Gold - Silver - Platinum or Bitcoin

[Tenring]

Needing to invest some funds and I am not buying another Camaro

Already purchased some Silver bullion awhile back and was considering Gold next, however, Bitcoin is interesting also. We are already invested in stocks and Mutual Funds, so looking for a little diversification.

Does anyone have a crystal ball they could take a look at for us

[jrhagen]

Emerging markets.

[SSJ455]

I am interested in bitcoin myself but I am leery of a currency not backed by anything. The government says what currency is, prints money backed by the faith in the US government and says "This is money" (fiat currency) and it can be used for all debts both public and private. But bitcoin is new and a bit scary. I am waiting for the government to one day say, this cannot be used and shut it down. It is true that only those who accept bitcoin will accept bitcoin but the government doesn't like anyone getting in on their turf.

[Tenring]

Originally Posted by SSJ455

I am interested in bitcoin myself but I am leery of a currency not backed by anything. The government says what currency is, prints money backed by the faith in the US government and says "This is money" (fiat currency) and it can be used for all debts both public and private. But bitcoin is new and a bit scary. I am waiting for the government to one day say, this cannot be used and shut it down. It is true that only those who accept bitcoin will accept bitcoin but the government doesn't like anyone getting in on their turf.

Agreed....however the Government does not even have enough in reserves to back (FDIC) their obligation of one dollar per one thousand or one hundred dollars they are supposed to insure/guarantee.

I think we are very shortly looking at a day when all money will be an electronic monetary system, it almost already is.

Agree also that the Government will want control and their cut at some point.

.

[Tenring]

Ok......I have made a decision to buy some cryptocurrency, just not sure it will be Bitcoin. There are a couple others just starting that might be a little easier on the wallet to get into.

[pyroguy]

Currency especially electronic currency is a BAD INVESTMENT. The returns are junk long term, the volatility is crazy and bitcoin has zero backing to justify itself. Oug you want to diversify your investments then diversify in what mutual funds you have, there's thousands of them out there. Go foreign, or growth, or growth and income, or buy some real estate. Currency, gold, and silver have terrible long term track records.

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by pyroguy

Currency especially electronic currency is a BAD INVESTMENT. The returns are junk long term, the volatility is crazy and bitcoin has zero backing to justify itself. Oug you want to diversify your investments then diversify in what mutual funds you have, there's thousands of them out there. Go foreign, or growth, or growth and income, or buy some real estate. Currency, gold, and silver have terrible long term track records.

I know that you weren't thinking quite this long but ... I remember hearing a factoid that in ancient Rome, an ounce of gold was worth about the same as a nice toga. Now, an ounce of gold is worth about the same as nice suit. So it has been extremely stable over a very long time.

[Mr Twisty]

Land

[JLSuperfly]

Rental property.

[pyroguy]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

I know that you weren't thinking quite this long but ... I remember hearing a factoid that in ancient Rome, an ounce of gold was worth about the same as a nice toga. Now, an ounce of gold is worth about the same as nice suit. So it has been extremely stable over a very long time.

Investments should be left alone for a minimum of 5 years to be considered real investments. Occasionally you get lucky and are able to score something quickly, but investments are long term.

For example, here is gold since the 1970's:


Yes, the graph is from 2013, but the price is very similar to where it is today. Had you scored some gold just prior to the drastic spike you'd be sitting pretty right now. Had you bought at the peak, you would have lost your shirt. Real estate and mutual funds are MUCH better long term investments.

Bitcoin is a similar endeavor except there is nothing to actually back it up. Gold, silver, and other precious metals have a tangible object that you can own if you want, but bitcoin is like playing with Monopoly money. It's only valuable until the game is over and then it's worthless.

[xstuntman]

Metals are highly manipulated by the fed and big banks to destroy faith in them by using contracts with no physical backing, i.e. printing out of thin air. Its been constant since 2011 because they have to keep the suckers in the market or in bonds (that ship sailed). But on December 10th the Comex will start doing the exact same thing with Bitcoin contracts so i'm waiting to see how bad the beat down is going to be.

That being said the ability to buy low and sell high (someday) in metals certainly could come to pass. With the U.S. influence waning and the rise of Russia/China/India who buy gold/silver at a furious pace, it would seem prudent to hedge in something you can hold, store, and maybe pass on to the next generation.

[Johnny Mac]

Gold is the money of kings; silver is the money of gentlemen; barter is the money of peasants; but debt is the money of slaves."Norm Franz"

[ndnashlenz]

If you have an old PC lying around with a decent GPU you could do some mining. Your GPU is more important than anything else really. You could try erytheum mining, bitcoin mining nowadays is kind of hard not like when it first came out.

[Tenring]

Originally Posted by ndnashlenz

If you have an old PC lying around with a decent GPU you could do some mining. Your GPU is more important than anything else really. You could try erytheum mining, bitcoin mining nowadays is kind of hard not like when it first came out.

Mining was/is new to me, after doing some research it is very intresting though.