I have been re-investing most of my money for the past few years out of the USD and into other assets.
Primarily silver and a little bit of gold. The past few months i have jumped on the Crypto Currency train although
i feel like I missed the important run up.
If you study Geopolitics, history or economics then you can probably see that life as we know it will not last forever, our days are numbered in the current paradigm. To safeguard your wealth or even to just diversify you don't need thousands of dollars, but you do need a consistent strategy that you follow. I will give you an idea of what has worked for me and how it has allowed me to nearly reach my goal when it comes to investment strategy. Your goals can change and that is ok, set them at an attainable level
and once you start getting some success you will find yourself raising your expectations like I did.
My initial goals for silver and gold were 500 ounces and 2 ounces respectively. I happy to say that my silver goal is way over this
and my gold goal was hit years ago. Now that I feel I have achieved the metals goal I am now focused on Crypto Currency and still looking at what a realistic goal would be and how can I get there.
My Approach
The 4 -D's
Disposable Income
Discipline
Dollar Cost Averaging
Diversification
Disposable Income - Having a budget is important, obviously you have fixed expenses like rent, car payment, utilities, gas, food
cell phone, etc... We as Americans tend to have fixed expenses meeting or exceeding our monthly Income, we are consumers, debt slaves and careless at times, I know I have been a spender, not a saver for the majority of my life, we seem to be taught to
be consumers. For me I found buying Silver fun, it's been a hobby I enjoy, I still get that satisfaction of making a purchase but I feel better about it knowing its becoming an asset, not a liability! The first thing you can do is reduce you fixed expenses. I gave up cable television long ago, I share internet with a neighbor, I paid off my car and drove it for another 6 years. Look at reducing your phone bill. I even got a roommate for 9 months just to bank some extra cash. Next look at your disposable income, entertainment and dining is a big one, go out to eat less and stock up on groceries and you can save. I am lucky as my employer has a employee dining room so i can eat free 8 hours a day, mu commute to work is also very minimal. Loo at your own personal spending habits and you should be able to find a few habits to reduce such as a $6 starbuck everyday can be $180 per month but once a week is only $24. the $156 dollars saved can translate into 9 ounces of silver at the current $17.30 per oz price. Once you buy your fist oz of silver you will truly appreciate the value of a dollar when you know you can exchange if for silver.
Discipline - Really you need to look at the above paragraph and just make sure you follow your goals and don't let yourself get off track. Simple things like getting all your silver and gold out and touching it and looking at it gives you more of a respect for the work you have done in stacking. Reducing your overhead also will make you feel better in the long run even when you have reached your stacking goal, you can now start a new goal like saving for a car or down payment for a house. If you are not reaching your goal then your problem is discipline. Develop good habits!
Dollar Cost Averaging - The price of silver can be a factor in buying but my advice is to set a goal every month of how many ounces you would like to buy, If you can exceed this amount than use your extra money to buy the dips. The silver market is very volatile and you can definitely find good days to buy. I typically will buy generic silver when the price is the lowest and get the most ounces for my money while normally buying eagles or maple leafs and even Pamp Suisse the other times. The question
to buy generic, numismatic, coins or bars and what sizes are all up for debate, see my answer below.
Diversification - The question when buying silver,gold or crypto is what should I buy and what is my reasoning.
When I started out i was a newbee so bought what looked fun. I first few purchases were Morgan Silver dollars and Peace dollars
as I have always known these as money and also thought the designs were beautiful. I also got walking eagles, Kennedy half dollars and Mercury dimes, all american currency and 90% Silver that was used as money. As i went along I would buy items with more of a premium added to them such as American Eagles and Canadian Maples. Even higher premium coins I have bought are
Chinesse Pandas and Perth Mint releases. I believe the higher premium items to be more speculative but if you buy the right ones you are investing in items that may double in price or even more as the lower vintages make them more valuable to collectors. You will have to make a decision to the direction you will want to go, if you are new to stacking silver I would stick to
Eagles, Generic silver coins and bars and American Coins such as the Morgan, peace, kennedy's, Mercury dimes etc.. 90% silver preferably. It is still a good idea to diversify but find your comfort zone and stick to it. Sites such as Apmex, Gainesville Coins, SD Bullion, Provident Metals and JM Bullion are all reputable and I have used for purchases. I would avoid eBay and would even suggest you seek out a local dealer so you can see first hand what you are getting and develop a relationship with a local business if he can be competitive with his pricing.
As far as Cryptocurrency goes i'm still learning. I'm trying to use the same philosophy as with silver and gold. Im using my discretionary income that I used to use for silver and gold, i'm diversifying into Bitcoin, Etherium and Litecoin, Im dollar cost averaging and hold instead of trading but trying to buy more on the dips. I typically look at which one of these big three is going down and then I will buy that one at a discount. I hope to have the same success with stacking the crypto's as I have with the metals. Things have been easier with the metals as the prices have been artificially suppressed for so long making it easier to
get a nice stack, on the other hand the Crypto's are performing very well in free market with no manipulation making it challenging to get in the game at these prices. I believe Crypto's are the future and with the death of fiat currencies around the corner the Crypto's will help bring value to Silver and Gold and I will be well positioned as our money changes and the world adapts to the future stores of value. Soon the money in your wallet will be worth the paper its printed on but the money on your phone will be like gold.
happy stacking and good luck with your Bitcoins and Alt-Coins!