn, then maybe its not for them. I have always said your investment should let you sleep at night, its just with a little education you can sleep while taking some prudent risks, thereby maximizing your potential returns. It really is a very expensive "sleeping pill" getting a 1% max return in a bank or money market.

 

I agree with you. Your "husband" is a very good man.