Shares/Gold/Silver advice please

I'm guessing you're in a time rich/money poor situation, the best approach imo is to maximize your limited capital against your best asset, which is your spare time. On the positive side you have an income with spare time to research, and also extra working hours in the week. A small business will always be far more lucrative than trying to build a portfolio from pennies, so if you can think of a service in demand try to fill it. It may involve some research, a van or a JCB or whatever. Be very careful about going into debt, work in your spare time at first, stay inside the law, take on cash jobs but only if they can't be traced.
Investing in other people's business (eg shares) is fine if you are money rich/time poor, the return on capital is lower but that's fine because you have plenty of it.

Thats quite a confession J2. As far as I can work out you have less than 5,000?Euro or pounds it doesnt really matter.

First- increase your income. Stop wasting time here on the forum and the internet in general and get a 2nd or 3 job.Get paid in cash- no tax. Wash dishes, deliver papers, ot doesnt matter just increase your income.

second- in your position playing it safe and dreaming you can buy a house is unrealistic. Forget about dividend paying shares. What will you get 3/4/5/6/7% on 5k? Waste of time.

My suggestion is this- sell your silver, take the cash and anything else you can convert to cash.Open a leveraged accout with city index or some cfd company.
  Put the 5 k in. Go short the AUD, the dow, or the euro.   You can get massive leverage. I would go one contract in the currency or 20 ish in the dow.
  If you catch the impending  implosion you could maybe double or triple your $$$. If its a wipeout you lost 5k. You dont have much to lose so take a risk.
  You not going to get anywhere trying to turn 5k into 6k.
Remember that a correct short position show much faster and generally greater rewards than a long posi.

   During the last GFC I paid off my mortgage by being totally out of stocks and shorting curriencies and the dow. I thought it was a huge deal at the time.AND it was.My available capital skyrocketed and its been blue skies ever since. Prior to that I was trading very small and working full time.

Give yourself 7 years to work, trade, buy a house and pay off the mortgage.
  Your right that qualifications achieved in the late 70's and 80's are as good as useless these days.But its no good to feel hard done by.Swallow the pride and deliver pizza's. A friend of mine used to work for a finance co during the day, deliver pizzas 3/4 nights a week and polish floors in a supermarket 2/3 times a week.He did it for 3 years and his finances  improved dramatically.

J2BLUE, I'd be stating the obvious saying your current situation is very difficult. I do applaud you however for trying to understand what this financial crisis is all about and trying to position yourself the best way possible for the future. Most people are still clueless. Also a lot of people in this country have become reliant on our nanny state to take care of them. And what makes it truly sad is that they prefer and like it that way. You are not one of them.

The message in polybot's post is to be resourceful, try to find a "service demand" and fill it . And "be very careful of going into debt". Good advice, especially avoiding debt, but the hard part still remains, "what's that service demand that others haven't already stepped in to fill?".  Something to think about anyways, and as he says, if you have anything going for you is availability of free time.

The other chap's post is just another milestone in the long string of rubbish he continues to put up on here. In your post you mention "I believe fiat currencies are dying" (I share that belief by the way) and his advice, "sell your silver, take the cash and anything else you can convert to cash". It makes you want to vomit. And then he follows that up with something a lot more astonishing and appalling. "Open a leveraged account", "put the 5k in", "you can get massive leverage", "if it's a wipeout you lost 5k". Evidently I need to add "leverage" to the long list of financial terms this dimwit throws around without knowing what they really mean. You do *that* and you will be destroyed and on the hook for all the risk you took and losses that are a lot more than your original capital. You'd think that someone who doesn't know how money gets created would at least STFU and not give advice about money on a public forum.

Here's my advice. Like polybot suggested continue to look for any opportunity to create income, not through trading the markets, that's difficult to do in this environment even for individuals with a lot more experience , more money and more technical resources than you have, but rather through any kind of employment that you can create or find. Put your silver and gold away in a safe spot......and forget about it. Leave 25pc of your capital in cash - you have no idea how long your situation will persist and you may need liquidity even for basic sustenance. Take another 25pc of your capital and buy more silver - it has more upside than gold, and when money dies, a lot more flexible as a currency/medium of exchange than gold. Take the last 50pc and buy liquor - stack up the boxes in your bedroom or where ever else you have room at home. Those who have studied the history of hyperinflationary collapses throughout history will tell you that liquor has always been on the very top of the list of barterable (and profitable) items to own, strangely enough more sought after than food. It also has no expiry date and if somehow the worse is avoided, with a little bit of resourcefulness you can turn around and sell it without too much of a loss or trouble.

I wish you the best of luck.

Cheers Polybot, will look into it.

Mr Ben...

Thats quite a confession J2

Only if you haven't been reading my previous posts.

sell your silver

I'm not going to do that.

Your right that qualifications achieved in the late 70's and 80's are as good as useless these days.

I'm 24...I got my qualifications in the 2000s. Did you really think I was 40+?

Thanks for the advice.

And the plus points with a few crates is that if things get really bad you can get drunk and forget all your troubles.

Cheers Menelaus. I must admit as soon as I saw Mr Ben had replied I thought that our expectations of the future are so different and I wasn't surprised he recommended selling the silver.

However, I appreciate him taking the time to reply.

I think your suggestions are more in line with my thinking. Quality chocolate was one of the other things mentioned.

Thanks again.

starting some kind of small business is the way forward here for sure. some kind of service (gardening seems to do very well around where I live, general diy/handyman work as well), or just simple buying and selling a few things is the way to go. You don't even need much investment to start with, just start small and build up from there. When you start to make a bit of money you can then reinvest or look for other business opportunities to get involved in.

Well, my mate recently started a service fixing PCs/laptops etc. The trouble is, he is utterly clueless but he knows the technical side. He asked if I wanted to do that with him but I said no because everyone I asked in that area said we wouldn't make enough, but as a side business perhaps it would be a good idea?

I don't know if the offer is still open. I shall ask. It won't make a fortune, but would be a little top up.

If you have time on your hands one thing I would definitely recommend is getting your name down on a list to get an allotment.

The cost per annum is negligable and providing you don't go mad at your local garden centre buying a lot of expensive tools it will save you money on your food bill. On top of that the food is healthier, the work will keep you fit and you will get some social life out of it.

If the worse comes to the worse and paper money becomes worthless you can grow enough potatoes to keep yourself fed and have something to barter with. I know it sounds a bit crazy but at the very least I am expecting the cost of food to rise a lot over the next decade.

Who knows it may also give you an entry into a start-up business too. In my local town we have a thriving farmer's market selling not just produce but chutneys jams etc. One idea I had was to grow tobacco plants and sell the seedlings. It's illegal to sell actual baccy obviously but if you grow the plant yourself you can legally cure the leaves and make your own shag to smoke yourself. Last year I grew sackfuls which I have up in the loft.It actually tastes not too bad but is a pain to make into ciggies so I only smoke it if I have run out of malbies.

If gardeining is not your thing then I hope you find something else.

lolol melly, that was ur funniest reply for sometime.  As usual you exposed yourself as a financial dipstick. Your advice-

1.avoid debt
2. keep 25% in cash- thats a whole 1k wow!
3. buy more silver- thats another 1k- double wow!!
4. buy liquor to sell during hyperinflation- somebody shoot me!

Heres the thing melly- if you believe in hyperinflation and investing for that scenario{liquor} then debt is exactly what you should be going into.
Why- won't you be repaying that debt with hyperinflated  worthless paper dollars? mmm  huh- is'nt  that the theory melly????? you fkn idiot!

  Under you scenario J2 should be mortgaging  all he can, including him mom's teapot to buy silver, which will go up and he can repay the fixed debt with worthless dollars.

   You are totally financially illiterate, no wonder you don't understand how to make money in markets.

  J 2- sorry, yes I thought you were over 40yo, given that you feel your " sick of job hunting". Gee poor boy- get used to it boy, its a longggg way till you retire.
   Of course you have minimal savings, your 24yo!  Don't feel so bad, you doing well to have it.

   Your young- take your youthful vitality and get moving.You want to make big $$$- take some calculated risks. You lose your 5 k - SO WHAT! Start again. Theres no need to play it so safe at your age.

   I;m not saying go and put it all on the fav in the next but come on boy- take a risk.

Holding on desperatly to your 5k wont get you anywhere.
   At 22yo I put all my capital into a stock called canada northwest.$ 14,000. It came good and I cashed in $70,000 about 8 months later. I then bought a retail shop , which in those days were good and a year later bought a small house. I was mortgage free at 27yo.
    I agree  with whippet, look at gardening, that does well here in aust as well. Low capital, you can get other blokes to work for you and theres constant demand.You can work 7 days a week with low overheads and good margins.

    Forget about dividend paying stocks until you get over 40yo at least.Forget about silver, its not going anywhere significant.Forget about asking the govt for help re housing/welfare- thats for losers.
  Get motivated, take a risk, get an extra job and give it a go.

Failing that, get a high paying job, find a girl with even better earnings, pool your resources and stick with it for the next 25 years.

   As a final bit of advice- IGNORE MELLY!!!!! His theories  sound convincing because thats what they teach you in economics 101.They are worth SFA in the real world.

  Get out there, take the knocks, swallow the pride, get the experience and take the risks.

   Guarantee you that will bring a better result than going down to the bottle shop and filling your bedroom with liquor and crossing your fingers.{ what a fkn moron!}

The other chap's post is just another milestone in the long string of rubbish he continues to put up on here.

and another one......

and another one......

and.....

Thank you all for your advice. Can we please let the thread drop now? I don't mean to sound ungrateful but none of us want to see another slanging match.

A couple of points I must address though:

1) I did think 50% in liquor was quite high and to be honest I probably won't even put 5% into it, however if hyperinflation does happen then 50% would have been a very good investment.

2) Mr Ben...How can you possibly look at the financial world; seeing governments printing money left right and centre, the Greeks defaulting (eventually), the Federal Reserve monetising a 14 trillion dollar debt, the Swiss of all people devaluing their currency to help exports and tourism, China buying gold, silver and other commodities by the ton and much more. To me, it seems a certainty. There is no way out. Look at America's debt. If they taxed their people 100% they wouldn't have enought to cover medicare and medicaid. America have nothing left but the ability to print money via the Fed buying bonds.

3) Silver isn't going anywhere significant. Were you saying that at £9.50 an ounce? Were you buying it at £14.50 an ounce. I was. From the Channel Islands VAT free. I might only have 100 ounces but an investment which has doubled is still impressive and silver is nowhere near done yet IMO.

ok final post on the thread J2

re 2}  yes yes yes, same claptrap melly has been banging on about for 2 years. Hasnt happened though has it.

sitting there frightened about some mythical "event" that may make the sky cave in is like believing in aliens. They MAY actually be there, but thats no way to live your life.
  I doubt that  QE is going to affect your gardening business too much

  Silver- if its going anywhere its going down. If it goes up it wont be by much.You dont have a big enuff holding to change your life.

  Stop  worrying about what might be and deal with todays reality.
BTW- good luck in your endeavours what ever you choose.

I'm stunned you continue to mock as if hyperinflation is something which happens overnight. It's a loss of faith in a currency. Take the Chinese and Russians doing business in their own currencies or Gaddafi trying to bring in a gold backed currency.

It's a slow evolving event. If you trade the sums you say you do and make the money you say you do then for God's sake buy 5k of gold or silver. Consider it insurance.

J2BLUE, that's the problem with asking for suggestions on a public form like this one. You get some useful feedback to consider but you also get a response from someone who's financially illiterate (still doesn't know how money gets created) and the intellect of a kangaroo. Best ignore the fool and move on.......

I have to agree with that sentiment. I believe the end game of this 'extend and pretend' exercise is hyperinflation. Once people start to lose faith that the government will control inflation now by raising interest rates, they start to think 'I better spend my money now while it still purchases something'. That then drives prices up further until things rapidly get out of control.

One slight problem of holding gold or silver bullion though is that you could end up with some horrendous capital gains. That's why I switched some of mine to sovereigns which are CGT exempt & can be stored in a safe deposit box at your bank for ready access should the need arise.

fk me , theres no hope for some of you guys.

next time i want to turn 1000$ into 20 cents- I give you brainiacs a call.

I hope you took my advice and sold your silver?

Down to 26$ today

those in glass houses etc.

I suggest you should wind your neck in with the insults, as you are clearly a complete mug.

Possibly the 2nd most laughable thread on here (behind your hyperinflation one)

I suggest you should wind your neck in with the insults, as you are clearly a complete mug.



A complete mug for trying to make the best of a poor situation?

Clearly i've hit a nerve though

Clearly I am the biggest mug here, give J2 some credit, many people on low paid jobs just get on with it and rely on the state or parental help.
He is making investments that could pay off for his future, high risk high gain is a tough way to do it but many do.
As they say the finacial markets are minefields but at least he is making some effort to understand them and possibly use them to his benefit.

"Clearly I am the biggest mug here"

sorry MT, but you're not even close, we have a World Champion Super Heavyweight who posts here regularly.