After retiring I read several investment books (books I should have read years earlier). In one of them, I can't remember which, it said that over the course of a year the average stock or fund can have its price drop up to 50%, but then have that drop reversed within the same year. It just happened to me. I almost baled out, but then changed my mind, and now the price is back up and even a little higher. If I hadn't been looking at the price everyday I wouldn't have even known it had happened. It pays to leave things alone.
Milton Freemen made a video, I think it was back in the 80's, He said, "Watch me stop inflation", and then he turned off a printing press at "The Bureau of Engraving and Printing".
Edmund, it was scary when I retired too and found it hard to switch from working "saving mode" to retirement "spending mode". Once I did retire I couldn't image going back. The sense of freedom is so wonderful. Since you're going to be somewhat retired consider spending money for something nice, like first class plane tickets. First class tickets are really nice. I started buying those a few years before I retired, once I was totally out of debt, including my house mortgage Having most of you money in stocks is the way to go. In this current environment stocks are historically the only investment that keeps up with inflation.
I hope it doesn't go through. It would wreck Ebay. After the purchase it would be saddled with debt, then to pay it off Cohen would probably start increasing the cost to users. Also, the market doesn't like unanswered financing questions.
It would help if the government stopped "borrowing" (stealing) from the Social Security fund and leaving IOU's. There shouldn't be any cap on taxed wages. The real fix is to grandfather everyone in who is on SS today or has started paying, and say that after a future date SS will end. All new workers will be automatically signed up for a diversified, opt-out, Roth IRA (you're signed up automatically but have the option to quit). If AI does take over and start doing all the jobs there should be an AI workers tax. That would go toward a guaranteed minimum income or lowering the work week from a 40 hour 5 day work week to 4 or 3 or even 2 days with a contribution toward the retirement Roth IRA. I'm sure corporations would scream bloody murder about that, but they did the same thing when the 40 hour 5 day work week was mandated.
I used to get a year subscription to the local print newspaper by waiting until I would see one of these collage student sales people in the supermarket who I could talk down to a good price along with a bunch of gift cards. They disappeared after the pandemic, so I started buying only the Sunday paper to save money. I just figured out last week that the undiscounted full price of only the Sunday newspaper times fifty two weeks is the same or more than a full weekly subscription used to be.
I'd rather own gold then crypto. If the price of gold goes down its because the value of the currency has increased. Having a precious metals based currency has been a way to prevent inflation for thousands of years. Gold and silver are stores of value, not an investments. Here's an example, I have a Morgan silver dollar from 1888. According to the JM Bullion website, Morgan silver dollars weigh about 0.942 ounces and are 90% silver. Based on the current silver price of $73.75 that makes it worth about $62.52. So one dollar from 1888 is worth 62 times more that our current dollar, or, our current dollar is worth 62 times less. This has mostly happened since we went off the gold standard in 1971. Our Federal Reserve has an inflation goalof 2%. That's something they actually admit, they're not ashamed at all that they're debasing our money 2% every year.
No problem, I have a pension and Social Security, neither is correlated with the market. I have an IRA and Roth for inflation but haven't started doing withdrawals yet. Turning 70 in June. Any drops are a time to buy.
Gold can fail as a medium of exchange. That happened in the Bible in Genesis 47:15 during the second year of the seven year famine in Egypt when "the money failed". What I think is good store of value is toilet paper. When there's no more toilet paper you can't do you know what with a piece of gold. If I'm a farmer and had a limited amount of food to sell or barter for and had run out of toilet paper and two people come to get food, one has gold and one has a rolls of toilet paper. Which one do you thing is going to get the food? Only thing is toilet paper is bulky, but on the other hand its not heavy and won't spoil like canned food can. During the pandemic, when there was hording, what were the two things that disappeared first? Food and toilet paper.
Comments
After retiring I read several investment books (books I should have read years earlier). In one of them, I can't remember which, it said that over the course of a year the average stock or fund can have its price drop up to 50%, but then have that drop reversed within the same year. It just happened to me. I almost baled out, but then changed my mind, and now the price is back up and even a little higher. If I hadn't been looking at the price everyday I wouldn't have even known it had happened. It pays to leave things alone.
Post: Farrell Behavior
Link to comment from May 30, 2026
Why for a limited time? Make it permanent.
Post: Should Retirees Get a Temporary Flat Tax Window on IRA and 401(k) Withdrawals?
Link to comment from May 30, 2026
Milton Freemen made a video, I think it was back in the 80's, He said, "Watch me stop inflation", and then he turned off a printing press at "The Bureau of Engraving and Printing".
Post: Inflation and Innovation
Link to comment from May 23, 2026
Edmund, it was scary when I retired too and found it hard to switch from working "saving mode" to retirement "spending mode". Once I did retire I couldn't image going back. The sense of freedom is so wonderful. Since you're going to be somewhat retired consider spending money for something nice, like first class plane tickets. First class tickets are really nice. I started buying those a few years before I retired, once I was totally out of debt, including my house mortgage Having most of you money in stocks is the way to go. In this current environment stocks are historically the only investment that keeps up with inflation.
Post: Slow on the Draw
Link to comment from May 9, 2026
I hope it doesn't go through. It would wreck Ebay. After the purchase it would be saddled with debt, then to pay it off Cohen would probably start increasing the cost to users. Also, the market doesn't like unanswered financing questions.
Post: Pricing the Impossible
Link to comment from May 9, 2026
It would help if the government stopped "borrowing" (stealing) from the Social Security fund and leaving IOU's. There shouldn't be any cap on taxed wages. The real fix is to grandfather everyone in who is on SS today or has started paying, and say that after a future date SS will end. All new workers will be automatically signed up for a diversified, opt-out, Roth IRA (you're signed up automatically but have the option to quit). If AI does take over and start doing all the jobs there should be an AI workers tax. That would go toward a guaranteed minimum income or lowering the work week from a 40 hour 5 day work week to 4 or 3 or even 2 days with a contribution toward the retirement Roth IRA. I'm sure corporations would scream bloody murder about that, but they did the same thing when the 40 hour 5 day work week was mandated.
Post: Fixing Social Security once and for all
Link to comment from April 19, 2026
I used to get a year subscription to the local print newspaper by waiting until I would see one of these collage student sales people in the supermarket who I could talk down to a good price along with a bunch of gift cards. They disappeared after the pandemic, so I started buying only the Sunday paper to save money. I just figured out last week that the undiscounted full price of only the Sunday newspaper times fifty two weeks is the same or more than a full weekly subscription used to be.
Post: Penny Wise, Pound Foolish
Link to comment from April 19, 2026
I'd rather own gold then crypto. If the price of gold goes down its because the value of the currency has increased. Having a precious metals based currency has been a way to prevent inflation for thousands of years. Gold and silver are stores of value, not an investments. Here's an example, I have a Morgan silver dollar from 1888. According to the JM Bullion website, Morgan silver dollars weigh about 0.942 ounces and are 90% silver. Based on the current silver price of $73.75 that makes it worth about $62.52. So one dollar from 1888 is worth 62 times more that our current dollar, or, our current dollar is worth 62 times less. This has mostly happened since we went off the gold standard in 1971. Our Federal Reserve has an inflation goal of 2%. That's something they actually admit, they're not ashamed at all that they're debasing our money 2% every year.
Post: Investment Versus Speculation
Link to comment from April 4, 2026
No problem, I have a pension and Social Security, neither is correlated with the market. I have an IRA and Roth for inflation but haven't started doing withdrawals yet. Turning 70 in June. Any drops are a time to buy.
Post: Any concern?
Link to comment from April 2, 2026
Gold can fail as a medium of exchange. That happened in the Bible in Genesis 47:15 during the second year of the seven year famine in Egypt when "the money failed". What I think is good store of value is toilet paper. When there's no more toilet paper you can't do you know what with a piece of gold. If I'm a farmer and had a limited amount of food to sell or barter for and had run out of toilet paper and two people come to get food, one has gold and one has a rolls of toilet paper. Which one do you thing is going to get the food? Only thing is toilet paper is bulky, but on the other hand its not heavy and won't spoil like canned food can. During the pandemic, when there was hording, what were the two things that disappeared first? Food and toilet paper.
Post: Why Marlboro Gold is better Than Gold
Link to comment from March 14, 2026