Stock Market
Monday March 26, 2018
Last year in 2017 I started thinking about alternative assets. This was when cryptocurrency was taking the world by storm and the gains were truly astronomical. I started looking into origins of currency like everyone else. I started off the previous years with a lot of clutter and looked into decluttering some old books and magazines and old articles of clothing that I took to Goodwill or donated to the library. But last year with the meteoric rise of Bitcoin a lot of people were talking about what was real currency. It was only recently that the United States got off the gold standard and started using fiat paper money and coins. Precious metals had always been used as currency before. But even before that civilizations used stones or gems or seashells. It got me thinking about certain precious metals and gemstones and how they seem to attract people. Robert Kiyosaki thinks of the yellow metal as a wealth attractor and thinks owning some of the metal brings good luck and that if you want a certain amount of money you should own equivalent amounts in the metal. Warren Buffet the richest man in the world sees no real value in it saying it’s a rock that’s just been assigned a value other than for jewelry purposes. Although both have had sagely advice both have had their share of bad luck times. Kiyosaki had been through bankruptcy at one point and Buffet has missed or had some missteps on a few few missed investments like Amazon. You can’t lose more than you win to get ahead of the game. Even currency can vary based on the environment you’re in. For example, in prison cigarettes and ramen packets are used as a sort of currency.
With the stock market tanking and rising and falling since February 2018 due to tariffs, shutdowns and political uncertainty it’s wise to own a variety of different assets and cash is still one of the most valuable assets. But don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Zimbabwe dollars eventually devalued to where a whole barrel can hardly buy bread and it’s easier to use the money as fire fuel. I started to look at also bonds and metals and gems because those will still continue to have some inherent value to someone. Crypto is quite volatile and it’s store of value is currently unknown however it seems to be deflationary at this time or at least has appreciated quite a bit of time since it started to get mainstream attention and since Japan legitimized it as a currency. You could even go as far to say cans of soup or bottles of water or gift cards can be used as a form of currency and in that aspect many people are richer than they think because they have abundance. And if that’s the case lot of people consume and eat their wealth quite quickly. Moderation and saving your assets is key. It’s okay to donate clutter and “assets” when it can’t be used any more or sold or loses its use and ability to aid in enhancing your quality of life. I had all these old papers and training materials and these papers were collecting in my bedroom where I couldn’t vacuum or move my room and I had a jumbled mess. It was easier to get rid of things and start over from scratch. Never be afraid to torch the house to gain the bacon is a useful saying because sometimes you just have to start completely over or lose everything to get it back.
