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I don't want to be this specific. However i do have money to invest, and would like to know those on the forum who also do. What your feelings are investing in Gold. Is it profitible and please tell me why.
Please be specific and speak as if you are speaking to a six year old. Want something w/low fees or no fees, tax free preferably (of course), short term (3-5 yrs), low risk, high return (of course)... keep it simple, thanks!
People depending on their age and economic situation are going to answer that question differently. Everyone has a different risk tolerance also. Generally the more risk you take the greater chances you'll have of making money but also possibly losing it. The more time you have the more aggressive you can be with your investments as there is more time for stocks you might be in to rebound if they fall one year.
One thing is for sure, and I know if Peter Schiff was answering your question,he'd say to invest it in companies overseas where the investment would be backed by a foreign currency rather than the dollar as he says that just about any other currency is doing better than the dollar in retaining its purchasing power.
When you invest in domestic companies, even if your investment goes up 20% one year, if the dollar has lost 30% purchasing power, you are really behind 10%.
Peter would say to take some of the money and put it in gold and silver as a hedge against inflation since gold has always retained its purchasing power and as the dollar loses purchasing power, gold and silver will seem to be going up but actually they are just retaining their purchasing power and simply cost more dollars to purchase as the dollars lose purchasing power.
By the way, we can all thank Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve Bank for the current inflation and loss of purchasing power of the dollar which has resulted from his excessive printing of money and expanding our $$ supply.
If you can't invest overseas where your money would be backed by another currency, at least invest in companies that are international. Also look into oETFs (exchange traded funds) which invest in a cross section of companies usually in a particular sector so you are more diversified than investing in individual stocks which is an advantage because of one stock in an ETF goes down, your position in the ETF won't change much because of all the other stocks that are doing better that that ETF also holds. If you had invested in that particular stock, your entire investment would be down much more so than if you had simply bought the ETF which had invested in that company along with many others.
They are a lot cheaper (commission wise and expense wise) and more liquid than mutual funds. With an ETF you can get into the fund, pay a low commission like $5 to $20 and buy as many shares as you want and you can even specify what you want to pay for each share by placing a limit order (where you indicate you have a limit of what you are willing to pay for each share). With Mutual Funds you can't do that. You pay whatever the market value of the fund is at the open of the trading day. With ETFs if you think the market is getting ready to correct, you can sell your shares IMMEDIATELY and GET OUT before the market falls. With ETFs and with individual stocks you can place stop loss orders which directs the broker to close your position when it reaches a certain point. Or you can even place a trailing stop loss order so that you lock in gains as the postion moves in your favor.
With Mutual Funds, you can say you want to get out but there may be penalties and additionally if you wanted to get out at 10 AM because you heard the market was going to tank, with Mutual Funds you'd have to wait and take whatever the price was at the end of the trading day which could be a lot lower than when you first wanted to be out of the market. You have FAR MORE control over your money by investing in ETFs. Exchange-Traded Funds (ETF) Center - Yahoo! Finance
If I were you I'd start by opening an account with a discount broker or a mutual fund company that lets you do your own investing like Fidelity. You will have lower commissions with a discount broker like Think or Swim or Ameritrade. You will also have access to fancy software and trading tools where you can follow the market and particular stocks you are interested in. Think or Swim has lots of FREE educational seminars as well. This is a good option if you can take the time to spend much of the day following the market. If you aren't going to be doing a bunch of short-term trades, just a regular mutual fund company that lets you trade stocks yourself would probably be good enough although commissions will be higher.
If you don't care about being so hands on, there are various quizes you can take to see what your risk tolerance is that will then suggest what percentage ofyour money should go into which type of vehicle. Then you can check the short and long term track record of various companies or ETFs on the broker or mutual fund's website or just go on-line to finance.yahoo.com. Once you have decided, make the investments.
If you want a broker to pick the stocks for you and invest them overseas, you could look into Peter's company Euro Pacific Capital and talk to a broker. They do take a commission when they open a position for you so this would be the most expensive way to go however your money would be backed in foreign currencies.
To learn more about Peter Schiff's philosophy just search his name on YouTube; start listening to his radio show or read his books including Crash Proof. You'll learn a ton about the economy in general if you start following him. He makes dry, boring complicated subjects very understandable.
100k in 3-5 years ... low risk ... automatically, federal bonds and money market accounts with CDs. You won't do much better than inflation though.
RE: the person who asked about gold ... gold is a commodity, and like any other commodity, can crash (and crash hard). Just look at the early 80s and the price of gold through that whole decade to see my point.
I think the fair value of gold should be somewhere around $800-900 / oz. But that won't stop people from driving up the value of it due to inflation fears. Once the economy recovers (which may be a while ...) see the price of gold dwindle. Just as what happened with silver, can happen with gold. Just because gold is bright, shiny, and has been used for money for eons, doesn't mean it isn't risky. Long term, you want a balanced portfolio which rebalances.
Short term, doing anything but GICs, bonds, CDs, and the like, is nothing better than spinning the roulette wheel.
I'd second something like this..although I think I'd just stick with the conservative bond fund and skip the "floating rate loan" fund. That floating rate fund lost 16% in 2008.
dont go by what happened with this fund in 2008 .. they loaded up on the fidelity central core fund thinking it was a conservative investment and it ended up contining toxic paper. it caused the fund to take a hit which was far and away from the risk level it was designed for and now runs at. for all purposes its a different fund than the 2008 version.
People depending on their age and economic situation are going to answer that question differently. Everyone has a different risk tolerance also. Generally the more risk you take the greater chances you'll have of making money but also possibly losing it. The more time you have the more aggressive you can be with your investments as there is more time for stocks you might be in to rebound if they fall one year.
One thing is for sure, and I know if Peter Schiff was answering your question,he'd say to invest it in companies overseas where the investment would be backed by a foreign currency rather than the dollar as he says that just about any other currency is doing better than the dollar in retaining its purchasing power.
When you invest in domestic companies, even if your investment goes up 20% one year, if the dollar has lost 30% purchasing power, you are really behind 10%.
Peter would say to take some of the money and put it in gold and silver as a hedge against inflation since gold has always retained its purchasing power and as the dollar loses purchasing power, gold and silver will seem to be going up but actually they are just retaining their purchasing power and simply cost more dollars to purchase as the dollars lose purchasing power.
By the way, we can all thank Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve Bank for the current inflation and loss of purchasing power of the dollar which has resulted from his excessive printing of money and expanding our $$ supply.
If you can't invest overseas where your money would be backed by another currency, at least invest in companies that are international. Also look into oETFs (exchange traded funds) which invest in a cross section of companies usually in a particular sector so you are more diversified than investing in individual stocks which is an advantage because of one stock in an ETF goes down, your position in the ETF won't change much because of all the other stocks that are doing better that that ETF also holds. If you had invested in that particular stock, your entire investment would be down much more so than if you had simply bought the ETF which had invested in that company along with many others.
They are a lot cheaper (commission wise and expense wise) and more liquid than mutual funds. With an ETF you can get into the fund, pay a low commission like $5 to $20 and buy as many shares as you want and you can even specify what you want to pay for each share by placing a limit order (where you indicate you have a limit of what you are willing to pay for each share). With Mutual Funds you can't do that. You pay whatever the market value of the fund is at the open of the trading day. With ETFs if you think the market is getting ready to correct, you can sell your shares IMMEDIATELY and GET OUT before the market falls. With ETFs and with individual stocks you can place stop loss orders which directs the broker to close your position when it reaches a certain point. Or you can even place a trailing stop loss order so that you lock in gains as the postion moves in your favor.
With Mutual Funds, you can say you want to get out but there may be penalties and additionally if you wanted to get out at 10 AM because you heard the market was going to tank, with Mutual Funds you'd have to wait and take whatever the price was at the end of the trading day which could be a lot lower than when you first wanted to be out of the market. You have FAR MORE control over your money by investing in ETFs. Exchange-Traded Funds (ETF) Center - Yahoo! Finance
If I were you I'd start by opening an account with a discount broker or a mutual fund company that lets you do your own investing like Fidelity. You will have lower commissions with a discount broker like Think or Swim or Ameritrade. You will also have access to fancy software and trading tools where you can follow the market and particular stocks you are interested in. Think or Swim has lots of FREE educational seminars as well. This is a good option if you can take the time to spend much of the day following the market. If you aren't going to be doing a bunch of short-term trades, just a regular mutual fund company that lets you trade stocks yourself would probably be good enough although commissions will be higher.
If you don't care about being so hands on, there are various quizes you can take to see what your risk tolerance is that will then suggest what percentage ofyour money should go into which type of vehicle. Then you can check the short and long term track record of various companies or ETFs on the broker or mutual fund's website or just go on-line to finance.yahoo.com. Once you have decided, make the investments.
If you want a broker to pick the stocks for you and invest them overseas, you could look into Peter's company Euro Pacific Capital and talk to a broker. They do take a commission when they open a position for you so this would be the most expensive way to go however your money would be backed in foreign currencies.
To learn more about Peter Schiff's philosophy just search his name on YouTube; start listening to his radio show or read his books including Crash Proof. You'll learn a ton about the economy in general if you start following him. He makes dry, boring complicated subjects very understandable.
peter schiff, oh yeah ,hes the guy who has called it right yet since his famous predicion.
he told everyone to avoid equities they were going down further and who ever listened missed one of the biggest run ups in history.
peter schiff, oh yeah ,hes the guy who has called it right yet since his famous predicion.
he told everyone to avoid equities they were going down further and who ever listened missed one of the biggest run ups in history.
good call!
Peter is happy because even the skeptics and the haters use his name. He's winning Charlie Sheen style.
That's all that gets someone on the news these days. If an economist said GDP is going up 3% this quarter and every quarter, that guy would be far more often correct than Schiff, Roubini or any other economist you've seen too much on CNBC. But would that economist ever get credit for being correct?
Same problem with this question at hand. Best way to look like a genius would be just throw some stock out there. If it goes up 500% you look like a freakin genius. However its really just getting lucky. But if you just say something safe and simple with no chance at a big score you won't even register and no one will notice you making a correct call on risk adjusted basis.
Over that time frame I like REITS. Normally I'd say cash flowing real estate, but if you want low maintenance and an easy way to sell in 5 years then REITS it is.
What is REITS?
I have been reading a book and the author seems to be promoting Vangaurd mutual funds alot. I think he suggest for someone like me to invest conservative amount in Vanguard 500 Index (large cap stock blend) and the rest in Total Bond Market Index (bond interterm treasury). He says to invest in short term stocks/bonds. I really don't know what the hell he is talking about.
Maybe I should just go to USAA and talk to a financial planner and let them do the investing but the author does not recommend using this avenue. He suggest an independent fee based financial advisor who will be working solely for me and not the company. I would not know how to find that type of advisor and if I did I would have a hard time trusting them with my money.
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