I have decided to write this article in light of the recent closure and/or collapse, of Indy Mac and Bear Stearns. Those of you that have been directly affected in some way due to one or both of these unfortunate events, you are in our prayers. Could you imagine working hard each day and putting your earnings into a bank that you trust only to find out one day that bank is gone and any excess of funds over $100,000 are gone as well. Now imagine owning stock in one of the biggest firms on wall street or even working and making great money with that firm, only to wake up one day to find out that your job is gone or again most of your money is gone. It doesn't stop there. Some of the mortgage companies are in trouble as well.How quickly we have forgotten the lessons learned from Enron. The leaders may lose vast fortunes, but most still have to find a way to get by on "a few million dollars". For the average worker, every penny from a lifetime of work is sometimes wiped out entirely. Retirement plans and even everyday living plans, are gone in the blink of an eye.When I was in California, I always wondered why so many of my Asian friends and their families did not use banks. When I moved to NY I learned about the Jewish community and their belief system. Not only did they not keep all of their money in banks, but they invested their funds in a lot of gold, silver, other precious metals, fine art and paintings. In addition to that they purchased their homes in a lot of cases outright. To a great extent, a growing sector have decided to insulate themselves as much as possible from the wildly swinging pendulum of the economy. When your home is paid off, you can ride the winds of change a lot easier, because there is no mortgage to concern yourself with.If our eyes are not open already it is time to open them very wide, and see that the economy is very unpredictable at best. Now I did not say that to scare anyone. Instead, now is the time to pay attention to and manage your own money. And no I am not saying that as an expert, I have had to again change my way of thinking from my thoughts as a teenager into my early twenties. At that time I used banks mainly because I did not feel comfortable in having to keep track of my money. Now it is a way of life for me. And remember that the dollar depreciates so even when we do have large amounts of money it is only short term, in that the funds are used to pay for appreciating assets that we use in our daily lives; Antique Sterling Flatware, Fine Art, Classical Furniture, Rugs, Bone China, etc. Why put your $1000 in someone else's hands to earn maybe 3% interest when you can take the same $1000 and pay for a sterling or coin silver tea set worth $1500 or a Period Federal table worth $2,000.The challenge for the week is to use money from a bank, a stock, a piggy bank, etc, and invest it into an appreciating asset. Also, if you have access to your money or other assets, set it up where you don't have all your money or assets tied up in one place. While precious metals, antiques, fine art, real estate, stocks, etc are great ways for your money to appreciate, we still recommend that you do not put all of your money in one vehicle. If you are worried about the having quick access to your money, investing in precious metals would be the best route to take. Sterling silver would be the cheapest. Thank-you for taking the time to read the blog. Have a prosperous and blessed week.Shalom,Tamar
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