Where's the Safest Place to Invest your Money?

With the recent down turn in the financial markets, I and many others are concerned about their current investments. I was recently at an outdoor party with friends and the issue of retirement investments came up in a conversation. I was talking with this guy about my investments in Annuities, a Roth IRA and a 403b. Since I'm recently retired, he said I should be investing conservatively instead of my current moderate investments to protect my investments in turbulent times. He said the rule of thumb should be to invest moderately or aggressively when you're young, not during your retirement years.

He also mentioned I should be concerned about the International Monetary Fund possibly announcing in the fall a reserve currency alternative to the U.S. dollar. I guess a Bloomberg article in June stated that 68% of the economists they surveyed said they believe this new reserve currency will be adopted. This would send hundreds of billions of dollars moving around the world, literally overnight. Investments would plummet.

I'm sure a lot of people have seen Ron Paul's dire warning ad about a near economic collapse. I question the motivation of this ad because he's promoting a financial investment firm. I tried watching his video, but it was so drawn out, I didn't have the time to sit and listen to the entire thing. Did anyone watch the entire video? What was his basic suggestions for protecting our investments? What's your take on it, do you think it was legitimate or not?

I'm not big on understanding the financial markets, so I just rely on the suggestions of my financial advisor. I would appreciate ATS thoughts and recommendations on this. Thanks for your input.

a reply to: WeRpeons

I always liked property. Sorry, I think the term 'speculative realty' is a bit of a stretch for what I do.

After 2001 and all the world trading on the internet, I pretty much left it all behind.

Historically? Real estate has been the best bet running for 100 years or so.

I never understood the concept of investing in thin air or play money or phantom people wrapped up in derivatives. Start a business or invest in small american businesses. When you reach retirement age, your priorities will change. Your energy will be spent in trying to stay healthy. It is not like what you see on TV commercials. You need a plan for catastrophic illness or accident, mortgage free property and money for the rest. It does not take much cash after you achieve that.

a reply to: WeRpeons

There's some great posts on this thread from yesterday (thread)- some excerpts:

I would not overlook the stock market. There are tons of different angles there, but generally you should be in it for the long haul, or it's not worth it come tax time. I would do long holds(5 yrs +) on established companies that pay dividends. You will do better than a "high interest" savings account etc. The big companies have and will continue to grow generally.

Magic the Gathering cards are very liquid and have gained roughly 15% per year for the past 10 years. Being a small time collectables market it's also completely outside the scope of any regulation

I thought Pogs would be a good investment. Oh how wrong I was...

I buy my companies stocks - North American Palladium. 3%of my pay goes into shares, then the company tosses in another 5%. I cash out every couple of months when i want to spend stupid amounts of money over the weekend.

Anyway, I virtually had the same exact thought as you - why not ask my fellow ATS members how they choose to invest (especially during these turbulant times), We must be on the same wavelength

a reply to: WeRpeons

Worst Case:

Let's just say your cards and cash no longer purchase anything tomorrow.

How long can you live with the items in your physical possession?

Serious question.

Make sure you have all the food, water, shelter, medicine, and security you need to survive. Then look at physical assets (Precious metals: Gold, Silver, boxes of brass covered lead, steel encased lead, etc.)

Buying LAND. "Private Property"

I would say the safest place is in small businesses and real estate.

Municipal bonds are safe but don't invest in detroit.
Safety also pays low interest.
Basically everything has its risks so study anything before investing.

Defence

Money and war go together.

I invest in my existing businesses with either hard assets or advertising.

I want to enjoy and expand what I do in real time, I don't see much point in holding paper anymore; I don't have much faith in the future.

ATS is not the place to ask this question...

Do you have a good lawyer or accountant you trust of any kind?

Ask them if they know of a good financial adviser, and invest a couple of dollars
on one, it'll be the best money you ever spent to get REAL advice from someone
that you KNOW has SOME kind of degree..

other then that i'd say put it all in BITCOIN!! AND GOLD!! SURE WINNERS DUDE!!

OH THANK GOD!! YOU DO have a financial adviser, don't take anyone on ATS'S advice at where
to put your money..

Make sure it is not a FREE financial adviser, go private, pay them a couple hundred bucks, that is how
they make their money, not by getting you into a pyramid scheme.

a reply to: WeRpeons

Hookers and blow?

Seriously though, I wouldn't listen to a single person on a forum about it. I would go see an investment/retirement advisor with a good reputation and history of sound advice.

Don't get me wrong. Love ats, some great people on these boards but I wouldn't trust any of these jokers advice on this. I say that as a compliment as I am one of the jokers.

a reply to: FamCore

It never hurts to get other peoples opinions. My wife and I owned an apartment flat when we first got married. We lived up stairs and rented out the down stairs apartment. It paid for our monthly mortgage, but when we decided to buy our house, we needed a good down payment so I sold it. Now I wish I hadn't.

It can sometimes be a pain being a landlord depending upon the type of tenants you get. Some tenants think just because they're paying rent they can tear up your property.

a reply to: AnteBellum

My wife and I owned an apartment flat when we got married, but sold it to purchase our home. Looking back, I sometime wish I didn't sell it.

a reply to: infolurker

I think a lot of us have a hard time thinking in that way because most of us are optimistic that if something drastic happens something will be done to fix it. I think the majority in this country will be caught with their pants down if there is an economic collapse or a catastrophic event. Being a procrastinator at times, I may very well be one of them.

a reply to: WeRpeons

I still have one rental property....it's a nightmare, I'm going to sell it and take a beating just to get rid of it or trade it for a nice piece of vacant land somewhere.

Seriously though, I wouldn't listen to a single person on a forum about it. I would go see an investment/retirement advisor with a good reputation and history of sound advice.

a reply to: Reallyfolks

It never hurts to get someone else's thoughts. I'm sure there are some ATS members who have a financial background or have invested in different areas of the financial market. I do have a financial advisor that really watches the market and alerts me when I should pull my investments. I just like getting a feel of what other people are doing and if there's something I never considered I could run it by my financial advisor and see what he has to say about it.

Thanks for your concern and input on the subject!

originally posted by: WeRpeons

Seriously though, I wouldn't listen to a single person on a forum about it. I would go see an investment/retirement advisor with a good reputation and history of sound advice.

a reply to: Reallyfolks

It never hurts to get someone else's thoughts. I'm sure there are some ATS members who have a financial background or have invested in different areas of the financial market. I do have a financial advisor that really watches the market and alerts me when I should pull my investments. I just like getting a feel of what other people are doing and if there's something I never considered I could run it by my financial advisor and see what he has to say about it.

Thanks for your concern and input on the subject!

Do you use a free financial adviser??
HOW well is this guy educated and how much
does it cost.. i think that information would
help many others on ATS about investing...

a reply to: olaru12

I still have one rental property....it's a nightmare, I'm going to sell it and take a beating just to get rid of it or trade it for a nice piece of vacant land somewhere.

I can understand because I once owned rental property. Some renters can really be a pain and destroy your property. One thing that was beneficial to me is I can repair and build pretty much anything so I did all the repairs myself. I didn't have to spend money to hire people to repair or remodel my rental apartment.

Now that I'm retired, I've contemplated building a 4 unit apartment complex, but in a much better location than my last rental property. I think when you own rental property in a good location, you have less problems with tenants who want to vandalize it. However, I may be wrong on that.

I'm just wondering if it would be cheaper to sub-contract the work myself and build new or buy an existing complex.