Trading for profit ( to buy a boat)

In 2000 I was driving a new build project in Turkey, as a side opportunity I purchased/refurbished then sold a 42ft sailing CAT from UK owner. My son and a local labourer did the refurb (my son was on vacation).
We split the $40K profit and invested in gold @ US$250 oz - the original 40K has passed 130K.

 

Its wise to have commodities as part of your investment portfolio....Also wise to have APPLE shares

 

I've never invested in stocks, never had a real interest in learning about the hows and whats good. Gambling on the ability of someone unknown to make you a profit plus paying a broker to double dip a commission on your intial invested capital with no committment to your profit never made sense to me.
My investment thing aside from a one off buying gold was to buy up propertises (or a boat) using my assets to raise the initial roll over capital fund.
Then between projects my son and I would refurb the property then sell it off, buy another.
Sometimes if the return potential/location was good we would rent for a year depending on the income plus capital gain and then sell but the taxes on profits had to be planned in.

Thats the advantage with gold in Aus, no taxes

 

...Im not a stock gambler either.

I have stocks in my pension plan. These stocks wilted during the Savings and Loan crisis. I regrouped then got hammered in the Asia Financial Crisis , tried again but got clobbered in the Dot com bust and have since been reduced to a small boy in short pants by the current meltdown

 

I'm not clever enough to gamble and too lazy to learn how. I figured the best way was use the skills I got, and do one project a time, and buy smart.

My motivation - the 2sqm cardboard box under the overpass does'nt come with mooring or sea view

 

Funny, I guy I know is a real estate speculator. Always a nice new car,new hairdoo, never works.
One day at beer oclock he came to our table and we started taking money. His reply to us guys in blue work overalls, beat up cars and old shoes was...

" Your problem is that you are so busy working that you will never have enough time to make money."

A week ago I ran into this clever speculator at the shipyard .... He is Bankrupt..... He asked if we had any work around ...now he is scraping anti foul while wearing top quality shoes..

 

All dressed up with no where to go.

 

I think we have been very lucky in Aus/NZ. The NZ realestate market has been very steady with some exceptional growth in specific areas particularly where wealthy immigrants (Chinese) have been investing.
In Australia the house and commercial markets have been bullet proof, growth every year but I still prefer to use a concervative approach. Buy the investment with my own money, only borrow for refurb cost so I freehold the asset not the bank.

I know builders that have gone under because they over extended building spec houses and others that invested $2-$3million in a high value canal homes, spent 12month doing hands on refurb work with sub contractors and made $1.0m profit.

 

As they say...pay your money , take your chances.....just like they did in Spain

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/19/us-australia-housing-idUSBRE87I08Y20120819

 

And remember, when considering demand..Demographics is everything.

Who will buy the second speculative real estate investment ?

When will the aging baby boomers sell for retirement income ?

http://



http://blog.id.com.au/2012/australian-demographic-trends/who-are-the-baby-boomers/

 

Good article and realistic. I saw the results of Brits investing in Southern Turkey after abandoning Spain and same thing happened. Turks developers started putting up 'villages' everywhere charging crazy prices then bottom dropped out of market from combination of over supply and UK eccomic slow down/banks calling in loans.
Dubai same
China same

 

Home ownership and real estate is a poor way to build a society. Real estate is a non productive asset. The most productive society , Switzerland , has the lowest rate of home ownership ...real estate speculation, non productive capital.

Germany is similar.

A National Public Radio special. NPR is the American Equivalent of the BBC

http://www.npr.org/2012/06/04/154160951/after-the-housing-bust-revisiting-homeownership

I don't know Australia but the US artificially stimulates the real estate market with tax benefits.

Its a Counter intuitive policy that locks up capital, like blocks of gold, and deprives small business of capital.

 

I didn't buy my place to speculate on inflation. I bought it to live in.

When you're renting, watching the rents rise and your retirement income shrink, my outgoings will be my local council rates, currently approx $1000 per annum. All my other costs (power etc) a renter also has to pay.

I can also have extensive tools and a big orchard & garden because, as I own the place, I can afford the time investment over the years to reap the benefits later on. My fruit trees are starting to produce well now and I started planting them years ago.

You pay your money and you take your choice.... I wouldn't swap mine for yours.

PDW

 

Yours is a lifestyle choice and since we live in free societies, every citizen should have the right to make their own lifestyle choices.

I reject any government policy.... Fannie May, tax breaks ...for lifestyle choices. They pervert the free market and distort capitalism .

Boats are a lifestyle choice...should we also have a government policy for boat owning ?

 

Michael,

Gold has some industrial value and as jewelry. True for the most part, it does not contribute to wealth production in of itself however, unlike fiat paper bills, it has some intrinscate value and can not arbitrarily be produced by turning on the printing press. It is honest money when used as a medium of exchange.

If you are productive and have places to invest where there is a good prospect for return on investment, do it but, from the wealthiest to the average man, at times parks thier money and waits for the next opportune time to reinvest again or puts a portion away to save. That is when you want to be in gold.