Investments for the slightly paranoid?

Silver has many advantages over gold. The best bargain in silver is bags of pre-1965 US dimes, quarters and halves.
Here is a good and recent article by silver analyst Ted Butler:

http://www.investmentrarities.com/03-08-05.html

Here is one of the cheapest and largest online bullion dealers. Their prices (which include delivery) are a good guideline against prices from your local dealer.

http://www.tulving.com/

Here is another online dealer:

http://apmex.com/home.asp

Here is an interesting forum for precious metals investors where you can find answers to all your questions:

http://www.goldismoney.info/forums/index.php

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The Price of Liberty is Eternal Vigilance

Hi Mike,

I agree with you. Right now we are putting what little money we have into our farm house and garden, and I am not out looking to buy any more silver or gold. But I plan to keep the little bit of silver and gold we do have as a reserve. Since I only have a small place (2.77 acres) my plan is to get my garden expanded as much as possible, and to seal up this drafty old barn we call a farm house so we can heat it for less. Also we are stocking up on items we will not be able to produce ourselves, like med supplies, canning lids, flour, sugar, molasses, and such. I am even hoarding a bunch of foam backed plastic sheeting my cousin gets me for free at his job (darn useful stuff). But since I have a big old barn with a huge loft I have plenty of storage space for that kind of stuff.

Duke

Hello,

I have been actively investing for fifteen years. I have invested in almost every type of investment at some point, with varying degrees of success. Right now I would say that if you don't have an energy efficient house or drive a high mileage vehicle that you should change these things first. Someone who replied said why invest in utilities when you pay a utility bill? I have to agree with that. An investment made that will decrease your monthly expenditures is simply the best investment you can make. Gas prices are not going down. Electric prices may not go up a lot but they're not going to go down either. Investing in ways that save you gas or electricity or any energy source will help you save even more money in the future as prices for these items increase.

My latest investment:
I have an on demand propane hot water heater that heats the water for our baseboard system. Then there is a small circulator (75watt) to move the water around the BB loop. Until recently it used to be connected to the grid power. This was fine except that twice during the last six months we couldn't have heat because the grid power was out. Once was only 6-8 hours but the other time was almost a whole 24 hours. That day it was about zero outside and it got down to 45 in the house, I was not happy!

Well, last month I bought a solar panel (80watt), 2 batteries (6v 220ah), a battery charge controller and a small inverter (500watt). I now have a system that will run whenever I want it to. It's capable of running almost two weeks straight without a recharge but even in NY we don't usually have that many cloudy days in a row. The whole system cost me under $700. It will save my roughly $9 in electricity during a heating month. Since we end up heating about six months a year, it will pay for itself at the very least in about 10 years. This payback period will only get shorter as electricity prices go up. I will further shorten the payback period by using the system to run a fan or two during the summer when the circulator is not being used. This could really add up and could reduce the payback to about five years. The life expectancy of the solar panel is 25+ years. The battery could last 10+ years if I take good care of it.

As far as figuring a rate of return it doesn't matter to me on this investment because the most important thing is that I now have the added convenience of never having to worry about whether my house will be warm. As long as I don't run my propane tank empty - I'm golden!

As a secondary note:
I have invested in all compact florescent lights for my house. I see that they've already paid for themselves and have only had one burnout so far in almost 3 years. I highly recommend them. They can cut 10-25% a month of your electric bill.

Scotty

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I'm all for being religious but stay away from organized religions, they seem to cause more harm than good.