Post: #1

Since we are all anonymous anyway, I'll just lay it out. I am by no means wealthy, but I have a sizable nest egg spread about in different places, regular savings accounts, IRA, 401k from my last job(i'm now self-employed), annuity(a big mistake I made when I was younger and dumber).

I was freaking out the last few years looking at how the dollar was falling against other currencies and what was going on with inflation, and I believe inflation is much higher than what the government reports. I felt like I was seeing my nest egg evaporated right in front of my eyes. But I'm sure you've had this experience when you had a stock or fund, you think, "ok, I know I've lost some money, but it has to be near the bottom, I've lost so much now, there's no point in getting out, besides as they say you don't lose anything until you sell and in the long run, things usually balance out right? So I'll ride it out."

I've felt the same about the dollar. I came close last year to moving most my money out of dollar denominated assets and moving into commodities like metals and foreign currency, but honestly, I have no idea what I'm doing. I don't know much about currencies of the rest of the world, whether their money will soon face the same pressure, which countries will have stable currencies, and which don't. I know it's usually a bad idea to make economic decisions based on panic. I ended up just staying put and when I saw oil and metals drop like a rock over this summer and saw the dollar rallying, I felt vindicated and thought,"man, if I'd moved my money out the dollar and bought metals, I'd be losing my ass right now!" Now once again, I'm wondering if I made a mistake.

I don't really know what the hell to do to protect my wealth or where to put it. If I do decide to go into currencies, what countries are best and how do I know they won't face the same fate as the USD since the global economy is so interconnected now? Will we take everyone down? Let's talk about how to preserve our nest eggs, because I can't depend on my government anymore, I think there's a serious chance that we're headed toward an Argentina-style meltdown. Maybe not, and I hope not, but I've never felt so pessimistic about the prospects of the US economy.

Post: #2

I go against the crowd.

My RE investor friends who are cash rich are looking for MFH's to add to their portfolios (they're focused on rental cash flow, not "flips"). "Everything is on sale"

If you've got money, i'd be looking at things that have long term value that are being beat up by the panic.

Post: #3

I may be wrong, but I am going to guess that I've *lost* more money this year than any other reader of this forum. My net worth is down slightly over $1M since Jan. 1. Not because I've done anything especially stupid, but everything has gotten hammered pretty badly, and extreme bad luck as far as one particular stockholding of mine (I was diversifying out of it gradually, but it dropped so quickly I was left with a huge loss).

My strategy is to make no changes to my strategy. I am diversified across asset classes and across the globe. In the long run, I will be fine. I'm in no danger of running out of money. Hopefully my business will be a success, and if it is, then I will be set for life.

Post: #4

Real estate (apartment buildings) would obviously be a good investment...hard assets that will appreciate and retain their value no matter what happens to our currency. Unfortunately, apartment buildings are a little out of my investment range. I have ~$3,000 in a 60% bond-40% total stock market balanced fund, and $500 in a money market fund, and I don't know what to do with them.

Post: #5

Real estate right now is a bad investment. What do you guys thing is behind the tanking economy? It's the falling real estate values that are the problem. I think buying investment real estate is fine, so long as you are buying at the bottom of the cycle.

Post: #6

(09-23-2008 03:16 AM)speakeasy Wrote:  Real estate right now is a bad investment. What do you guys thing is behind the tanking economy? It's the falling real estate values that are the problem. I think buying investment real estate is fine, so long as you are buying at the bottom of the cycle.

depends on whether you think real estate prices in whatever geographic are you're looking to invest in have bottomed out yet or not.

As for how to protect your money: I'm "investing" my money in a master's degree for the next two years. I saw the onset of this recession last year and thought that the next two years would be a perfect time to be in school.

Post: #7

(09-23-2008 02:49 AM)TheMoonMonst3r Wrote:  Real estate (apartment buildings) would obviously be a good investment...hard assets that will appreciate and retain their value no matter what happens to our currency. Unfortunately, apartment buildings are a little out of my investment range. I have ~$3,000 in a 60% bond-40% total stock market balanced fund, and $500 in a money market fund, and I don't know what to do with them.

3 options
- sell what you have now, and put the cash under the mattress
- hold - and watch your holdings decline at first, and then go back up
- buy more - bet that the market will come back, and now you have a bigger position

Post: #8

I'd honestly like to invest in the trade of medicinal grade marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms, so if I change my username to "CagedDuncanIdaho" you'll know Johnny Law got to me before I could retire.

Post: #9

zorgon.. 1MM good lord!

I wouldn't tell anyone what to do with their money but I'll tell you what i'm doing with mine.

I'm a gloom and doomer. I think the shit is just hitting the fan and in less than 10 years time we will see financial armageddon. Over a third of the middle class will sink into poverty a la the 2001 Argentine peso crash and without anything to produce (no factories) or sound economic industries things will stay that way and the united states will no longer by the greatest power.

Here's my current asset allocation as of last month. It's already outdated but gives you a good idea how i'm dealing with my above-mentioned belief..

   

All fiat currencies will end up worthless but I've moved to currencies that I believe will perform better than the dollar. I want to get my dollar assets down to 25%.

I'm a gold/silver bug and do believe that they will continue to hold their value over time. Either get the physical stuff from sites like apmex.com, ebay, kitco, bulliondirect.com or go paper with GLD/SLV/CEF (just research the tax implications of CEF since it's a foreign fund). Gold/silver trades inverse of the dollar. If you think the dollar will go down, then this is your investment class.

I don't know about commodities in general. I believe in peak oil but with a worldwide global downturn this could lighten demand and drop prices in the short term.

Bottom line is what do YOU think is going to happen? All investing is gambling and if you're going to gamble it must as well be based on your gut (derived from research research research of course). Go with that gut and hope it works out. If in doubt, stay in cash.

Post: #10

(09-23-2008 10:56 PM)Roosh Wrote:  zorgon.. 1MM good lord!

I'm sure everyone here already knows this, but my life is solid living proof that money by itself will not get you a single girl. And any golddigger who thinks I would spend more than a trivial amount of money on her... well, she's just deluded!

I'm not sweating it.

Actually, I do know one guy who is in a true "sugar daddy" relationship. He's 58 and she's 23. He gets sex with a young girl... she gets a free place to stay, plus shopping money, plus parties with expensive wine, plus trips to Vegas. My strong suspicion, however, is that it's not an exclusive relationship on her part. She certainly doesn't mind going topless when other guys are around, that's for sure, nor did she have a problem making out with me in front of him (OK, OK, so lots of tequila was involved on everyone's part).

Post: #11

(09-24-2008 10:33 PM)zorgon Wrote:  

(09-23-2008 10:56 PM)Roosh Wrote:  zorgon.. 1MM good lord!

I'm sure everyone here already knows this, but my life is solid living proof that money by itself will not get you a single girl. And any golddigger who thinks I would spend more than a trivial amount of money on her... well, she's just deluded!

^^^Truth.com

I'm now in the Republican Tax Bracket but I definitely got more affection when I was making that Green Party money.

- cool car - check
- cool address - check
- clothes - check
- eat where I want
- can buy anything reasonable that i've ever wanted

All the stuff that I thought would put me in Poon Paradise....
But the reality is, now i'm just more of a "good catch".

Which is totally pointless if I'm not out there meeting people.

There's an episode of Sanford and Son, where one of Fred's friends tell's Lamont, "that I didn't want to get married until I could buy a house, but now that I can buy the house, I have no one to share it with"

Post: #12

zorgon.. what type of business are you in?

Post: #13

Used to work for a computer hardware company as a software engineer. Started my own software company a few months ago.

Post: #14

I just went back to school and am working on accumulating a massive amount of debt, so I have no wealth to protect.