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My mom says that putting $ in an IRA or 401k isn't safe as it can disappear literally overnight if the government decides they need it. And to buy silver coins instead.
Does mom have an important point here or is she listening to the wrong late-night talk radio?
I was thinking about funding my Roth IRA for 2011 but maybe not? Should I head to the pawn shop instead with that money?
My mom says that putting $ in an IRA or 401k isn't safe as it can disappear literally overnight if the government decides they need it. And to buy silver coins instead.
Does mom have an important point here or is she listening to the wrong late-night talk radio?
I was thinking about funding my Roth IRA for 2011 but maybe not? Should I head to the pawn shop instead with that money?
The government can't take it but that doesn't mean it can't disappear "overnight", it depends on how the plans are invested.
Many people lost a lot of money when the Internet bubble went poof.
Government induced inflation could make it dissapear over the course of a couple of decades.
You will still have your $1,000 when it is all said and done - however, the purchasing power of the money when you finally use it could be seriously dimminished.
I would buy some canned food and a firearm, which will do you alot more good once it all hits the fan in a few years.
My mom says that putting $ in an IRA or 401k isn't safe as it can disappear literally overnight if the government decides they need it. And to buy silver coins instead.
Does mom have an important point here or is she listening to the wrong late-night talk radio?
I was thinking about funding my Roth IRA for 2011 but maybe not? Should I head to the pawn shop instead with that money?
Was she one of those people who bought canned goods in late 1999 worrying about Y2K?
You know the answer. I just suspect you are starting this thread to get a rise out of people.
A Roth is one of the best saving vehicles out there.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Skydive Outlaw
It can dissapear - but not overnight.
Government induced inflation could make it dissapear over the course of a couple of decades.
You will still have your $1,000 when it is all said and done - however, the purchasing power of the money when you finally use it could be seriously dimminished.
I would buy some canned food and a firearm, which will do you alot more good once it all hits the fan in a few years.
Honestly I wasn't trying to get a rise out of people. It's honestly that there are two very different messages I'm getting about the economy these days and it's confusing.
On one hand - the canned food, firearm argument actually makes sense to some degree - given the outlook on economics here and in Europe. There has to be big changes and I'm not sure what those are going to look like. No one does.
On the other hand - I see that that whole argument can get into the sky-is-falling mindset - things can't continue to spiral downward, life will go on in a somewhat predictable fashion - right?
The reality that plays out is maybe somewhere in between.
I think I should have rephrased my OP to read something like Roth or USAGX (USAA's precious metal fund). Which I might actually go for this year - the USAGX in place of a 2011 Roth contribution.
My mom is the type that buys at auctions in rural America and sells the junk on ebay - like mass hotdog cookers that go for $1000 that she bought for $200 with another box of junk.
And gets Social Security. She isn't wealthy or has a lot saved. More of the spend-it-when-you-have-it type. But at the same time, she doesn't buy into the typical consumerism either. I will give her that she's resourceful about making money (loves to spend it) and can scrimp by if need be. And she lives a pretty nice life. Home paid off. No debt. So maybe I should have posted this on the preppers site. But I don't really identify with that group.
It's funny, my father is the almost polar opposite. He recently bought a house and is thinking about sinking $25,000 into a total kitchen remodel for a perfectly functioning kitchen. He is retired and his wife is working a few more years. They're in their 60s and still have a mortgage - even dipped into the Roth for getting the current house and a few appliance updates. That, to me, is nuts.
Fact is as bad things sometimes look / feel here in the USA the overall ability of people in this country to expect a pretty peaceful / long retirement is still pretty darn near the top o' the heap worldwide. The problems that folks in countries from Greece to Spain to Japan are facing are generally WORSE than anything we have looming ...
Workers in China are a routinely forced to into situations that have not existed in a century or more in developed countries.
The RATIONAL way to PLAN for your future is to put the money in a tax advantaged IRA or 401K. The government won't be "seizing" anything in those ever. The taxes that you will need to pay down the road are an unanswerable question and the returns you'll get are influenced by a whole lot of things outside you control THOUGH you can assume that if businesses continue to be created / grow / have employees & customers SOME return is all put a certainty ESPECIALLY over a long term "work life" that for somebody in their 20s will PROBABLY span FIVE OR MORE DECADES -- owning IBM back in the 1950s when typewriters were first becoming ELECTRIC and riding that wave through tube based computers to transistor mainframes, mini-, PCs, servers and all that has made generations of folks VERY comfortable. Same can be said for GE or Boeing or Kraft... Will Apple or Google or Starbucks also have that good a run? My hunch is probably. BUT you can't expect any "investment" to be totally 'set in and forget it' -- you need to be at least a LITTLE aware of how these largely consumer driven business are doing!
Things like "precious metal funds" move up and down A WHOLE LOT MORE and in reaction to an even HARDER to gauge set of things like industrial demand, technical advances, hoarding, collectors etc...
Quote:
Originally Posted by lukyelle
Honestly I wasn't trying to get a rise out of people. It's honestly that there are two very different messages I'm getting about the economy these days and it's confusing.
On one hand - the canned food, firearm argument actually makes sense to some degree - given the outlook on economics here and in Europe. There has to be big changes and I'm not sure what those are going to look like. No one does.
On the other hand - I see that that whole argument can get into the sky-is-falling mindset - things can't continue to spiral downward, life will go on in a somewhat predictable fashion - right?
The reality that plays out is maybe somewhere in between.
I think I should have rephrased my OP to read something like Roth or USAGX (USAA's precious metal fund). Which I might actually go for this year - the USAGX in place of a 2011 Roth contribution.
My mom is the type that buys at auctions in rural America and sells the junk on ebay - like mass hotdog cookers that go for $1000 that she bought for $200 with another box of junk.
And gets Social Security. She isn't wealthy or has a lot saved. More of the spend-it-when-you-have-it type. But at the same time, she doesn't buy into the typical consumerism either. I will give her that she's resourceful about making money (loves to spend it) and can scrimp by if need be. And she lives a pretty nice life. Home paid off. No debt. So maybe I should have posted this on the preppers site. But I don't really identify with that group.
It's funny, my father is the almost polar opposite. He recently bought a house and is thinking about sinking $25,000 into a total kitchen remodel for a perfectly functioning kitchen. He is retired and his wife is working a few more years. They're in their 60s and still have a mortgage - even dipped into the Roth for getting the current house and a few appliance updates. That, to me, is nuts.
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