The US Stock Market ?

[David_Old_Jersey]

I can't see any other way to get past the mistakes (using non-existent money / wealth) than inflation (I am sure it will be accidental )............an economically viable future is somewhat more problematic..........especially for the US (too big to fail?) in a world that is moving away from the dollar for economic (not political) reasons (as it did from the gold standard and the pound. and the groat ).

When the US sneezes now only the west gets a cold. for the rest of the world it's opportunity.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by ViribusUnitis

"Should I take all my cash and buy a boat because all the markets are going to crash and default.

(I know your post was in jest )

The BOAT is a one-off capital expense. And its NOT the major expense in a round the world or long term cruise. The major expense is the money used each day to survive and maintain.

A 5 year circumnavigation is a reasonable dream for many. $100k on a boat is 'mid-range', and monthly say (no, not say $500!) $1800-$2,000 per month (See Fatty Goodlander recent CW) = say $20,000 per year x 5 years = $100k

So folks NEED an investment for that $100k to try to make it bigger (or get it to that level) whilst they are slumming under a palm tree.

When the crash happened in 2008-09 many people we met in the Pacific were living off their share portfolio. They were the people devastated.
NOT the people who are investing now.

My advice is to get your money into shares quick smart. And if you are too scared then just put in half your money.


Mark

[ViribusUnitis]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

(I know your post was in jest )

The BOAT is a one-off capital expense. And its NOT the major expense in a round the world or long term cruise. The major expense is the money used each day to survive and maintain.

A 5 year circumnavigation is a reasonable dream for many. $100k on a boat is 'mid-range', and monthly say (no, not say $500!) $1800-$2,000 per month (See Fatty Goodlander recent CW) = say $20,000 per year x 5 years = $100k

So folks NEED an investment for that $100k to try to make it bigger (or get it to that level) whilst they are slumming under a palm tree.

When the crash happened in 2008-09 many people we met in the Pacific were living off their share portfolio. They were the people devastated.
NOT the people who are investing now.

My advice is to get your money into shares quick smart. And if you are too scared then just put in half your money.


Mark

Wait. My post was in jest? Really? You know someone should tell me these things so I don't missread my own posts! (kidding...)

In anycase, I would argue that cruising requires an proper understanding of your funding sources. And such an understanding requires some sort of "researve" for when those funding sources do something stupid. (like crash to less than half their value in 2008, or your renter decides to leave your rent house in a total mess.)

The nice news is that if the people you knew were able to hang on for about a year, they should be almost back where they started in the share markets. Even more so if one can take into account the nature of dividends and interst.

I'm not as sure as yourself about putting money into the share markets in the US right now. I like dividends. IMHO, dividends are the reason to invest in stocks. Regardless of what the stock prices does, the dividends pay you to wait. I'm not seeing stocks that "nice" in the way of dividends yeilds. I'm also not seeing bond yeild that are that "nice" eighter. They're not terrible like they were 3 years ago, but they're still not "nice" right now like they were ~1 year ago in the US.

There might well be a bit of a slow down in the Western economies in the next 6 months. If that is the case, there might well be enough panic in the streets to get some decent blue chip stocks with NICE dividend yeilds. If not, so be it.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by ViribusUnitis

requires some sort of "researve" for when those funding sources do something stupid. (like crash to less than half their value in 2008, or your renter decides to leave your rent house in a total mess.)

Absolutly. Diversified investments are always the way to do ones portfolio. The damn trouble with it is each bit is so expensive that only the rich buggers can be diversified.
you're right: Good realestate, good blue chip shares, and even a smattering of liquid (who picked gold 10 years ago??).

And then the sailing into the sunset would be truly a cruise

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by SabreKai

Denverd0n and Speakeasy know the truth of it. We are heading down a toilet at the speed of light, with a global crash just around the corner.

I certainly never said that! What I said is that no one knows where the market will be in 12 months. Might be higher. Might be lower. Might be about the same. Your guess is as good as anyone else's, including the so-called "experts."

Long term (meaning 15-20 years or more) I have no doubt that progress will continue, standards of living will improve, and markets will be up. But what will happen in the next several years is anyone's guess.

The real problem, I think, is that there are WAY too many people out there who think 5 years is "long term." In terms of the economy and investing it is NOT!

And I would add that meaningful diversification is quite easy with as little as $10k to invest.

[muskoka]

For every buyer there's a seller. So, the counter party for every guy that thinks the glass is half empty is a glass half full character. Then there's the third type of character, usually an 'expert', who's talking up their book trying to sell you something which is frequently worth nothing.

Which makes it an exercise in futility to ask a group of people what they think will happen with the market over the next year. And the majority of the media are utterly clueless sources of information because they're really purveying business entertainment (bentertainment?)...

A better question is: How have you arranged your swag to afford the cruising dream?

[Get-a-Life]

Houses.

Buy as many houses that you can afford WITHOUT a mortgage.

When you have enough properties to rent at the same amount as you require for a weekly/annual income, you go cruising.

In our case, we purchased where the properties were cheap ad the rents high, plus we never forgot the rule. position, position, position.

Came back after five years and was pleased to enjoy the capital gain benefits by selling a couple of properties.

Also had a very good superannuation plan for later. (now)

Ken