Dept Economy

His points are good. Our economy is based too much on debt. But, the problem is, that has been true for the last 25 years or longer. Economists have been saying the same things since before Ronald Reagan was President.

 

EW&F : it's debt, not dept, as in department. Also, it's "our country's economy."

 

The best thing to do is what the Bible says to do in Ecclesiastics 11:2. Diversify your investments.

One day there will be a really big collapse in the stock market. In my opinion it is twenty years overdue. But, it seems that it is artificially held high by the current investment instruments. ROI is low for the amount of risk on many stocks, but because of the number of people investing in 401K etc., investors are not concerned with returns in the low single percents.

Prime farmland value in areas such as the Midwest is often near and even over ten thousand US dollars an acre. The earnings after expenses and taxes on the land are not over ten percent which is what used to be common returns for farmers. Farmland is a great investment to remain in, but not the best investment to get into today unless you have tens of millions to invest.

Gold and fine metals is basically gambling. It is unlikely you will have a decent annual return on investment. They are just hedges against inflation.

So, what does a good investor do? Put a little in each of some of the different types of investments. Some may do better some years than the others. Then the next year, it may be the opposite. Don't fall for "The sky is falling" investment advise. Use the wisdom of the Scriptures. Diversify your investments and whatever you do, put God first in your investment planning. He gives us the ability to build wealth to prepare for the future and to do what he has called us to do. No matter how rich or poor we are, be satisfied with what the Lord has given us.

 

We should be prudent, and invest wisely, but as the great depression demonstrated, bad economic policy results in boom then bust cycles. Someone above said diversify, and I certainly agree. I thought real estate was pretty solid, but then the subprime load policy resulted in a boom/bust in that market too. I think buying gold is betting against the US economy and I do not think that is a good bet. I think a third in insured accounts, third in real estate, and the rest in conservative market accounts may not be the best, but is far from the worst.