$10? Good luck with that.
Now $16.36 per 1-oz 0.999 silver round at Provident.
I hate myself for panicking a couple of years ago and acquiring silver when it was selling for $30-45 per oz.
Damn, I wonder if you were the guy who bought most of mine? I dumped a bunch of 1oz silver for over $45/oz back then.
If it was going through a coin shop in Lafayette on its way to me, then I might have been your huckleberry!
It was . . . a learning experience.
Ultra-low interest rates, set by dictate rather than the free market, results in a net gain by debtors and a net loss by savers. Guess who the biggest debtor is. Don't worry about all those people with savings account or who buy govt securities to provide safety in their retirement. They didn't need the money anyway. source
Interest rates necessarily reflect the balance between saving/investing and borrowing/spending.
That's why it's important to view interest rates less as a thermostat and more as a thermometer.
More spending and borrowing tends to be inflationary because it increases the velocity of money. This higher inflation should raise rates, making it more appealing to be a saver and less appealing to borrow money, which tends to be deflationary and push rates back down.
If allowed to communicate effectively this economic information, interest rates help the market sort things out.
Low rates of return in investment accounts also come with low rates of inflation (generally speaking-- hence the 'mysterious anomaly' of stagflation). One need not be an investing superhero to beat the rate of inflation in your accounts.
Gas usage in the USA for 2013 is less than 1/2 of what is was in 1980 and rapidly declining.Yes since 1980 fuel efficiency has improved 60%,however the population has gone from 226,545,805 to just over 317,00,00.
There are over 254 million licensed cars currently vs 162 million in 1980.The bottom line is less American people can afford gasoline.We are using less than 50% nationally than we have at any time since the oil crisis(anyone remember that when oil went from $3.00 a barrel to $12.00 those where the days),and the decline has been rapid and sharp since 2007.In 2007 we used an average of 59,000,000 gallons per day,today that figure is at just over 18,000,000.Also of note our number one export is refined petroleum(gas and diesel).
U.S. Total Gasoline Retail Sales by Refiners (Thousand Gallons per Day)
So . . . this means what for Joe Schmoe? What should a guy with a small nest egg do with his money?
So . . . this means what for Joe Schmoe? What should a guy with a small nest egg do with his money?
Anyone used Fidelity your investments?
For example, a 401k rollover from former employer; what funds have you seen do the best? When do you change your allocations?
I'm just looking for some wisdom on how to do something other than letting it sit in the same thing and hope it doesn't take a beating.
That is a question for a very different forum. Try some of these links:
Bogleheads Investing Advice and Info
Getting started - Bogleheads
Bogleheads ? Index page
And if you want to read from some people who've been very successful managing their finances, you can find them here:
Early Retirement & Financial Independence Community
That forum is clearly not all about finance, but you'll find most of them are pretty savy when it comes to money. Especially the ones who retired before 50 (sometimes significantly before 50).
thanks Jackson
If I were him, I would save aggressively. Hold the increase of my net worth (as investible or income-producing assets) above all other financial measures. Invest for the long term in a portfolio diversified across asset classes and global markets, in accordance with my personal tolerance for risk. Ignore the pundits, the talking heads, and the financial news. Stay the course.
Thanks, Jackson.
I've been literally scared of traditional investments such as mutual funds for a while now. Recently they're doing okay, but I can't shake how much my parents lost in 1999-2000 and then again in 2008. Emotionally it's heart breaking to see that kind of loss when someone did everything "right" and made big sacrifices to prepare for the future. On a practical level, I simply can't afford to lose any of what I have, so my tolerance for risk is very low. That is especially true since I'm getting such a late start on a "career" and I don't have that much time to stay the course and wait for improvements if things go bad.
What was lost in those two periods has been recovered, at least from a broad market perspective. Those who were diversified and stayed the course survived. Those who invested more in those down markets did even better.
Consider your time horizon is your likely life expectancy, not your expected retirement date. Unless you die shortly after retirement, you'll need to be invested to keep up with inflation and maintain a usable withdrawl rate. Choose an asset allocation with a volatility that allows you to sleep. Save as much as you can manage.