Any of you own Iraqi Dinar as a hedge against the dollar

[Tuna Meowt]

Playing with currency arbitrage as a means of "preparedness" is complete nonsense.

[Coaster]

If it were that lucrative, the banks would be doing it. And they're not.

[LordyLordy]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

I guess anyone that bought into that idea brought about their own disaster.

There is no effortless way to turn a little money into a lot of money. Successful investors spend a lot of time on research. They subscribe to information services. They hire smart people to work for them. They understand exactly what they are investing in and how it works.

There are only two places where you can make multiple dollars on a dollar without any work - Wall St. and the casino. There were plenty of studies that confirmed what everyone else should already know - that professional investors or money managers are no more successful than luck or the average Joe Schmoe in making money on the stock market. Swinging for the fences is that - swinging for the fences.

The only time more science is involved and it is not only luck are the long-term investors, esp. mathematical managers (not quants). Not many of those.

The above applies to the situation where you are starting out with not much money (your average Joe). In the case where you have plenty to play with, it gets easier.

[LordyLordy]

Originally Posted by ChrisC

Unless you are the government. They turn nothing into a lot of money.

Or work for the government in certain positions. You can essentially exert less effort than a kid washing dishes for minimum wage and be set for life, including a 150K pension until you die. The rest of us "eat cake," as Marie so eloquently put it.

Please provide examples of government jobs that do this. Multiple people, including you, have brought this up as some kind of an oft-repeated mantra but they never bring up any positions or anything like that.

I know law enforcement works their butts off. So do the army folks. So do the national park people, the USDA, FDA, EPA people. Give us examples of govt folks YOU know and their positions where they just sit on their behind all day doing nothing and getting paid.