Thoughts on investing in gold/silver

[jinman]

My wife wants me to invest in diamonds for her birthday. The return on that investment is probably priceless.:thumbsup:

 

[MossRoad]

My wife wants me to invest in diamonds for her birthday. The return on that investment is probably priceless.:thumbsup:

Yeah, I'll have to agree with you on that one. Our 25th is coming up in Sept. She gets diamonds every 5 from me. It had been a great investment. Good woman. Two good kids. Warm home. Good food. I think it has outperformed the market by a factor of 10! :thumbsup:

 

[beppington]

Part of the problem right now is that there's no direction to know what to invest in.

You don't need a direction. You need an overall portfolio plan that you stay in & stick to no matter what the market is doing, no matter what the latest noise is, etc.

People advising others to "Buy gold" or "Buy this" or "Buy that" ... or even people asking if they should buy this or that, gold, a stock, etc. ... are chasing. Chasing the next big thing, to either hit it big or recover from losses.

Instead, you just need to establish a plan & stick to it, & not chase anything. Once you do this & get comfortable with it, you'll stop wondering if you should buy gold, or buy Microsoft, etc., relax, sleep well, etc.

Altough I don't, you can buy some gold, but rather than just "buying some gold", you should determine how much (what percentage) of your portfolio will be in gold from now on, & any time your gold total value falls below the percentage-of-your-portfolio you've established, you buy more until its percentage is back in line with your target (called "buying low"). And vice versa: Any time your gold total value increases above the percentage-of-your-portfolio you establish, you either sell some (called "selling high") or buy into whichever of your other holdings are lagging (again, "buying low"), again until your various holdings are back in line (or close anyway) with your established target percentages.

 

[sweettractors]

I can tell you guys one thing for sure about investing in anything. You can listen to the business news channels on TV/Radio, read the Papers, Do online research etc. and you will hear every possible high-low-in the middle scenario that could possibly happen. Just a crap shoot. There is NO WAY to make a educated decision. Your Gut feeling is about as good as it gets. Ken Sweet

 

[CosmoAU]

All this talk of investing has re-ignited a thought of mine. I've been considering starting one of the online accounts (scottrade, etrade, etc.) to play with. I heard someone once say invest in things you understand. Well, I understand tractors and a few other things but not many. I know I'm not gonna get rich buying deere, cat, etc. In my limited research, it seems there are 2 different Kubota stocks. One is KUB the other is KUBTF. Does anyone know the difference?

 

[beppington]

1) Decide how much $ you want in cash, liquid & ready to spend, "living expenses" plus "emergency fund" (in checking or savings); At least 6 months worth of expenses is recommended

2) With the rest:

a) Decide what portion of your $ you want in index mutual funds; 80-90% is recommended for people still working; 40-60% is recommended for retirees.

b) Decide what portion of your $ you want in bonds; 10-20% is recommended for people still working; 40-60% is recommended for retirees.

Decide what portion of your $ you want in real estate (if any); None is necessary, but whatever amount you decide during this exercise, stick with it religiously & you should be fine. (anything but 100% that is! The goals here are to diversify, & to buy low/ sell high). Keep in mind there are a lot of additional costs associated with real estate that you don't get in stock & bond index funds, & over the past 80 years or so stocks have outperformed real estate as well as every other investment type.

Decide what portion of your $ you want in gold (if any); None is recommended, but whatever amount you decide during this exercise, stick with it religiously & you'll be fine. (anything but 100% that is! The goals here are to diversify, & to buy low/ sell high)

If somebody recommends that you buy gold, or stock XYZ, or whatever, just nod & smile. If they want to know why you're so relaxed & carefree, maybe you'll feel like explaining all this to them; Maybe you won't.

Example:

You're worth $5,000. You decide you're comfortable with $3,000 in checking for living expenses & emergencies, leaving $2,000 to invest. You're comfortable with 80% in stocks, 10% in bonds, & 10% in gold. So, right now, regardless of whether you think "the market" is "up" or "down", or gold is "high" or "low", you should go put $1,600 in a stock index fund, $200 in a bond index fund, & $200 in gold. Next month's paycheck you have an extra $20 to add to your portfolio. Look at how your 3 assests have done over that month; What is their current value? If your gold is now worth say $210, you won't buy any more at that time. And let's say your stock index fund is down from $1,600 to $1,500, and your bond index fund is still worth exactly $200 ... You'd put your entire $20 in your stock index fund. Congrats, you just "bought low." Each & every pay period do this exact same thing, every time buying low. Ignore people who tell you to buy this or that; They don't know which way anything is going, whether it's actually "high" or "low", & more importantly, they don't know your plan. Just keep on working your plan. If the market goes down, you're actually happy because you keep getting to buy more of your asset classes (stocks, bonds, gold) for less; If the market goes up, you're happy then, too, of course, because your portfolio is up! A classic win-win.

Ask questions if you want; I enjoy discussing finance. Can you tell?

 

[sweettractors]

All this talk of investing has re-ignited a thought of mine. I've been considering starting one of the online accounts (scottrade, etrade, etc.) to play with. I heard someone once say invest in things you understand. Well, I understand tractors and a few other things but not many. I know I'm not gonna get rich buying deere, cat, etc. In my limited research, it seems there are 2 different Kubota stocks. One is KUB the other is KUBTF. Does anyone know the difference?

Here is the summary for KUB: Ken Sweet

KUBOTA CORPORATION is a manufacturer of farm equipment, engines and construction machinery. The Company is also a producer of various pipe-related products, principally ductile iron pipes and environment-related products, such as environmental control plants. In addition, the Company manufactures and sells industrial castings, spiral welded steel pipes, vending machines, electronic-equipped machinery and air-conditioning equipment. It operates through four business segments: Farm & Industrial Machinery, Water & Environment Systems, Social Infrastructure and Other. The Company's production network primarily comprises 20 plants in Japan and 10 plants in overseas countries. Kubota also has 15 sales subsidiaries in overseas countries

 

[beppington]

All this talk of investing has re-ignited a thought of mine. I've been considering starting one of the online accounts (scottrade, etrade, etc.) to play with. I heard someone once say invest in things you understand. Well, I understand tractors and a few other things but not many. I know I'm not gonna get rich buying deere, cat, etc. In my limited research, it seems there are 2 different Kubota stocks. One is KUB the other is KUBTF. Does anyone know the difference?

That advice needs clarification; You better know not only the product, but also every detail of the actual business, every detail of the accounting involved in the business, its market, etc., but ...

That said, I don't think anybody should buy any individual stocks at all. You should buy index mutual funds instead. I can explain why further, if needed, but it's because basically they're very risky & expensive, & the pay-off almost never justifies it, especially over the long haul. Even the financial experts, including mutual fund managers, can't "beat the markets" buying & selling individual stocks. Index mutual funds avoid all that.

 

[sweettractors]

Here is what came up on KUBTF: Ken Sweet

Company Overview
No company overview information is available.

Company Contact
No address information is available.

 

[brin]

Just a thought...might not be a bad idea to buy non perishable foods..beans, rice, flour etc and medicines along with verifying your water source. Seeds and equipment to plant them..Again just a thought..Think about it.