Will my friends ever buy?

I was just thinking about this this morning.

Metals have been rising. Not a peep out of my friends at all about metals, inflation etc etc. Mainly because they aren't casual followers like us here on the boards.

So my question to you guys is, will my friends, your friends, our neighbors "ever" purchase metals? Will they wake up tomorrow with gold at $2,000 and shrug their shoulders?

I don't want to compare the U.S. to Wiemer Republic or Zimbabwe, there's enough talk about that. But if you look at the majority of citizens in both countries ( I don't have the numbers) but I assume that the majority were wiped out no?

Only a small percentage did something right with their money to protect themselves.

So I guess what I'm asking is, is our society all naturally always going to think in lockstep? History repeats over and over and it doesn't change. Are we just all naturally programmed this way?

Please let me know your thoughts, I'd like to get a nice debate on this. It's almost more of a psychological question.....

 

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I just recently distributed the estate of my dad to the rest of my siblings, I talked to them about not just playing it is Christmas with the money, but to think of something to invest in, they asked me what I was going to do, and I told them that I had not decided yet but I was worried about inflation, that it would make everything more expensive and that instead of just putting it in the bank with little interest, I was thinking of finding something that might at least match inflation, I mentioned I bonds, stocks and pms as possibilities.

I think that some will invest, some will pay bills, I plan on tithing some to a local shelter that takes care of homeless women and children, investing some in stocks and pms, and maybe buying a nice coin that I have wanted for a while now.

 

I'm glad you were able to speak to them about their options. As I've mentioned in other threads, I won't be speaking about metals anymore with anyone unless it's here. I've tried it about 2-3 times with my friends and I'm just not going to keep preaching it.

I hope you and your family find safe items to invest in. To me, as you mentioned, is putting your money into something that will at the very least, MATCH inflation.....

 

If I could afford it, I would buy. Thats the problem with most of the people I know. You have to have money to invest and, frankly, in the current economic situation, a considerable amount of people just can't afford to put money into something like gold. They have to use it on food/electricity/water/etc.

 

Probably a smart decision. If you push any investment on people and it tanks you will be the bad guy. Anyone in my life that I care about knows that I have been investing in silver for years. I will usually tell my family when silver is perfoming especially well, (like now), but until they show an actual interest in buying, it will always be just casual conversation. If they show interest I would definately try to steer them away from scams/ripoffs, and maybe give them details of what has worked for me.
But I don't want or need the drama if they buy at $26 and silver drops to $10 again. JMO

 

You are right on the money (no pun intended) with that. When gold was cheaper, and the quicksand didn't pull you in as much, they were not interested. Now it is too expensive to even be considered something to purchase. Now your legs are knee deep into the quicksand. The quicksand here, I am referring to the dollars devaluation. The price of gold keeps going up and you keep doing down.....

If you couldn't get it at $1,000, you surely aren't going to get it at $1300, $1500, $2000+......

Exactly. There is a liability as well if people take your word for it and it does poorly. The reason for talking about it 2-3 times is that I didn't want to keep this to myself and be "selfish".

So perhaps it was in a way, a "selfish" thing for me to speak about metals because I didn't want it on my conscious that I didn't tell anyone and try to hoard metals for myself. (which trust me, isn't very much). I have done my part and now it is time to just sit back, relax and watch what happens with metals.

 

I think you should tell your friends and relatives about the potential for inflation. Historically, what the Fed is doing has never worked and always brought on inflation. The only way to protect yourself is by owning hard assets. Just couch what you say by also saying that there is risk, but that you feel strongly enough to take that risk.

 

Not gonna work. They know about inflation, they know gold is expensive, it's just one of those things, we are soooo conditioned to love our U.S. dollars, little old me isn't going to change that. That's why I wanted people to chime in on their thoughts about the pyschology of our U.S. dollars. Why it's so hard to get away from them.

I think we as a society are obsessed with the dollar count.

If you look at your bank account and it shows $50,000. It feels nice. It looks nice. And you feel like you have saved a lot. Even if someone tells you inflation is 10%, and now your McD's combo meal costs $8 now, it just doesn't feel bad to see that $50,000 in your account.

Does anyone understand what I mean? We joke about Zimbabwe, we know they have trillion dollar "dollars". And I think we aren't far enough into the ditch to feel that our dollars are useless. So $50,000 still feels niiiiice.....but it is a facade......

So that's what I'm hoping we can discuss here. The pyschology, the thought process behind our society......

 

Society? What percent of society is even aware of the threat and potential consequences? And many of those who are aware, don't take it serious enough to do anything about it. And unfortunately, many can't afford to do anything about it. And of those unaware, I don't think many will listen. And if they would listen, who would tell them? MSM? The administration? That's why I think the most altruistic thing you can do is to tell your friends.

 

I sold some junk silver yesterday . . because I think the variables influencing escalating prices in the metals markets are beginning to break down. Not saying this is the top . . but I feel prices might be beginning to plateau and level off with not such dramatic gains. There is clearly euphoria building up about the precious metals.

 

If your friends 'aren't' buying, maybe they are sending you a message: that they think precious metals at this stage of the game are just a speculative investment. In my opinion, The Feds quantitative easing strategy is designed to bail out the banks once again under the guise of creating jobs. True that cash and the dollar have been the worst things to possess at this stage of the game. But also recall what
Greenspan et al did to gold back in the late 1990s . . e.g. the 'fix' was in . . to suppress the price.

 

Education is the key! the more you learn the
More you make

 

I wish they were thinking that hard about it. I don't get that vibe though. They probably look at PM's casually as just another investment vehicle that seems to be doing good right now.

I'm no master economist, and I could be wrong too. Gold could one day drop and I'll look at my own investment as a poor investment. While they could have been right all along in doing "nothing". So we'll see what happens in the next couple of years.....

 

Im sorry about your loss.... Thats a good thing for you to do (Help the homeless). Makes me kick myself for not buying up on silver before the jump....

 

Certainly gold will have it's short term swings but if it drops big time cdogh is right, the fix is in. But that fix was with the participation of many world central banks. I don't think the world's central banks today would follow the US if the US tried to sell gold, or lease gold for others to sell to depress the price. If the US tried to sell Fort Knox, whoever authorized it should be tried for treason. I think India and China would buy Ft. Knox if they had the chance...using the US paper US Treasuries they own.

 

Hi Foolsgold,
It seems what you are asking is 'why can't they see what I see?' or something like that. IMO, speaking with others about things like what to invest in is just not the thing to do. It's right up there (at least for me) with sex, religion, and politics. Goes along with not discussing what one's annual income is, or salary, or hourly wage. Rarely does it go well, and often there can be resentment (on either end.) It doesn't often serve a good purpose. Same thing with gold/silver investing (since this is investment we're writing about, and not collecting) - it doesn't really bode well. If you try to educate someone to all the reasons they might consider holding gold/silver, they are likely to be confused (a bit) and might just think you're a fruitcake. If I wanted to at least point someone in that direction, I suppose I would come at in a roundabout and slow way; after all there are a lot of reasons that require some thinking and ones' own due diligence. We don't just wake up one day, read an article or hear someone talking about the rise in prices and then dash out and purchase.. Here on this board, bullion investing, it's a common conversation with relatively like-minded people. But in my world, I honestly DO NOT know anyone else who holds pm's as an investment vehicle. AND were I to meet someone who was talking about the metals they owned, most likely I would keep my mouth SHUT about my own, and just listen.

Bottom line, no. Most likely your friends and neighbors, and my friends and neighbors are not going to change their investment strategies (if they even have any) because of something you or I tried to tell them. You COULD have a chance with your best friend, maybe. Just because friends MIGHT listen long enough to actually get the message.

Lucy (Strictly just my opinion)

 

Did Bernanke call off the quantitative easing and I missed it? The euphoria building up is over the fact that we're at the point where a separate, private, entity from the federal govt., has decided on their own to create hundreds of billions of dollars out of thin air (AGAIN) and use it to purchase worthless pieces of paper called govt. bonds. It's made up paper chasing paper. The same paper we have to work for and count on to survive. And pretend that there's actually value behind it. The only thing breaking down is the system itself.

 

Pretty keen assessment there. By the time they tell you the house is on fire, it will have already burnt to the ground. Nobody at any point in the break down will want to be accused of causing unneeded panic. While I agree that panic is not constructive, the few who are paying attention should do whatever they can to protect themselves. Don't count on the media to warn you until we're already in the aftermath.

I've seen a lot of confident people talking about buying future "dips" that never seem to happen.

 

This is usually good advice to follow. But, my mother of all people was watching these commercials of companies pushing gold onto people, as a safety net against inflation. She is not one for investing really, but was really convinced and looking for my opinion. I simply told her I was investing in silver, and thought it would outpace gold for the next few years. Well, I proved to be right for now. But, I really did not try to convince her or pressure her into my methods. Silver would be at $8.00 if I had, guaranteed!

 

Fortunately my mom worked for a brokerage firm pretty much all her working adult life so she is pretty investment savy, but I do talk to her quite often about PM's (my investing in them not hers .) But like my original post states, the people I care about know I invest in PM, so hopefully if they were swayed that way I would definately help any way I could. But I don't promote it to anyone.