Investing in Silver
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With the fall of the stock market in 2001 and then the decline of the real estate market, many investors have turned to investing in precious metals including gold and silver. Precious metals are a tangible investment that can be kept for many years and increase in value even as the US dollar’s value falls.
Silver is a very common metal to invest in. You can get silver bars and coins, which you can keep in a safe or at your bank within a safe deposit box. One thing to realize when choosing to invest in silver is the price of silver is volatile. Recently, the price of silver has risen because of the interest of investors to invest in metals. Because the supply of silver is limited, the prices have risen. In 2000, the price was $4.05/ozt (which is a troy ounce, which is commonly used to weigh precious metals). In 2009, the price rose to $14.67/ozt. If interest in precious metals declines, so will the prices.
Traditionally, investing in silver has meant purchasing silver bullion bars. These bars are often minted stating how much they weigh and their purity (typically .999). In some places, including Switzerland, you can actually purchase silver bars at major banks. You can buy bars in many different weights from 1000 ozt to 1 oz. The second most popular method for buying silver is buying silver coins.
If you aren’t interested in holding onto silver (because of theft, for example), then you can purchase silver certificates, which are used as proof of ownership. Some banks, mostly Swiss, offer silver accounts where the money in the account represents a quantity of silver owned.
If you are considering investing in silver, do your research. Although precious metals may be more stable than stocks, it’s still an ever-changing market with its ups and downs. It’s best to plan on investing long-term since prices typically increase over time.
Managing is a Pain to do Yourself
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If you have been thinking about taking on a rental property or two, you no doubt have an idea about all of the horror stories. People will give you sob stories to try to get in (or get in without having to pay a security deposit), and then do serious damage to your property. They will set a fire in the living room because they do not want to pay the gas bill, or they will decide they no longer want to have a wall “over there,” and just take a sledge hammer to it. Or they will decide that they want to paint satanic murals all over the walls, and throw their used condoms in the corner, and let their dog do its business wherever it pleases.
It’s almost enough to make you just want to put your money in a mutual fund and say to heck with it. But don’t let the horror stories get you discouraged.
There are professionals who are trained to handle situations of this nature. While a lot of people will tell you that property management is just “a waste of money,” those are people who see their rental properties as a job that they have to do themselves. But these same people will often hire somebody to put on a new roof, or to install new electrical systems (known in the business as “stuff”). Everybody chooses to outsource something, at some point. If we didn’t, the situation would quickly turn insane, and insanely difficult.
While a good property manager is going to charge you a percentage of the rents, this is a percentage that buys you a very valuable commodity – free time. You do not have to run the backgrounds of your potential tenants, nor do you have to schedule interviews with them. In fact, you don’t even have to meet them at all.