Wigler Posted July 25, 2008 Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 Hey guys, This is my first post, I’ll just give you a quick intro. I’ve been following politics and the world economy all my life and always knew that there was trouble ahead. Since finding housepricecrash.co.uk and hearing people like Peter Schiff, Jim Rogers etc I’ve realized that the we really are about to see the SHTF. I’m in my mid twenties, have no debt (no savings either) but am going to put whatever I can spare each month into gold (on the advice of Peter Schiff I’m thinking about the vault in Perth). Now my parents sold their house mid 2006 and have been renting since then. All their money is in UK banks, they might be putting some into an Euro account soon. Would it be wise for me to advise them to put 10% of their money into gold. I’m really starting to worry for them and I don’t want to see them get into trouble. The thing is in terms of working on my finances I’ve never done anything more than write a cheque (so buying gold in the next few days will be a huge step for me). I know there’s not guarantees in life, but would it be wise for me to try and convince them to put 10% of their UK Pounds into gold in the Perth Vault. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinBrick Posted July 25, 2008 Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 Would it be wise for me to advise them to put 10% of their money into gold. It would certainly be wise to advise them to consider it but you should make sure they inform themselves on the issues and make the decision themselves. It's very unwise to take responsibility for other people's finances! On the amount to invest, there is an old cliché, which I suppose has become a cliché because of its validity: "Put 10% into gold and hope it doesn't work". The reason one would hope it wouldn't work is that usually conditions which are favourable for gold are unfavourable for the economy in general. Many would say that 10% would be too little in the present economic turmoil. You might also suggest they move their cash to Northern Rock, which is unique at present in having a 100% government backed guarantee on all deposits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Netwriter Posted July 25, 2008 Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 Welcome wigler Please check out this thread: Pinned: A Collection of Basic Guides & Notable Threads Gold, Silver, Coins, Polls - To save you searching http://www.greenenergyinvestors.com/index.php?showtopic=3784 Hopefully the threads listed will answer a lot of your questions. If not, please ask and hopefully someone will add to the resource. Briefly I think: 1. Get some gold coins 2. Open a Gold Money and Bullion Vault account (you need to check the thread on manipulation re the Perth Mint) 3. Learn (both you and your parents), so you can make your own decisions - you are the only person who really can make those decisions. 4. Diversify (more than one bank account), more than one gold store, more than one currency Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wigler Posted July 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 Welcome wigler Please check out this thread: Pinned: A Collection of Basic Guides & Notable Threads Gold, Silver, Coins, Polls - To save you searching http://www.greenenergyinvestors.com/index.php?showtopic=3784 Hopefully the threads listed will answer a lot of your questions. If not, please ask and hopefully someone will add to the resource. Briefly I think: 1. Get some gold coins 2. Open a Gold Money and Bullion Vault account (you need to check the thread on manipulation re the Perth Mint) 3. Learn (both you and your parents), so you can make your own decisions - you are the only person who really can make those decisions. 4. Diversify (more than one bank account), more than one gold store, more than one currency Thanks, I'm sure you guys get a lot of newbies here. I'm reading everything but realise I have to act ASAP. I don't have that much spare income every month but hopefully enough to help me a little should things go bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Netwriter Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 We are getting quite a few new people, and that's great. Asking questions is also great. I've found some forums that have "don't ask before reading...." rather off-putting (although understandable), so personally I hope we never get that on here. But IMO it's difficult to answer even simple questions fully/properly in the limited time most people have to reply. That's why we've tried to provide as much as possible for people to read which hopefully contains all the caveat emptor statements that should be included in any answer, but due to time constraints often can't be. My view is that we can learn by seeing what questions come up and hopefully improve the resources. I can understand your desire to act quickly. Even that is difficult to reply to. I can say from experience that often the imminent doesn't happen quite as quickly as you expect. The trouble is, at some time a more relaxed approach will catch you out. I think that's one reason you get these dramatic rises in silver & gold, which then fall back. Imminent danger causes a rush to safety, and what some call an overbought situation. Most times you then get a drop because that's exactly what it was. But of course sometime that rush will just carry on and for good reason. That's the impossible problem for anyone trying to decide whether to buy now or wait for the next dip. And no one knows. We all just make informed guesses. I think all we can say is that long-term most of us on here are bullish on precious metals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wigler Posted July 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 We are getting quite a few new people, and that's great. Asking questions is also great. I've found some forums that have "don't ask before reading...." rather off-putting (although understandable), so personally I hope we never get that on here. But IMO it's difficult to answer even simple questions fully/properly in the limited time most people have to reply. That's why we've tried to provide as much as possible for people to read which hopefully contains all the caveat emptor statements that should be included in any answer, but due to time constraints often can't be. My view is that we can learn by seeing what questions come up and hopefully improve the resources. I can understand your desire to act quickly. Even that is difficult to reply to. I can say from experience that often the imminent doesn't happen quite as quickly as you expect. The trouble is, at some time a more relaxed approach will catch you out. I think that's one reason you get these dramatic rises in silver & gold, which then fall back. Imminent danger causes a rush to safety, and what some call an overbought situation. Most times you then get a drop because that's exactly what it was. But of course sometime that rush will just carry on and for good reason. That's the impossible problem for anyone trying to decide whether to buy now or wait for the next dip. And no one knows. We all just make informed guesses. I think all we can say is that long-term most of us on here are bullish on precious metals. Thanks for the friendly welcome. One more question on this thread. Why do you suggest I buy some coins first? I'm thinking about moving out of the UK next year and woudn't like to be carrying around coins. So I guess that advice wouldn't apply to my situation. I'll post an introduction somewhere so that people can get to know me and understand my situation, where I'm coming from and what my plan is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Netwriter Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 I think the idea is that if something catastrophic occurs, it's good to have at least a small amount of gold/silver immediately available. I think if you look back in history (difficult to look forward ), then you see cases of people having to sell valuables in order to buy food etc. IMO it's actually better to have a stock of silver coins at least close by, as the value will be more appropriate for 'shopping in the local supermarket'. Yes you do have security to think about. As far as I know, there is no problem flying with a few coins in your pocket. Most of my views are derived from reading what others say, like Jim Sinclair, so I lay no claim to any original ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Netwriter Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 An important point Normally I shy away from directly making suggestions on how other people should invest their money. I have changed this slightly for this rather exceptional time. I strongly suggest you have 10% of your liquid portfolio in physical allocated gold/silver as soon as possible I only feel it right to say this because the potential downside risk of a 10% investment is very small compared with the current risks. I would be happier for people to say "we lost some on that 10%" than for anyone to say "we lost the lot, why didn't you warn us?" This means I am suggesting you buy as soon as possible no matter what the price is. I am not suggesting you wait for the best price. Once you have a 10% insurance in place, then you can follow whatever strategy you feel is right for you. This suggestion ties in with the idea of buying coins first, but also the idea of diversifying. If anyone wishes to disagree with this post please feel free. It is just my opinion. ------------- Now with that out of the way, a little more explanation. Suppose you invest 10% now and the price halves (this is likely when pigs learn to fly, but that is always possible). The result is you will lose 5% on your total liquid portfolio. It's not too much. Now suppose there is a sudden worldwide financial collapse. OK you might think this unlikely, but it is possible. You may lose your 90%. Gone. Your 10% in gold/silver suddenly becomes worth very very much more, and compensates you for your loss. In between those two extremes you may lose a little or gain a little, or gain a bit more. That's why I don't think this is an irresponsible suggestion. Whether you buy more than 10% is a judgement you must make. That will probably 'just' affect your wealth long-term due to inflation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConvertedGoldBug Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 I'm in a similar situation, but when I mentioned gold to my parents a few months ago, all I got was the response "don't waste your money on that" and "the price has gone down with oil recently, so it doesn't sound very good" (this was after it reached it's all-time high back in March). Now, the thing is, my dad is financially aware of things, having invested money in shares and been an accountant all his life. He reads the financial sections of the broadsheet newspapers (i.e. the serious papers!) each day. I think the problem is that because I don't like to talk about financial matters with them (because they usually turn it towards my personal finances, which I regard as something private, and not for discussion), they think I don't know or understand anything. They have no access to the internet... never used it.... don't really know what it is. Therefore, they're only being exposed to the mainstream media (i.e. newspapers and TV). So how would you discuss all the other issues that they probably wouldn't be aware of (i.e. discussing what's going on in the US in detail), without being able to back this up with the reports of people they've never heard of (e.g. the opinions of Jim Rogers, Peter Schiff et al)? I could show them some information on the internet, but they don't know how credible these sources are... could end up with the same view as someone who's claimed to have been abducted by aliens! i.e. "who's this person that you're reading about and believing everything they say!" The US has a much bigger culture of economic issues and investment among the general public, with dedicated TV stations that cover all the issues and hold debates to put across different "experts" opinions. So there's more information being made available to the public to help them make their own decisions. This isn't really part of the UK culture, so people here don't have the understanding to make insightful decisions of what the future may hold... they tend to walk blindly into it as it happens, and just accept being in the same boat as everyone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frizzers Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 What's the old Wall Street expression? Put 10% of your money in gold and hope it doesn't go up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Netwriter Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 The only thing I can think is that you create a DVD (they do have a DVD player right ?). The interesting question is what would you put on it? Would on of the more academic lectures be a good starting point ? Maybe: Krassimir Petrov - Investment Analysis (part 3) - 32 min - Apr 9, 2008 http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=976700141486118374 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConvertedGoldBug Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 Would on of the more academic lectures be a good starting point ? Maybe: Krassimir Petrov - Investment Analysis (part 3) - 32 min - Apr 9, 2008 http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=976700141486118374 Yeah, that'd keep them awake! That looks like a lecture centred on the merits of holding gold. But I don't think even I could sit through a long presentation like that without getting bored! We're talking something simple, which can help someone with lots of cash in the bank thinking whether that's the best place for it at the moment... that lecture talks too much about "uncorrelated assets" etc. Asset allocation isn't something in their mindset to that degree. I think it needs to be something enlightening (and interesting) to someone with no interest in the subject matter whatsoever. I think something more hard-hitting about the state of the economy... the effects of the fragile state of the banking system and the continual bail-outs... the impact of high energy prices on society.... but without something sounding too far-fetched to result in an "oh, that's not likely to happen, don't be so silly" kind of response. Something along those lines, which could result in questions about how to protect oneself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wren Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 So how would you discuss all the other issues that they probably wouldn't be aware of (i.e. discussing what's going on in the US in detail), without being able to back this up with the reports of people they've never heard of (e.g. the opinions of Jim Rogers, Peter Schiff et al)? Peter Schiff has appeared on CNBC a lot and there are plenty of videos on YouTube and elsewhere. He always comes across very well in my opinion. They used to mock him but no longer as his predictions are coming true. Maybe you could show them some videos of him. They see the guy on CNBC, which I suppose they would regard as "mainstream", and then can read his articles knowing he appears in the mainstream and is now taken very seriously. Marc Faber is another one who I think comes across really well in interviews. Clear and steady presentation. These are cool-headed guys who interview really well. Get them to watch some interviews. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Netwriter Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 Oooh you're getting picky How about this: Indy Mac Bank Run video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39ZDmzjTUbs That sort of thing gets the attention. I expect you'd have to mix vids like the above with something like Peter Schiff, to make the point that what he said is now happening. Maybe you should hire Al Gore for "The Inconvenient World Economic Collapse" - the movie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConvertedGoldBug Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 Oooh you're getting picky Picky? You ain't seen nothing yet! They have no internet, so how do I save a YouTube video in order to burn it to DVD then, like you suggested? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wren Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 They have no internet, so how do I save a YouTube video in order to burn it to DVD then, like you suggested? Maybe you could borrow a laptop to take round their place one day. Show them some videos maybe some places with articles or forums like this one. Cheap laptops are a lot cheaper than they used to be. If they are interested maybe suggest they get a laptop or something with broadband. Hey, pops, get into the 21st century. Okay, don't say that bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConvertedGoldBug Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 Maybe you could borrow a laptop to take round their place one day. Show them some videos maybe some places with articles or forums like this one. Cheap laptops are a lot cheaper than they used to be. If they are interested maybe suggest they get a laptop or something with broadband. Hey, pops, get into the 21st century. Okay, don't say that bit. Believe me, I've thought of that before over the years... my dad would find loads of interesting stuff about his hobbies and interests on the internet. But then I always restrain myself at the last minute by the thought of me being phoned up daily when he's broken his laptop... or doesn't know how to do something... or it's crashed... or he's caught a virus and wiped the hard drive... or..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wren Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 Believe me, I've thought of that before over the years... my dad would find loads of interesting stuff about his hobbies and interests on the internet. But then I always restrain myself at the last minute by the thought of me being phoned up daily when he's broken his laptop... or doesn't know how to do something... or it's crashed... or he's caught a virus and wiped the hard drive... or..... I was thinking the same about interests. There are so many good sites about niche interests. Also on YouTube you can find old music and stuff which could be really difficult to find in the shops. I reckon old folks could quickly become internet aficionados after beng intoduced to it. I'm sure they could get the hang of it after a couple of weeks and look after themselves. It might really add something to their life if they have interests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wren Posted July 27, 2008 Report Share Posted July 27, 2008 Just found this presentation by Peter Schiff. Nov 2006 Peter Schiff Mortgage Bankers Speech First of 8 videos (find the others in list of related videos in the right panel): I've only watched the first two so far. If people want an overview from him of the US economy this could be a good intro to show your parents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Netwriter Posted July 27, 2008 Report Share Posted July 27, 2008 Picky? You ain't seen nothing yet! They have no internet, so how do I save a YouTube video in order to burn it to DVD then, like you suggested? Video Download Software, Players & Converters All legally free options http://www.greenenergyinvestors.com/index.php?showtopic=3489 The converter download site certainly worked for me. I don't know about the software listed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wigler Posted July 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2008 Hey guys, A while back when I started researching the economy I started collecting all the best Jim Rogers and Peter Schiff videos here: http://www.myrecessionsurvivalguide.com/ti...ew_articles.php If you have any more interesting ones you think I should add, PM me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kernull Posted July 27, 2008 Report Share Posted July 27, 2008 If you have any more interesting ones you think I should add, PM me. also, include some videos about peak oil from here: http://www.filmsforaction.org/films/default.aspx?Subject=10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.