Coffeehouse Insight

[mickeyd]

I always enjoy Bill's quarterly newsletters and webinars. Here's the most recent offering.

About a month ago I had an exchange with a young couple in their 30s that typifies the confusion many investors struggle with in today’s investing climate.

The first question they asked me was, “What do you think about gold?”

Here was a couple, anxious about their financial future, wondering how to get from point A to point B.
Even though they were making pretty good money between them, they still…
…had no idea how much they should be saving to reach a financial goal.
…had no idea of their monthly burn rate (expenses).
…had no idea what their asset allocation was in combined 401ks, IRAs, Roths and taxable accounts.

And yet, they were wondering about gold.

The Coffeehouse Investor » Football, Stocks, & Fundamentals
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[JmfromTx]

My 25 year old nephew was asking me some questions about investing. Then he said he wanted to buy gold. That would be his first investment besides a bank account. I told him to open a money market account with Vanguard and save six months of living expenses and then we would talk some more. I need to send him some links and Coffeehouse will be a good one to add.

 

[GregLee]

If he doesn't have a whole lot to invest, it might be good to let him buy some gold. My very first investment, when I was in junior high school, was $60 worth of stock in the Mineral Hill Prospecting Co. It was just a few cents per share, and its value was evidently going up very quickly, since the price of the stock went up steeply almost every day. Needless to say, I didn't see any of that $60 ever again. Lesson learned.

 

[ikubak]

If he doesn't have a whole lot to invest, it might be good to let him buy some gold. My very first investment, when I was in junior high school, was $60 worth of stock in the Mineral Hill Prospecting Co. It was just a few cents per share, and its value was evidently going up very quickly, since the price of the stock went up steeply almost every day. Needless to say, I didn't see any of that $60 ever again. Lesson learned.

Excellent idea!! That was some inexpensive tuition from the school of hard knocks.