He was on the radio today telling listeners not to buy gold, but instead to simply stuff money away in a Roth IRA for example for the next 30 years.
Kind of a contrary view these days.

He's a successful business man , with a radio show with millions of listiners . Also a Multi millionaire .

I think he knows what he 's talking about .

keep in mind he's all about LOW risk and building wealth over time .

Gold is too volitaile

As stated he believes gold is too volatile.
He also has told a story of when he was young and listened to some "investment guy" that had him buying "paper gold"
He got burned, and says he is prejudiced against gold (and silver) for that matter.

I listen to his show and he has a lot of good advice.  
But over the time I have been listening,
I think he is convinced that the stock market is NOT going to crash (aka 1929) again
and I don't think he believes the dollar is in any danger of being replaced as the worlds reserve currency.

He also does not seem to make a distinction between physical gold and paper gold.

Dave's a long term investor, and not a short term speculator.  Long term, he is right, gold does not do well.  It may not do well short term from this price either.  

Lots of people don't think gold is a good buy right now.  Maybe they are right, maybe they are wrong.  Many gold bugs are like a stopped clock, they get to be right occasionally.

I was speculating in palladium, but I quit.  With the exception of a few coins, and a small exposure in a managed futures fund, I have no gold.  This worries me not at all.

The successful gold speculator today needs a very low puke point.

No.  It's really not.



It's contrary to the doom and gloomers here is all.  That doesn't mean it's reality.



If you bought 500k in gold and 500k in Netflix at the same time 1-2-3-4 year ago, you'd have made more money off Netflix.  



 

I think that I see the problem....

Definition of SPECULATION:
an act or instance of speculating: as
a : assumption of unusual business risk in hopes of obtaining commensurate gain
b : a transaction involving such speculation

Synonyms: adventure, chance, crapshoot, enterprise, flier (also flyer), flutter [chiefly British], gamble, throw, venture
Antonyms: sure thing



remember, a couple of years ago, many speculators got taken to the cleaners in the housing market

a wise and successful investor said to invest in what you know.
if you don't know, don't invest.

Gold will not be worth a cigarette in SHTF, water, food, ammo...I would buy a generator instead of gold

I love Dave Ramsey when it comes to his debt advice, but his investing advice is, IMHO, weak at best. Look at any inflation adjusted stock market index over any time frame. It's not pretty. IIRC, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has a yearly return average of 1.8% after it's adjusted for inflation. Dave also believes that a recovery is possible, and I think this is grossly optimistic.

That all being said, I'm invest in physical silver right now. I have 40 years before I would even be thinking about retiring and I have no doubt we will see major inflation or a new currency by then. If not that, then industrial supply problems. Once I start work (just graduated college) in August, I'll also invest in a self directed IRA, mutual funds, stocks and options through my brokerage account so I'm diversified in case the improbable happens and we recover.. I'v played with stock market simulators enough to know what I'm doing and pull out if the markets start to crash.

But he would love to sell you some of his books. His show is entertaining to listen to. He is no investment genius but rather an excellent marketer. Guy has made a fortune off of people by simply marketing common sense. Here is some advice; don't spend more than you make, pay off your debts, be a responsible human being, put some money away.... all common sense. To top it off, he does his slick marketing under the guise of Christianity.

Concur to the extent that one does not have those items stashed away.  If one has enough money, then convert what's not needed for equipment, food, water and ammo.  BTW, gold is still going up and will probably never see $1,400 again.  We've got Ben Bernanke and QE3 and unless there's some major game changers, the dollar will continue to decline with respects to gold.

I'm not worried about a mad max style SHTF event. I'm more concerned about a Weimar, Zimbabwe, or Argentina style economic collapse. I believe in all 3 examples, gold became a form of currency.

Nothing wrong with speculating, just don't tell yourself that you are investing when you are actually speculationg.  Warren Buffett has a reputation as an investor, but he is also a speculator.  Remember his silver adventure a few years ago.  He was right, but early, which is the same thing as being wrong.

In both your investments, and in your speculations, observe the Kelly criterion.

I just checked my records, and my last gold speculation was actually a short, (DZZ)..  People at the time said I was crazy, but my position made money.  Profit is what separates successful speculations and investments from unsuccessful speculations and investments.

I am not expecting Ragnarok, and I am not stock-piling cigarettes and nylons.  Gold could indeed go higher, but it is also going to drop like a rock at some point.

I do not buy out of fear.  PMs are a no go for me right now.  

As it relates to me and me only:

They are a store of value, not an investment vehicle... unless you can make an ounce of gold turn into 1.2 ounces of gold it does not gain value, but rather, the cash money looses value in comparison to the gold.  Just my simple small brained way of looking at it.  I would not buy PMs right now, but I will not be selling what few I own.

and in a year, when the companies that provide the bandwidth that feeds netflix, start charging for it, goodbye netflix.

If ramsey has no gold in his portfolio, well, thats his poor decision making.

TXL

Going in the opposite direction from the herd has been a good strategy for a long time.  

The best time to get out of tech stocks during the bubble was when you getting stock tips from the server at Applebee's.
The best time to get out of real estate was when your next door neighbor started talking about "flipping"
The best time to buy stocks was when all the panicked talking heads were talking about how the only good position is the fetal position.
The best time to get out of gold is when wild eyed ARFcommers start talking about how you should get it now for SHTF before it goes to $5,000.

Seriously, there are high volume infomercials for Gold now.  It's time to keep your eye on the exit.  I'm not saying it won't go up from here but there will be a day of reckoning for the people riding this bubble just like before at some point in the next few years.  It's not like we haven't been here before with Gold.

That's a good way of putting it.  

I've always said that an investment is something which when combined with your capital can create more value than the sum of it's inputs.  You invest in a company, that company takes your capital and buys plants and equipment, the company makes a product that generates a product which is worth more than the inputs and calls it a "profit".  That's an investment.

You know, with very few exceptions, none of the talking heads on the cable TV money shows saw any of the previous bubbles coming. None.
However, you cannot seem to find any of them who'll say that gold isn't in a bubble.

A bubble exits (usually) when nearly everyone is in on it. Despite the buzz, not too many people actually have a position in gold. Ask around.

All the TV commericials for buying gold? Yeah, they're buying....despite the "bubble" price.

Ramsey and his ilk are in the paper business. He cannot encourage anyone to get in to PMs......it runs counter to how he and his minions make their money. Rick Edleman is the same way. Smart, knowledgable, but his bread is buttered in one way and one way only.

Two years ago, my parents sat down with one of Edleman's people to get investment advice. I was trying to talk them in to meeting with my broker who deals in investments outside of the USD...but he wouldn't hear it. Predictably, the Edelman guy pushed paper, USD, and all of the standard investment products offered through them. When my dad asked the guy about some of the things that I was involved in (dividend paying foreign stocks, gold, ETFs, Nothing in the Euro, etc), the guy told my dad that that stuff was crap. Despite the debasing of our currency, despite the socialization of the US economy,  despite everything, "just sign here..." Thankfully, they didn't.

The bad news is, although it took two years of reading and research, my dad died this month....just as he was trying to move his money to my broker and out of the USD. My mom is hesitant to act, so her financial ship will sink along with the USD.

I think sometimes Dave Ramsey gets a little over his head when it comes to investing advice. Dave is awesome at what he does, and in my opinion, his advice is geared for the lowest common denominator. He is marketing to people who are usually in serious financial trouble and he provides them with a solid, foolproof plan to get their financial life on track. I dont agree with everything he says, but his plan definitly worked for me when I was in financial trouble after a divorce. He provides a plan and hope to go with it...albeit he is a little optimistic at times.

As for his views on Gold...in my opinion his advice on investing is very elementary, and for most people, it probably isnt that bad. If I recall correctly, he preaches growth and income, growth, and international mutual funds. Dave does not endorse buying individual stocks, individual bonds, and obviously not gold or precious metals. I think his advice for mutual funds for the average person is not bad, as they probably dont have the financial knowledge or familiarity to buy individual stocks, investment grade gold/silver products, bonds, etc. I think it is important to remember that his advice is usually geared for people who have had some serious financial issues and dont have alot of discipline with money. For some of these folks, his advice is probably pretty good, as some of them cannot even manage a credit card. For others who are more advanced, like some of the guys on this subforum and other forums, its probably not so good.

Having said all of that, I am a huge Dave fan and have benefitted greatly from his plan, but as I have become more advanced financially, I think myself and others I know who have followed his plan have "outgrown" his investing advice and moved on to other things. Personally, Im sticking to a garden variety of name brand 4 and 5 star mutual funds as he suggests for core IRA holdings, but am also buying gold eagles and I-Bonds (currently at over 4 percent yield). I am also buying high dividend yielding blue chip individual stocks, as recommended by some very conservative, very defensive investment guys (ala Josh Peters at Morningstar...dividend investor strategy). Of course these purchases are contrary to what his plan teaches, but are still considered very solid investments in this market...  

I dont think Dave gives bad advice, per se, but I think his advice is geared towards people who are in the middle of a financial mess and need simple investing advice, and he probably doesnt want to contradict his basic plan....

Just my .02...

Actually the us dollar became the currency.

The government of Zimbabwe admitted defeat Thursday in a fight against dizzying inflation, allowing business to be done in U.S. dollars and bank notes of neighboring countries. There is a reason it is called a reserve currency

Dave Ramsey isn't really for investment advice, its more for getting your debts/finances in order.  

For example.  My gf and I earn less than 80K and she has several debts ranging from credit cards to student loans.  Dave Ramsey is for us and is helping us get a better grip on our finances.  On the other side of things, my dad said Dave Ramsey isn't for him.  My mother and him run a successful business which has been operating for 20 years, they own several properties and don't have a cent of debt because a life of working hard and frugal living has let them pay for everything without needing a loan.  Properties included.  So I told my dad, "Of course you don't need Dave Ramsey, you aren't exactly his demographic"

Personally, I'd agree with Dave on this one.  Don't put your money in gold, at this point in time its to risky, but don't let Dave be your guide for investing.