Thursday, September 04, 2008

Your money - no hiding place in the Crash

I've spent some time trying to find out where's a safe place for any little wealth you and I might have. Looking at the Great Depression for a precedent, Jesse suggests it's more a game of cat-and-mouse, or fox-and-geese. No "fire-and-forget," then: we will have to keep looking, thinking and acting. (htp: Michael Panzner)

9 comments:

James Higham said...

You'd have to say cash until you realize we have fiat money. The answer then is that there is no safe place.

Nick Drew said...

sorry to appear pedestrian, but is there any suggestion that NS&I index-linked's are unsafe ...?

I mean, if HMG reneges on that I will be in the street with gun in hand anyway

AntiCitizenOne said...

Farm land.

NMMM.NU said...

Gold, but if you do not like it:

Half EUR, Half USD.

Sackerson said...

Thanks for views, all. At least farm land produces something you can use directly!

Nick: if govts default, who will ever give them money again? With index-linked bonds, I wonder what happens if RPI ever turns negative? I haven't read the fine print.

Nick Drew said...

good question, neither have I

I happen to be in the IN camp, but if DE is right, well, like you I have long believed in clearing debt in times like this

James Higham said...

Nick - good point about NS&I index-linked.

Sackers said:

Nick: if govts default, who will ever give them money again?

The next generation who never experienced it will.

Anonymous said...

i would go for farm land. prices rising fast at the mo. you can grow fruit and veg of your own and not pay tax on the produce. i have an idea to buy a parcel of land and split it up into private allotments. allotments are always popular, but difficult to come by. think that keen gerdeners would like the idea of keeping their food bills down in the face of rising prices. no vat or income tax to pay on it either. elderly people like their gardening and they are on fixed income so saving money on increasingly expensive food by growing your own has got to be a good idea right? i reckon the unemployed would consider it too - keeps their costs down but they can still claim benefits as growing your own food on an allotment wouldn't normally be considered as work. you can grow your own apples, strawbs, beans, peas, carrots, cabbages, potatoes,all manner of things in a small allotment.

Anonymous said...

IL Gilts can follow negative inflation all the way down.
But the savings certificates can't. If inflation turns negative, you still get the 1% nominal (to cite the current rate).

I may be a bloody amateur, but I have to know a little about these things because I am a trustee. Unfortunately, a little knowledge....