Posted on 09/14/2011 12:15:34 PM PDT by dennisw
1 — Be a skinflint. Cut down on your spending. And be very nice to your boss, assuming you still have a job.
2 — Think in terms of NOT losing money. Forget about easy Wall Street profits. There aren’t going to be any easy profits — not without a huge new infusion of borrowed money.
3 — Be sceptical of everything you read. The media is desperate for circulation, and it will slap on the cover of its magazine or newspaper any damn fool statement that it thinks will sell.
4 — Have faith in your gold. As confidence in the whole monetary system slowly fades, the desire for gold will heighten.
5 — Remember, there’s often a large correction prior to the final speculative gold run.
6 — This time there may not be a “final gold rise,” because large interests may just decide never to sell their gold. They’ll keep their gold as a symbol of “eternal wealth” that can’t be destroyed of go bankrupt.
7– Check out carefully the Permanent Portfolio (PRPFX). So far, it has done well and held up well. It’s actually up so far this year, which is extraordinary. YTD return is 7.33%.
8 — Be very cynical about those “fabulous” money-making ads you hear on TV. Money is hard to make these days and risk in just about everything is high.
9 — Cut out expensive discretionary spending. Instead of eating at your favorite local restaurant, eat home and save many bucks. Supermarkets now stock endless “heat up” frozen dinners. Or better still, starting from scratch make your own dinners. Cooking is coming back.
10 — Take the long view. With stock dividends below 2.5%, the odds are that holding stocks “for the long run” is going to be discouraging or a loser.
11 — Money is made in the BUYING. When you buy anything at the right (low) price, the odds are that you’re going to make money through the passage of time.
12 — Wall Street is suffering. When the Street suffers, its natural tendency is to come up with new “ideas.” The ideas are usually risky (i.e., mortgage-backed packages). Be very sceptical of new Wall Street ideas and products.
Great tips. Thanks dennis for posting. I don’t have mny money left to spend when I’ve paid all my bills.
No. 13....Refuse to pay the new taxes.
Permanent Portfolio (PRPFX) - The investment seeks to preserve and increase the purchasing power value of its shares over the long term. The fund invests a fixed target percentage of net assets in the following investment categories: gold, silver, Swiss franc assets such as Swiss franc denominated deposits and bonds of the federal government of Switzerland, stocks of U.S. and foreign real estate and natural resource companies, aggressive growth stocks and dollar assets such as U.S. Treasury securities and short-term corporate bonds.
Hold on, there. Where’s the ‘tip’ that suggests goping tout and buying another motorcycle so as to help bolsetr our sagging economy?
I NEED that one to show my wife...
Hold on, there. Where’s the ‘tip’ that suggests going tout and buying another motorcycle so as to help bolsetr our sagging economy?
I NEED that one to show my wife...
Hold on, there. Where’s the ‘tip’ that suggests going out and buying another motorcycle so as to help bolster our sagging economy?
I NEED that one to show my wife...
This business of buying gold is highly suspect...when you buy gold you pay a fee and when ypou go to sell it you pay another fee.Expect to have to hold it a long time to get back your enitial investment. The price you see on TV is not what you will likely get nor will you likely buy it for that!!
Consider a couple grossing over $300K in both 2009 & 2010.
How do they react to Obama’s tax scheme?
She adds a business partner and reduces income to $90K
He retires early and reduces income to $90K
Screw Obama!
No net new jobs, fewer taxes collected.
That is some really stupid advice.
I would recommend buying frozen food or canning it, repairing clothing and stocking up on vegetable seed. Prepare for sping planting.
If you don’t already have experience, learn how to do yardwork, fix electrical, plumbing and other home repairs.
Check the neighborhood to determine who will pay for expertise in those services.
Now is not the time to curl up and cringe or chain ourselves to computers and on-line banking. The times call for practicality not theory. There are 535 idiots in DC causing mayhem and 300 million doing the heavy lifting of liberty!!!
Have faith in ourselves and others.
Cut out expensive discretionary spending. Instead of eating at your favorite local restaurant, eat home and save many bucks. Supermarkets now stock endless “heat up” frozen dinners. Or better still, starting from scratch make your own dinners. Cooking is coming back.”
Groceries are a ton more expensive now. My grocery bill at FoodMaxx, a wholesale type of grocery store, used to be around $110-120, it is now 160.00. Scary!!
Three times a charm!
Well, the “mo-mo saves lotsa gas” theory works - sometimes...of course, the deal-closer is the “I’ll get a 5 million dollar life insurance policy with double indemnity” argument that works most often...ha ha...
Will have the SS and extra compensation which is really good, about 4-5 times a year.... Basic outcome is lower bracket and taxes, same benefits and lots more time for my hobbies...
I’m not exactly sure what happened, there. I THOUGHT I edited it and only posted it once...
Oh well.
#6 makes no sense when it suggests that gold price not rise because gold owners might decide not to sell. Obviously, if there are fewer willing sellers, the market price will rise until sellers come forward.
What happens if the government confiscates gold again?
With an executive order of course.
What happens if the government confiscates gold again?
With an executive order of course.
7 Reasons Why I’m Not Worried about Confiscation
One: It’s not Worth Their Trouble
I honestly don’t think that the amount of gold in the hands of private US citizens is enough to make a difference in the impending fiscal crisis. If you look at the current debt, and the projected
shortfalls in the years ahead for things like Social Security and Medicare, it amounts to over a
million dollars for every family of four. Now, if every family held a million dollars’ worth of gold, the crooks in DC might get ideas of how plundering our piggy banks might get them out of fiscal hot water. But the average family has close to zero in gold assets, and those who do hold precious metals couldn’t pay more than a drop in the bucket of our government debt.
Two: Political Pain
It simply would not be worth the political firestorm, for the small financial result. It’s politically easier to inflate away government debt, and tolerate a few fiscally prepared people being hedged against it, and even becoming prosperous. And even if there were a confiscation, I believe the only
enforcement would be against the institutions, exchange-traded funds, and retailers. That would net 90% of the gold, without only 10% of the trouble. Banging on Mom and Pop’s door would yield little but political rebellion.
Three: Times Have Changed
Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. We the people have learned from
history. Those who turned in their gold in the 1930s might have been more trusting of the
government, and the promises that this wouldn’t hurt a bit. My observation is that today’s bullion buyers are among the least trusting of government promises. Remember that gold back then was just another color of coin. A $20 gold coin spent just like a $20 bill. Few ordinary people were holding gold as an investment, or a hedge against government-caused inflation. Today, we hold gold for a reason, not just because that what the paymaster handed us at the end of the week. That reason means that most gold-holding individuals have a good reason to oppose, protest, and resist a confiscation, and the politicians who might be tempted will know this.
Four: Non-compliance
It won’t work, and they’ll know it. Most of us fiscal rebels would likely refuse to surrender our gold, short of a police state in which criminal stings were used to catch bullion transactions in the black market. As much as we could afford to, we’d sit on our stash for generations, knowing that these bans are always repealed. Or, we’d cash it in as needed in the inevitable overseas markets where bullion was still legal, maybe a nice summer vacation in Toronto, Vancouver, or Tijuana? A ban on gold would be about as effective as a ban on illegal immigration or illegal drugs. Enforcement would be a nightmare. There is no registry of gold owners like there is for about half the firearms in the US. That data might easily be obtained from major retailers by court order, but even that initial step in the process would set off a political firestorm, especially in the current era of the Internet and alternative media.
Five: We’d Still Get Our Gains
If confiscation were to occur, it would occur after gold had appreciated significantly, just like in the 1930s. The government paid the market price. So those who bought gold in the past decade at $250, $500, or $1,000 per ounce were told by skeptics that their gold might be confiscated. If it were today, they’d enjoy a significant gain much greater than if they had never bought at all.
So maybe gold rockets to $12,000 per ounce in another 10 years, and the government insists on buying it all up. That silver lining might have a cloud, but it’s still a silver lining, and better than not having invested in the gold at all. If you want to worry about them simply stealing your gold, keep in mind that they could steal anything else you invest in, too.
Six: The Dollar Isn’t Linked to Gold Like it was Back Then
In the 1930s the US dollar was on the gold standard, which prevented the government from playing the games they wanted with the currency. Now, the goons in D.C. can play all they want, and they do. They won’t need to take your gold to be able to manipulate the currency for their political ends. They could just was well confiscate all the BMWs, or Picassos, or Armani suits.
Seven: Silver!
Even if I’m wrong about confiscation remember all the lessons above about diversifying your
holdings. If only gold is confiscated, you’ll be glad to have silver. It’s possible they’d confiscate
silver, but it would be unprecedented and private silver holdings are tiny compared to gold, so many of the above reasons apply even more to silver. If bars are confiscated, but not coins, your
diversification might be a big benefit. And don’t put all your eggs in one basket and don’t ever overpay for a particular metal because some salesman is playing on your fears.
You are so right. Although there are still some “bargains”,overall food prices have become shocking.
When we had 4.6 unemployment , Nancy Pelosi decried the “worst economy since Herbert Hoover”. What is it now at 9.2? The best thing since sliced bread?
Nothing like lowering expectations to make failure look acceptable.
Obama could wrap his turds in tinfoil and fishhooks and the presstitutes would sell it as jewelery at Sothebys auctions.
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