investment portfolio

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What sort of investment portfolio would be wise at this time (percentages of investments in what investments)?

-- john moneypenny (jmoneypenny@prodigy.net), May 26, 1998

Answers

Gold is at bargain basement prices right now. You can buy 1/10th oz American Eagles from Goldmasters at $34 each. Traditionally gold sells for $380 an oz. I don't think you can go wrong.

-- Ed Meyer (eamnq@erols.com), May 26, 1998.

I can't believe people are yapping about "investment portfolios" at a time like this. I am so damn sick of the Yuppie greed in this country. Pave a park and put up a parking lot....or how about another shopping mall? I don't even think a Yuppie would know what gold is! Plastic is about the only thing they recognize. Thank God I was raised in a family that grew our own food and knows how to survive off the land. Good luck with your "portfolio" when the grocery stores are empty.

-- Annie (anniegaff@mailexcite.com), May 27, 1998.

There are varying opinions of how Y2k will affect us personally and the economy as a whole. For those who think this will be the end of the world, the only choice is to use their money to buy commodities and emergency supplies and to set up long term preparations to take care of themselves and family. For those who think that this will be just a glitch/burp in the economy and it will be done and forgotten within 3 months, there is little to convince them otherwise, but for those who think this is a whole change to our lives including the breakdown of the banking and economic system, but one from which we will recover slowly, there are preparations to be made to make this transition easier. We have saved all our lives for our retirement which was to come next year, so we are looking at our Y2k preparations as retirement/emergency and are moving it up a year, but we are not willing to bet all we have accumulated against total disaster. By making sure as far as we can that we have a safe place to live and all the supplies we need to try to be self-sufficient, we have done for our family what we can. But if we have investments and money left over, we need to make the best of it, and that is where so many people are sitting right now. The younger people who are finding it hard to get their preparations done and are worried that it won't be enough, will have done all that they could, but those who have a little more (and this is always the way in life - some having more than others), have a responsibility to be stewards of what they have and continue to be practical and careful. I don't believe that many people are trying to make money from Y2k, just keep the value of what they have, whether it be in gold, land, or barter items or cash.

-- Laurane (familyties@rttinc.com), May 27, 1998.

I echo Laurane's statements. My family (me, my wife, and two young children) has an "investment portfolio" precisely because we have worked hard, kept our debt to an absolute minimum, and saved agressively. I'm not sure that qualifies as yuppie greed; it sounds more like financial prudence to me. Now, I'm not wild about losing all of my hard-earned savings in a puff of electronic smoke and I think it makes a lot of sense to look to see how one might preserve them.

For myself (this is descriptive, not prescriptive so keep your lawyers away from me) I am fully divested from the stock market. I believe that I sold almost right at the peak (about six weeks ago), as I watch the Dow tumble this week. We are going with some diversification in precious metals (both metal and stocks), ultra short term Treasuries, cash, and perhaps some land. We are seeking to be 100% out of debt when the clock stikes midnight (well before, actually) which probably means renting through it. That's just us; don't have a clue how it will work out.

We should all get used to the idea of losing some or most of our material possessions. If we cultivate the spiritual virtue of detachment now it will make the year 2000 much less traumatic.

Best regards,

David

-- David Palm (djpalm@compuserve.com), May 27, 1998.


Laurane, you said it well. My husband and I are hardly yuppies. We are in a similar predicament with regard to retirement funds, except we can't retire for another 7 years. If we blow very much of our retirement funds on elaborate disaster preparations and no disaster takes place, then we will have jeopardized our retirement. It is easy for a younger person who may not have much money but who who has their life ahead of them still to sit back and criticize older people like us who are trying to make sound financial decisions in this iffy, "nobody knows for sure how bad it will be" Y2K matter.

-- Joyce (meremere@aol.com), May 27, 1998.


Why do you have to make elaborate plans? Stash some cash, extra food, water. I bet you lost more on the stock market in the past few days than it would have cost you to make some preparations. I spend about three thousand a year for various insurances and have never had a car accident or house fire. What's the difference?

-- Annie (anniegaff@mailexcite.com), May 27, 1998.

Annie, we plan to have cash on hand and build up a supply of food and water etc. in preparation for a possible Y2k disruption. That's an easy decision to make and an easy task to accomplish. But we are not as fortunate as you seem to be and do not live in the country or in a small town. We live and work in a metropolitan area of over 6 million. Our grown children, their spouses, and our seven grandchildren live here too. Their resources are very limited. So, we face different decisions than you. Do we beef up the family pantry and stay put and ride it out for what might be a month? Or do we do something more elaborate? Do we withdraw some of our retirement money, suffer the tax consequences and penalties, and purchase some remote property somewhere along with the necessary self-sufficient trimmings in case civil disorder breaks out and is such that our whole family needs to run for the hills and stay there for what might be years? This is not an easy decision.

If we decide to stay put and we leave our retirement money alone, we will need to make sure that we have it in the safest investments possible. We had to work hard to accumulate our retirement nest egg. It isn't extravagant by some standards, but it is our future income. We would be foolish not to be interested in protecting it.

-- Joyce (meremere@aol.com), May 27, 1998.


I think any decision you make to try and save your family is the right one. We do not know what is going to happen. All we can do is prepare and hope for the best. The only thing we have going here is the fact that we live in a small town. Like many have said though, "Who knows what will happen when people get hungry?" That is why I don't think any place is immune to the threats of Y2K. This is my home! We have worked hard and raised our children here. I love this place. I'll be damned if I'll leave it because of the threat of looters. I loaded up on ammo and will defend it! Do what your heart tells you!!

-- Annie (anniegaff@mailexcite.com), May 28, 1998.

Annie, it is very hard to know what to do. My father who is in his late seventies and in relatively good health lives in a small town 50 miles away from our metro area. That's not very far away, but it is off the beaten path somewhat and his house is secluded. We've considered rounding up the family and bunking up with him if things get bad here. It's a two hour drive for us. His home is small, but we could manage if we had to. My mother who is a stroke victim is in a nursing home in that little town. If she is still alive at the turn of the century, I will feel an obligation to help my dad see after her in case the nursing home system breaks down under the pressure of Y2K.

I have one sibling, a sister. She lives in the metro area as well. We've been talking. She is worried about this Y2K matter too. One of her children who is fortunate to live out in the country is already accumulating things such as chickens and goats in preparation for Y2K. So, my sister has a place to go to. There is a quiet, undetected rumbling taking place at the grass roots level regarding Y2K.

I love my house and where I live also, but not that much. As far as guns are concerned, I have two. The problem is they shoot glue. I know nothing about the kind of guns that shoot bullets except that I am afraid of them. My husband knows a little more than I do about guns, but he abhors them. A big dog may be the best deterrent for us.

-- Joyce (meremere@aol.com), May 28, 1998.


"We should all get used to the idea of losing some or most of our material possessions. If we cultivate the spiritual virtue of detachment now it will make the year 2000 much less traumatic."

David,

These may be the wisest words I've seen written in a while. If Y2K doesn't drive us to a point of living with less, something else will.

Well put!

Ted

-- Ted Markow (tmarkow@agate.net), May 29, 1998.



Joyce, my daughter lives several hours from here. She is keeping a full tank of gas at all times just in case. You have the advantage because you know there could be a problem. Most people don't even know about Y2K! At least of the power goes off and communication breaks down, you'll know what the problem is. Good luck!

-- Annie (anniegaff@mailexcite.com), May 29, 1998.

Annie, keeping those gas tanks full in case we need to high tail it out of town is on our priority list. Good luck to you too.

-- Joyce (meremere@aol.com), May 29, 1998.

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