Making the mistake of being informed
Hi all
I've always been a "low info diet" kind of guy regarding the news, current affairs, etc. It's always worked unitl now. Now I'm "grown up" and since watching our 7 figure portfolio shrink 300k over 6 months back in 2008 (back up since, though) I've begun to keep a "half an eye" on the goings on about the globe. My conclusion? I have none. I can't bring myself to either believe or DISbeleive anything I hear. It's all so loud, dark, filled wiht hte energy of "ratings first, truth second."
However, we're in our mid forties. Retiring as soon as my 10 year old daughter hits college. We don't call it retirement so much as "not being here in our town as much!" We now have, quote unquote "more to lose."
That being said ... how do I intelligently decide whether or not hte "Glenn Becks" of the world have it right or wrong? Do I buy a rural farm in argentina to escape to when the sh*t hits the fan or do I subscribe to Peter Lynch's observation in "One up on Wall Street" where he remarked of how often we all "head for the hills - the world is coming to an end" just to discover the economy and the market doubling over the next 5-7 years. I have picked up newspapers from old buildings I've bought (43 units rental realestate) and noticed one thing: The SAME problems and fears are on the front page of every newspaper from the 1930's to now. Different disguises, but basically, everything's the same. nothing's really changed...
One thing we're planning on doing is traveling to the extent we may "semi expatriate" (Asia / South America / Europe) staying a few months in different locales ... do we like the ocean? The mountains of Ecuador? The coast of Phuket... that being said .... would it be a prudent move to think about moving some of our funds to other countries? 50K to italy, 25k to Colombia, 25k to ecuador, 25K to Cambodia ... etc. Obviously there's currency risk, but not if we plan to use the money while we're IN italy, colombia, ecuador and cambodia .....
that's my rant ... My question summed up is ... should we head for the hills? Is it really that bad or is this the dark before dawn? What about "offshoring?" Any thoughts, bumps in the right direction, perspective large or small is greatly appreciated!
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