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so, what would you do right now?

guitarwesguitarwes Posts: 9,266 ✭✭✭
in Precious Metals
just to get your personal thoughts (of course I realize the answers might be little biased posting this on a PM chat message board image )....


If you put in 5% of your before-tax income towards your 401k and your employer matched up to 4% of your income towards it, would you continue to put it in there now or would you halt the payroll deduction and take the after tax $$$ and buy some PMs with the cash? Just to show you how much money I don't make, the pre-tax 5% deduction out of my check is around $150-160/month, which would probably net me around $105-$115/month after income tax. I'm 33.

Do you have faith in the long-term economy of America to ride out your stock holdings?
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Comments

  • clouisejewelersclouisejewelers Posts: 329 ✭✭
    Don't put all your eggs in one basket. PMs are great but you should continue to get the employer match, it is free money or an instant return on your money if you prefer to look at it that way. You are young enough to take some risk. I am 39 and have some money in the market and continue to fund my IRA(I'm self employed so no 401K) but it is only part of my investment portfolio. I am pretty heavy into PMs as well but still believe that certain stocks can do well.

    If you don't have any PMs, or only a small amount my advice would be to get some now and resume 401K contributions once you have built up a decent PM stash.
  • WeissWeiss Posts: 9,941 ✭✭✭✭✭
    You're young, and your retirement savings are just that. Take advantage of the matching. It's been said that compounding interest is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. It really is.

    Money where my mouth is: I just dumped $50k back into the market. Junk bonds and high dividend stocks. And that's without any kind of matching.

    Keep your PMs, aim for 5-10% of net worth in gold and silver. Go heavier if you think we're headed for more trouble. But keep a balanced portfolio, stay out of debt, and you're way ahead of the game.
    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
  • ttownttown Posts: 4,472 ✭✭✭
    Your young and the economy will come back before you retire IMO. I'd put in the amount that your company matches that will double your savings, but not any more than that....JMO
  • sebrownsebrown Posts: 424 ✭


    << <i>just you get your personal thoughts (of course I realize the answers might be little biased posting this on a PM chat message board).....


    If you put in 5% of your before-tax income towards your 401k and your employer matched up to 4% of your income towards it, would you continue to put it in there now or would you halt the payroll deduction and take the after tax $$$ and buy some PMs? Just to show you how much money I don't make, the pre-tax 5% deduction out of my check is around $150-160/month, which would probably net me around $108-$115/month after income tax. I'm 33.

    Do you have faith in the long-term economy of America to ride out your stock holdings? >>




    You have the typical 401k setup as the wife and I do - 5% paid in with a 4% match. I'd suggest maintaining that 5% into your 401K plan as it's an instant 80% gain on your money plus whatever tax advantages are received. You never now what the future holds for metal or stocks.....and they both can go up!

    "In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation [...] Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights." - Alan Greenspan
  • gsa1fangsa1fan Posts: 5,566 ✭✭✭
    Max out the 401K match.
    Avid collector of GSA's.
  • guitarwesguitarwes Posts: 9,266 ✭✭✭

    thanks for the answers so far. I already have a plan but just wanted to see some opinions.

    I'm pretty confident that the market will correct and gain strength in the long run, then probably go down a little, then correct, then repeat. But the steady upward trend (as it has over the last many many years) and the compounding interest is what I'm banking on. I hold some PMs, but not 5-10% of my net worth. I'm working on it slow and steady though.

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    Too many positive BST transactions with too many members to list.
  • Steve27Steve27 Posts: 13,274 ✭✭✭
    You should always put the max into your 401K before investing in anything else.
    "It's far easier to fight for principles, than to live up to them." Adlai Stevenson
  • jmski52jmski52 Posts: 22,825 ✭✭✭✭✭
    It's hard to argue with a matching funds contribution. How long must you keep it in your 401K in order to retain the matching funds contribution?

    I'm very wary of the financial industry at this point, and that includes the government, the regulators, the stock market & the financial institutions who run it. It's one thing to be confident about the future, and it's an entirely different matter when you start talking about what is happening to the bedrock that supports our way of doing business, i.e., free market capitalism.

    Saving for the future is a good thing. Being screwed by trusting a crook in investment banker's clothing is not the same as saving for the future.

    If the trend towards bailouts, derivative financing and increased spending on social programs for unemployed people who could otherwise be working for a living continues, I'd opt for "keeping my assets close to my vest". If the paradigm in Washington DC and Wall Street starts to change in the opposite direction, it will still take years to undo the damage. You will have plenty of time to assess things if they start to get better.

    As of today, I have my doubts. Keep in mind that nothing has changed. The laws and higher tax rates are still coming and they will still be very damaging to business and savings. People are so gullible.

    I'd continue to accumulate precious metals & cash. Depending on my total assets, maybe a small amount into Van Eck's gold fund for small miners. I'd make the 401K contribution, but I'd rip the money back out as soon as the 4% contribution was a done deal.

    Hey, you asked.image
    Q: Are You Printing Money? Bernanke: Not Literally

    I knew it would happen.
  • BAJJERFANBAJJERFAN Posts: 31,082 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I suppose as a point of reference, it depends on how your 401K contributions are invested. FWIW being over 60, I have the equivalent of 150 ounces of gold at $1350 per ounce in a money market. It earned me a whopping $2.60 for september.
    theknowitalltroll;
  • meluaufeetmeluaufeet Posts: 764 ✭✭✭
    Just a few thoughts:

    a) How many options do you have in the 401k... some offer only a handful
    b) Is your matching fully vested
    c) How often can you move your funds... some are only like twice a year

    d) You might just want to throw the whole thing in a money market fund... you won't earn $^#! but the matching might make up for it... then speculate via Roth, and taxable accounts...

    e) I'd still stack on a periodic basis regardless until you've had your fill.
  • yellowkidyellowkid Posts: 5,486 ✭
    You just can't say no to that match, keep it up and find some other money to put into PM's. I have been selling stock lately but I am retired and just can't take the hit(again) that a big decline in the market would give me. You are young, and you can.
  • TWQGTWQG Posts: 3,145 ✭✭
    I'd contribute enough to get the full match and then put the remainder (up to $15000/year?) into a self directed IRA. Once you max that out, contribute $5000/year to a Roth IRA. Any remainder buy more PM's. You can get plenty of additional PM exposure in your IRAs in addition to your physical holdings if you so choose.
    All of this assumes you own real estate with a fixed rate loan.
    Rinse and repeat.
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