How do you get friends/family to board the PM express ?

i just recently got into silver myself spurred by europes collaps and our own possible demise, it was easy to get one of my brothers on board since he doesn't trust the gov't one iotta. my mother is 70 and has a large sum of money in the bank that she does not rely on for living expenses but she's not going for my sales pitch at all. she keeps telling me that at her age she doesnt need to invest and i try telling her that buying silver would not be an investment but a preservation of her capitol. i think its the stubborness of her age that just wont give in. what do you guys do to get them aboard?

 

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You need to break out all available info including graphs and such telling
Someone and showing someone are two different things!!

 

For someone near or at retirement, the volatility associated with PMs may not be the wisest idea. Especially if those funds may be needed within a short (i.e., half a decade) period. At age 70, there is the spectre of significant medical expenses, having the comfort of knowing that you will always be able to pay for your grandchildren's education, etc.

If your long term approach spans 3 or 4 decades, yes, PMs can be a part of a portfolio. For someone past retirement, IMO, it is an unwise place to put a large proportion of your assets. Just imagine it is 1980, not 2010 and you've just bought 1,000 ounces of silver at $40/oz. Do you sell at $50 or hold on because you know it's going higher? Now, imagine it's one year later (1981) and silver is at $8/oz and you still have 1,000 ozs. Do you think your mother would be thrilled with that scenario if it is repeated in a couple of years?

Another point to remember, is that your mother grew up with the country just coming out of the depression. That may have shaped her attitude towards investing.
Of course, if your mother is a multi-millionare, that's another thing altogether.

 

I don't believe it is wise to use a strong pitch on friends and family for PM purchases. A relatively minor point is that you may come off as a bothersome meddler. A larger issue may be that those who might listen to you might also hold you responsible or accountable for every market movement as long as they hold the metals, which could make your life much less fun. Lastly and most importantly, everyone has to decide what is best for themselves given the information available without being pushed too hard. You can make folks aware of the PM option, but if you are selling the idea hard then I don't think you are doing anyone a favor.

By the way, I agree strongly that folks look long and hard at the idea of buying and holding a certain amount of metals and I own a bit, too.

 

I say you should drop the subject with your mom. So, what happens if you talk her into buying silver, and the price drops $2/oz? Do you realize how many sleepless nights she might have worrying about it? It's hard enough for someone at 45, but at 70? Besides, if you screw up when you're 40-50, you at least have enough years to recover some of your losses. Maybe!

My ex-siblings once tried to talk my Mom, at 75, into putting her money in other investment vehicles, but they weren't as much concerned about her welfare as they were their inheritance. Mom asked me what I thought she should do, and I told her she should travel and do some of the things she and my Dad never had a chance to do. She worked hard enough for it. Spend some of it an get some enjoyment out of life. Screw the family!

Chris

 

Your mother is right. You are wrong.

Invest in silver for yourself. Do not try to get others to invest in things that may be completely inappropriate for their risk tolerance or situation in life. If you "force" someone into silver, they will panic if/when it drops in price. Your mother is happy and comfortable with her financial situation. Why are you trying to increase her risk profile? Silver is for building capital for people who can afford the risk. Once someone has what they need, there is no reason to risk.

 

Of course all of this assumes that the american dollar itself isn't at risk.

 

thanks everyone for your point of views, i havn't pushed real hard. i just mentioned it twice to her and will not be talking to her about it anymore. i don't want her to sock her entire savings into it just a couple hundred ounces would be prudent IMO for her to hedge against the dollar.

as for my brother i didn'y even have to sell it on him, he saw me looking at stuff on the net and asked if im looking to buy silver, i told him that ive already picked some up and he said to get him some. he's in for 200 ounces at the moment.

 

thats what concerns me and why im buying it myself, im not looking to make money on it but if i do its all gravey. its all about preserving what ive worked hard for.

 

Put it this way. If you want your mother to have a little inflation protection, try to get her to buy some inflation protected treasury bonds or the US savings bond I bonds. It's too much of a leap to take someone who has always kept money in bank accounts and expect them to buy one of the most volitile commodities around.

 

i wont try to sway her on anything else, i think she's stuck on the greenbacks. i just hope they see her through.

 

I've read that TIPS aren't the best hedge against inflation because the reported inflation is always lower then what the actual inflation is.

 

That's probably true. But TIPS are more appropriate for a 70 year old who never owned anything except a bank account. And the cost of living for senior citizens generally rises less than the real rate because they aren't in the market for many items that make up the index.

 

My 11 year old daughter is investing in silver along side of me, although not at the same scale. She went with me one day to the coin shop to buy some silver and she decided she wanted a bar for herself. She's been hooked ever since.

 

we'll i actually got one foot in the door last night, my moms brother came in to visit for a family reunion and he was telling us last night that he has been buying gold. it kind of peaked her interest so today i gave the pitch again telling her about silver certificates and how they used to work and what the federal reserve note has become of today. i'll talk pm's with my uncle again in her presence in the next couple of days and then when evryone goes back home i'll throw another splew at her.

 

Big mistake in my opinion. I think you will regret it. Metals are not appropriate for a 70 year old who has never purchased them. The only way you'll get her to buy is to deceive her about the risk. It's going to ruin or at least strain your relationship.

 

I think that the TIPS inflation adjustment is based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the CPI seems to understate inflation by quite a bit when you consider, for example, that medical costs are rising faster than the CPI. If the TIPS inflation adjustment is based in the CPI, then TIPS will not keep pace with the "real" rate of inflation.

 

:whistle:

Your disclaimer describes so many of us...lol...not the art bar, but the general sense...LOLOLOLOL

 

i recently started putting money into gold and silver, but don't pitch to anyone. i got my nephew(that feels weird saying that) a bit of gold for his first birthday. right now a toy would be a waste imo. if i keep getting him gold for birthdays/Christmas, when he is 16 wanting a car or college he will thank me. he may not be happy from the ages 5-14, but he will thank me later. i am getting the gold in coins too, maybe it will spark an interest.

my half brothers family got rich off gold or the mafia(not sure, there is a debate). they were very poor and once some guy died overnight they were millionaires. now that the grandmother is dead, everyone gets gold bars every so often. it must be nice to get 2, 10oz bars every month! so my family should know the power of gold, i sure do. but they don't seem to get it and i am not a financial advisor so i let them be.

 

LOLOLOL.........The disclaimer does describe me.

The disclaimer in my signature really applies to art bars and the reason that I put that as my signature because I am not really a '70's silver art bar expert. I try my best to play a silver art bar expert on the internet but sometimes I fall short of the mark. I still consider myself a "student" of the hobby of collecting '70's silver art bars because I am still learning about the silver art bar hobby. I just try my best to learn from the people who know a lot more about silver art bars than I do

However, you could also apply my disclaimer in a general sense because I am not an expert on anything. I am just a dude posting on an internet forum. :smile