So I got back from Afghanistan a while ago and I have a bit of scratch saved up, already paid off my house and I have no debt at all.

I know a lot of people are going to suggest Gold, Ammo, food, and guns. Those are given and I have most of them covered, just looking for something that I can readily convert to cash when needed. Used to do bonds, CDs, and MMAs but interest rates are shit, also not interested in the stock market - I lost quite a bit there already and to be honest I don't know enough to be messing around with it.  Right now I just have everything sitting in a savings account because I don't know what to do!

Consitered buying a rental house, but I've seen how much of a hassle they can be, how about land?

Any investors here?

CDs dont play the market, once your locked in, your locked. MMA and IRAs do mess with the market.

No way I would deal with a rental, if you get some shitbag in there, there goes all your investments, plus how much time would have to devote to it.

Gold/SIlver is always a good bet, just have to ride it out, its no different than the stock market honestly.

Land is good, but do your research, ALOT of research, check the area within 20 miles in every direction, look at what might be potentially built, look for places that you get the Mineral and Timber rights, it could be possible to make money off of the land you buy, etc etc. Check Lands and Farm. com for land. OR even just drive around an area you like and maybe work towards a nice Bug Out Location.

Ammo, food, water, guns, gun parts, etc etc would always be number one to get IMO.

I-bonds and TIPS.  both of them directly protected against inflation.

Off to Google I go. lol

I found this

http://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/products/prod_ibonds_glance.htm

Index funds and stocks... yes, I am serious.

Tekka - No offense, I have to ask, what is that ghey avatar you have?

Better question: Where is Falco?

It really depends on how risk averse you are.





You can put it into CDs or a money market and lose a little wealth from taxes and inflation.





Or you can put it into slightly risker things and have the possibility of coming out ahead.





My two personal choices at this time that I've been putting money into are





Muni bond funds- tax free is nice and the fear has make affordable



High Dividend domestic stocks- some are paying above 5% and the tax rate is 15% (or 0 if you don't have a lot of income)  Some of the established ones might lose value but they aren't going away.

Go to YouTube and listen to what Peter Schiff and Gerald Celente has to say.  Schiff runs an investment firm and Celente is a trends forecaster.

I found this random photo a few years ago and thought it would make an insane avatar. I stopped using it after a while, but people kept requesting I start using it again so here it is.

 

Opened a brokerage account after the big crash and ensuing "stimulus" in 08 and 09 lit a fire under my ass. Have been trading commodities and precious metals ETF's since then, with the original goal of just holding on to the value of my savings account. It was the right move.

There's always physical precious metals, but I don't know a whole lot about that. I like the liquidity that ETF's provide. If I need to sell, I can sell and have the cash in my hands within a week. However if things go completely sideways, paper metal won't be the best place to be. There have also been some disturbing things going on with the commodities exchange lately (margin hikes on commodities that lead to the recent commodities crash, particularly in silver, conspiracy theories about political motives abound).

Like any investment though, be careful.  Patience is key, don't panic. Nothing goes straight up. What silver did this year was a harsh reminder (managed to avoid getting burned but lost half the profits I'd made on it since December). It's possible we could see some kind of market crash or at least a slowdown with the end of QE2. If that happens, QE3 will follow and its time to go looooong on commodities again.

I'm amazed at how slow and steady gold has been. It only went down about 25% during the 08 crash and is now well beyond its pre-crash high while things like oil still have a long way to go to get to even that point. Silver has also done the same but it's been a much bumpier ride.

Considering getting into long-term options more recently, but that's a much more complicated game.

The advice so far in this thread scares me.

Which part?

Eastwood123 inquiry about Tekka's old avatar of course.  Now he's got some modern cartoon which isn't as funny.

Every time I try to get rid of it people want it to return. BTW, I don't know if I'd consider a 19 year old cartoon modern. lol

Canadian stocks.  Land is good.  Buy something fun that could also hold its value... hmm...Fun, useful, holds its value... tools.

Yes on the Canadian Stocks:
Crescent Point Energy (CPG:CN)
Artis REIT (AX-U:CN)
Pengrowth Energy (PGF:CN)
Provident Energy (PVE:CN)
Calloway REIT (CWT-U:CN)
Arc Resources Energy (ARX:CN)

Also look at Australian Stocks:
Telstra Energy (TLS:AU)
Duet Group Utilities (DUE:AU)

Not sure about I bonds, but I know TIPS are tied to the CPI index, which isn't actually real inflation. It is just what the government considers inflation. Energy prices and food are not calculated in the CPI.  Those are the two things that I believe have the greatest risk of being inflated.  I look to see inflation in those two things and deflation in other areas.  If the price of gas doubles, then people won't have as much money to buy useless stuff which is included in the CPI.

Swiss francs.  Did you know it's hard for Swiss watch shops to sell Rolexs?  It's cheaper to buy them in America now.  The Swiss franc won't go down like the dollar or the euro-dollar.