There is so much to choose from when it comes to investing. I have condensed our preferred method of investing into a solid portfolio mentioned in last week's topic. To create a successful portfolio, start off with precious metals. Gold, Silver, Platinum, etc are examples of precious metals, while all are good investments, especially if you can get a great discount, we will focus on silver since it is very undervalued and affordable. Within the past 3 months silver has fluctuated between $13.00 to $20.00. You must remember that when you buy silver or any precious metal you are buying money. For example, if all you had was a gold bar or a Tiffany sterling silver flatware set and you wanted to trade it for food, the owner would gladly trade with you. In reality you just traded $2000 or more for groceries. For those of you that are thinking about going to the pawn shop to pawn some gold, silver, etc STOP. For those that have precious metals there already, go get them. There are many pawn dealers out there, especially now, hoping that people do not come back for their precious metal items, especially since they probably paid some ridiculous amount for the items. If someone offers to buy precious metals from you, please do your research before selling any of these items. There is a link to precious metals pricing on the website antiquesandfineart4everyone.com and the topic "Building your portfolio" of the blog.Always remember that you make your money when you buy not when you sell. For example if you buy a sterling tea set for $100 and sell it for $1500, you have made a $1400 profit. If the tea set was given to you as a gift then you have increased your profit by $1500. This is a simple rule and applies to everything you purchase. Something else to remember, is that this is the perfect time to invest, since we are in a recession. There is a book called "The New Fine Points of Furniture, Early American" by Albert Sack. He makes reference to a woman who purchased a piece of furniture from Israel Sack (an Antique dealer and his father) for $2500 and sold it back to him during the "Great Depression" for $20,000. Now the item is on display at the Winterthur Musuem. My point is, that the woman was having a hard time and needed cash quickly. She is no different than the people who are struggling in today's economy. While that amount was a lot of money to her it was minute compared to the money the dealer made when he sold it for 3 to 4 times what he gave her. When people are trying to keep their heads above water, they will sell what they need to make the money they need for living expenses. There are a lot of items on the market being sold below their actual market value for this reason. This brings me back to people who are paying "good money" for precious metals, especially gold. There are some gold and silversmiths out there, but the dishonest ones are out there as well, so again, I employ you to do your research.The challenge of the week is to invest in one piece of silver using the rule mentioned above. Ebay, the Goodwill, Estate sales, live auctions, etc are great places to find bargains. Also you might want to think twice before passing a garbage can. There is truth to the saying "one man's junk is another man's treasure". There are antique dealers that pay people to go through other people's garbage. There was a brief period where people were throwing away Tiffany lamps, which are worth thousands to hundreds of Thousands a piece. Again just something to think about especially if you already work for the sanitation department picking up garbage. Thank-you for reading the topic of week. Have a blessed rest of week.Shalom,Tamar
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