⌛ Need tips on secure retirement investment!!!!

things are not always what they seem...

In India the products such as a packet of shampoo, toothpaste, soap and detergents are target towards people who are below the average class, we might consider them poor, they usually wash their hair with dirt (no joke here I saw these in the TV business report about a company who started to target the low end market and was proven to be profitable, in which at first glance might not be considering they earn less than a dollar a day) note here I didn't memorize what company it was, this comment was not specific I didn't memorize what I watch I just want to point the Idea. :D it was a Japanese channel but was featuring an company in India targeting the low end consumers in the rural areas of india.

 

Peso falling

check my last post there it may help you with you investments

 

Buy Gold

Get out of US dollars, out of Yen, out of Euros, out of all fiat currencies and into silver and gold.


Argentum et aurum comparenda sunt

 

Retirement Income through investments

There are a lot of investment vehicles like pension, annuities, mutual funds, even longterm healthcare (3-1) and of course the Investment-linked product or (VUL). In my opinion, the VUL is the best of them all for many reasons: it works like a mutual fund that money is pooled and will be managed by experts PLUS a free 125% insurance of your capital. It is non garnishable, tax-free income and there are three funds to choose from. You can choose buying from equity, balanced or bond funds or a combination of those funds. I suggest- Profile the company and the agent first.

What I would advise would be to invest widely over several avenues depending on your risk appetite. The investment mantra at all times is "buy cheap, sell high". So you can invest in any avenue that appears cheap at present and sell when selling price is high.

You could diversify over Equity shares (high risk)/ Mutual funds (medium risk) / Bonds or bank deposits (low risk) / gold (no risk) / real estate (variable risk), and wait at least 3 to 10 years to see your investment grow. High risk investments usually have high returns and vice versa. (Choose investments by asking the question - Will this investment last 10 years? Will this investment make money after 10 years ? If "yes" you can't be wrong !).

You can ask me questions re investments.

Happy investing...
Ianne
Financial Advisor - AXA Philippines
MD Club - IMG

 

how do you get into silver and gold type investments?

 

Yep it is weird that ppl think they can set up a business in the Philippines if they never did in their homeland (where they do know the market, have a network and there are all kind of institutions to help them). Partly it is arrogance, partly ignorance to underestimate such an endeavour.

 

Business in the Philippines and Gold

As far as Gold I don't buy gold on paper. I buy physical gold and store it in a safety deposit box in a bank. Every year I buy gold in April, May or June when it bottoms out. Then sell it by October, November or December when it is at its high. In an average year during this time it goes up 10%. When I tried to share this gold was just over $25.00 a gram and today price is over $40.00a gram. I have been rolling over the gold for 10 years now. I have a little over 2000 grams for my old age.

Now as far as business in the Philippines. This is a very interesting place. The profit margins are so low that you can't live your western life style on them. If you try your business well fail. Average business if it is doing well will net you 10 - 15 thousand peso a month. Most of the westerners I know spend that in a night out. I got my wife and I down to 15000 thousand peso a month. No Air conditioner, no cable TV, no internet. Maybe once a month you can have a night out a few beers, living a very quiet life. We own our home so no rent.

However there are a few problems you need to address. Never give credit (You are just foolish if you do). Just because you are slow and credit seems like the only thing you can do to sell trust me you are not selling you are just giving it away. No one pays it back because they expect your business to fail so they won’t have to pay it anyway. Their thinking, you are a rich foreigner who will just go home when you are broke because that is what most of us do.

Then you have to deal with the slow times the big one is when it is time for kids to go back to school it is a large expense to most families so for a few months they have no money to spend. So you will be operating at a loss for the most part during this time. Luxury Goods are out Filipinos seldom spend their money on them except for western boyfriends to buy for their Filipina. So your best bet is to open more than one business. Three small businesses so in the good times maybe could make 30 – 45 thousand a month in the slow times they help each other stay open. I hope this helped.

 

There are many different options...gold buillion, gold coins, gold-backed securities (which pay a yield and you participate in appreciation of the metal), Gold mining stocks, Gold and Mining ETFs and my favorite approach, options (covered shorts and spreads) on Gold ETFs.

Gold-backed securities are good also if you need income. They pay a set yield of the principle amount you invest and are backed by Gold. You also participate in the underlying appreciation of Gold. Yields are typically between 4% to 5% per year.

 

This what I have learned over the years.

I was in the Jewelry business for a few years and watched the prices move up and down every year. It was almost like clockwork just before the holidays Jewelry manufacturers order gold for American, Indian and Chinese consumers. Which on average causes 10% jump for a short period of time. I understand what you are saying the average is 4% - 5% over the year. But I am not in the paper came I tried and fail. I have a serious lack of understand of the stock market. I don’t hold gold year round. Half the year it is in cash yes in the same box I keep the safety deposit box I keep the gold. Never have I been willing to leave a paper trail. As it is I am selling my Swiss Credits. It is time to go back to cash with a very nice profit this year.

 

I have tried the minning stock route, I held shares in the Benguet minning company B shares for foreigners and held on to them several years waiting for the price of gold and silver to raise hoping it would spur more production, but now the B shares suddenly have been delisted. Maybe with a member of the Marcos family on the board I should have been more cautious with my investment but that is also how we learn.

Teacher your plan sounds simple, based on observation, and it appears to be going well for you. Myself I do not like the part about having physical possession of the gold but I suppose if you never need to move it a bank vault is sufficient enough for storage.

Having spent many years in the Middle East and being awed by the gold markets found just about everywhere I do not believe the market for gold will ever just dry up. Its so popular a metal no matter where in the world you go. Even aswawa Ko likes its liquidity and thinks nothing of running to a pawn shop to hawk it when the need arises. It would be nice to tap into some of that growth for sure.