# Putting some spare dollars in silver???



## littlejoe (Jan 17, 2007)

If you had some extra cash and wanted to diversify your holdings with something you weren't familiar with, what would you buy?

I've always tried to keep my money working close to me in things I understand. I'm at a point this winter I need to look elsewhere, since I'm not near to home at this time.

I don't want to leave cash setting in a SD box and let inflation eat away at it. I've been thinking of purchasing some silver, or coins, or ???

Any philosophies?


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## Halfway (Nov 22, 2010)

Tough call as the precious metals have run so far, so fast. 

Hard items that will maintain value?

Guns?


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## Marshloft (Mar 24, 2008)

Welll, based on my boss, well,, one of em anyway,,, silver should go up percentage wise much faster than gold.
And silver is at least at a reasonable price.
He bought a 1oz pure .999 bar,,, looked at it for a day. Then went out and bought I believe a 10 oz. bar. Havn't seen that one yet. But he sure was proud of the idea.
Good luck, if anything, it will hold its value much more that paper money.
GH


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## tarbe (Apr 7, 2007)

I retired at the end of August and got my lump-sum in September.

I thought about buying 500 ounces of silver as a hedge at that time. I never did, and the price of silver is down some since then.

Halfway is right in that gold and silver have had quite a run this year. But trying to time metals prices can be a fool's game, so I am not suggesting you try to do that.

If you are willing to look at the silver as a hedge or insurance policy against a really bad situation (dollar collapse), then a 5% loss is nothing.

If you are hoping for appreciation, you could just as well be disappointed as pleased, because none of us knows which way metals prices will go in the next year.

Conventional wisdom would say metals will only trend up (relative to US dollars) as we print more dollars. But conventional wisdom is often wrong!

Heck, gold and silver dropped after QE III was announced, so who knows???

I currently have been buying high dividend paying stocks that are selling for low P/E multiples. Where the price of the stock goes after I buy is much less important to me when I am getting dividends. Between November 28 and December 13 I will receive $34,000 in dividends. 3 months later, I will get paid again. I almost hope the stocks do not go up too much....then I will be tempted to sell!

I don't know how much money you are talking about....but Pitney Bowes is selling for around $11/share right now and it pays $1.50 per share, per year, in dividends. That is a 13.6% dividend yield! And their P/E ratio is less than 4!!! If I didn't already have a pile of it, I would buy more.




Tim


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## tarbe (Apr 7, 2007)

Oh, forgot to mention....going back to your original question - I would not put my money into anything that I was not familiar with. Study first, then invest.

Just my $0.02.


Tim


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## edcopp (Oct 9, 2004)

Spare dollars? Pretty hard to find for some of us.

I like to keep some of my savings in silver. It has not failed me yet. I usually buy coins, and keep them in my possession for emergencies. I do not keep anything in a safety deposit box, or at a bank.

Looks to me like banks can not be trusted any more than the government. Often it is difficult to tell the difference.


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## clovis (May 13, 2002)

Tarbe gives you excellent and outstanding advice.

I think the thing that surprises me the most is that what we once knew or believed as fact is no longer the best investment. Look at the housing market, and the stock market.

At the same time, I've have many people "investing in silver is a waste...it will never be worth anything." 

20 years later, who was right? And, 20 years from now, who will be right? I jokingly told my dad recently that investing in large piles of limestone rocks may be the best investment ever, at least 20 years from now.

The bottom line is that it is hard to predict the future. For me, with my limited funds, I am going with dividend stocks like Tim is. They just keep paying, and paying, and paying.

If my income was a little better, I'd buy _some_ junk silver coins too. I am so limited that I feel that I need to dump whatever I can into dividend stocks. I'm not talking tons of silver, but I wish I had another $50 a month to blow on it. Again, remember, this is for just my situation and in my world today.

One other thought: While metals can be a great hedge against inflation, they don't call silver 'the devil's metal' for nothing. It can rise and fall in an eye blink!


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## Halfway (Nov 22, 2010)

If you don't want the expense of physical silver (retail spread), try the silver ETF SLV.

You can buy shares through almost any broker for cheap. Sharebuilder is $4 a trade, Scottrade is $7 a trade, and so on....

Realize you are at the mercy of the electronic markets should the SHTF, but at that point we will all be in a gov cheese line. Well, some faster than others I guess. 

If you need help with brokers, let me know.


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