Investing $500 for a child

[lorian]

My little boy (7) has $500 saved from the years since he was born (i saved all those cash gifts) and I want to do something with it to protect it (so to speak) from the coming inflation.

what would you do with your kids money so it wouldn't lose it's value in the future (and I don't want to put it in a savings account!)

He has said he'd like to buy a cow someday (won't let him now for various reasons, not the right time). He really does want to save it for something important..but I'm afraid it will lose it's value as the dollar declines. Granted, $500 isn't a lot...but it is to him.

Looking for creative ideas from my homesteader friends.

[Roadking]

Well, a decent ranch gun very rarely drops in value...granted, he is, in my mind a bit young to use it yet (mine are 8.5 and 6 and proficient with bb & pellet... .22 in the spring). Maybe one of the new .177 pellet rifles? As powerfull as a .22 (just about).
hmm, at 7,... coin collecting, mineral searching, trapping, small mower to make more money (again, maybe a bit young yet).
Just tossing out from the top of my head.
My boys are heavy in the coin collecting and target shooting (and gardening, etc.), so maybe go with something he already enjoys, add to that something that will appreciate in vaule/skills.
Just a few thoughts.
Matt

[Bearfootfarm]

Well, a decent ranch gun very rarely drops in value

LOL

My first thought was a nice rifle

[Harry Chickpea]

Diversification is the first rule of investing.

Some possibilities, using $50 for each of ten different sector items-
A couple shares of Ford stock
A rare coin
A collectible movie poster from the 1970s or earlier
A small antique piece of furniture
A small amount of silver
A share of stock in a drug company
A bit of sports memorabilia from a major team
A share of stock in an oil company
A share of stock in Netflix
$50 cash money to invest in whatever comes along that looks like a good deal.

If any one of the items doubles in value, sell at least half of it and reinvest that gain in something different. Everything goes in cycles. One of the hardest things to do is to sell when an item has appreciated in value.

[||Downhome||]

I'm with a good gun or even a couple! may be hard to obtain in the future with any sum of money! rifle would be at the top of my list.

dont know if you have a dunhams but they had this Rossi Single Shot Triple Barrel Set S122250M, 22 LR/50 Cal/12 Gauge wich is something I have been looking for. they always have the pairs and other trifectas , but its always other calibers combined never these three. but dunhams price was 199.00 with sales tax thats 211.00 that covers all the hunting I can think of plus leaves enough for another semi auto rifle or shotgun or even a few used if you shop or maybe a bow. though the bow has to fit the man more so then a gun. or you could invest the difference in some decent hand tools.

[jukebox]

For what it is worth- just a thought.

http://www.apmex.com/Product/57010/2...irculated.aspx

http://www.apmex.com/ChartImages/Cha..._6%20Month.jpg

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

i saw an add in the paper yesterday that one of the stores had a savage edge rifle with scope under 300 that and a 22 they had them for 109 for a bolt , i never plan on selling a gun but the price never seems to go down so if one bought some now to use later they would just be saving them selves the money later.

besides that i am not sure what holds it's value any more , i know things like tools and quality american made durable goods hold thier value for me but maybe not for resale

we were in the same spot last year each kid had some savings we have been holding for them in the past we did 1-2-3 year cd's when i suggested that the money would be better invested in an AR15 for each of the kids properly stored away for a few years i got shot down that a 5 year old didn't need a ar15 , but i said that it was the only thing i knew would hold it's value in this economy. well the kids didn't get an ar15 each and the money continues to loose value slowly in a savings account.

[Cyngbaeld]

I'd go with silver metal as it will hold its value relative to purchasing power.

[Bearfootfarm]

Another good investment, if your state offers it, would be a lifetime hunting and fishing license.

They are often cheaper at younger ages, and will pay for themselves over time.
I bought mine 30 years ago, and broke even after 7 years

[ovsfarm]

Seconding the gun idea. A hand gun we bought about 15 years ago has more than doubled in value and a rifle has tripled. And unlike collectibles, even if TSHTF, a gun would still hold its value while IMO, most people would be of the opinion that you can't eat collectibles or defend yourself with them.

I would also get a decent supply of ammo for the gun and rotate it. If it gets really bad and your son wants to sell the gun (because he has so many others ), it would sell better if you could throw in a couple of boxes of ammo that would make it immediately functional for the user.

[Wayne02]

Originally Posted by Harry Chickpea

Diversification is the first rule of investing.

Some possibilities, using $50 for each of ten different sector items-
A couple shares of Ford stock
A rare coin
A collectible movie poster from the 1970s or earlier
A small antique piece of furniture
A small amount of silver
A share of stock in a drug company
A bit of sports memorabilia from a major team
A share of stock in an oil company
A share of stock in Netflix
$50 cash money to invest in whatever comes along that looks like a good deal.

If any one of the items doubles in value, sell at least half of it and reinvest that gain in something different. Everything goes in cycles. One of the hardest things to do is to sell when an item has appreciated in value.

This is an exceptional approach for children to learn about investing. For it to be effective there needs to be some monitoring and follow-up so the child can see the fluctuations in value. Some of that can be done on the internet for example with the stock investments, but other items will need some legwork by the parent and subsequent explanations of what is happening to the investment. And if the adult can tie in the effects of current events all the better for the child's understanding.

What would be ideal is if the child could make some of the purchases themselves, like say at a swap meet, garage sale, pawn shop, even the precious metals sales that show up periodically. The child will remember that little piece of silver, or collectible they purchased at the weekly swap meet. For some of the other items if you can tie it to something that your family uses the more understanding and meaning it will have. Example is the netflix suggestion if your family uses netflix, or maybe your family uses the redbox movie deal in the stores, or maybe they use the coinstar machines in the grocery store to count your coins, maybe your child likes toys from a particular toy company.

I don't know that a 7 year old has the attention span to do all this, but you don't want to wait too long before beginning the the education process on money management. One of the greatest gifts we can give our children is a hands-on education as to the importance of money management. This kind of education will make a measurable difference in their quality of life as an adult.

[mamakatinmd]

My son bought Canadian silver maple leaf coins 2 years ago with his savings at $11.00 U.S dollars apiece. Today they are worth $26.00 each. It has been fun for him to watch them go up ( and sometimes down). We bought them at kitco.com.

[Freeholder]

How about finding a small piece of property that the owner will carry and use the $500 for a down payment? If it wasn't too expensive to start with the payments could be looked at as adding to the savings account.. Monetarily the value might drop, but buy it for what it can be used for -- that should hold it's value.

A rifle is a pretty good idea, too, though.

Or start buying tools for a trade, except that at seven it's usually hard to know what the child is going to want to do as an adult.

Kathleen

[The Bunny Ranch]

We buy silver. When we started buying it only a year ago it was at $10 an oz. Now it up to $26 an oz.

I'd buy the boy some silver rounds of an oz or more. You could also buy a bar or silver.

[Deb862]

I also vote for a gun. As others also posted above, we have seen items we purchased years ago double and/or triple in price over the years. Our daughter recently gave birth to our first grandchild (a boy!) and the first thing my hubby did when he found out she was pregnant was went out and purchased a rifle for him/her. Of course, it will not be given until many, many years from now but, in our experience, guns (and ammo) will NEVER be less expensive or MORE AVAILABLE to purchase than they are today.

[Harry Chickpea]

"He has said he'd like to buy a cow someday (won't let him now for various reasons, not the right time). He really does want to save it for something important..but I'm afraid it will lose it's value as the dollar declines. "

When responding to posts, I try to put aside my own bias when it interferes with a good response. Would someone please tell me how buying a gun is a sure way to keep enough money to buy a cow, and how selling that gun is going to be an easy thing emotionally? Follow-up question, with veal calves going for minimal cost, why does buying a cow have to cost a lot, especially if this is a "trainer" animal?

[Freeholder]

I've seen seven-year-olds showing huge teams of oxen at fair that they'd raised and trained themselves. Just something to think about.

Kathleen

[lorian]

My dad has made more money trading guns through the years than he ever did in the stock market. And I never thought of this?/ DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My son already has about 8 different guns (as gifts from his grandfather) and he loves them.
Talked to my dad and he is THRILLED to help him get started.
I seriously cannot believe I did not think of this before I posted.

Like the silver idea...but isn't it too late now? Isn't silver a "bubble"..bound to go back down soon?

[edcopp]

Another vote for silver.

[The Bunny Ranch]

Some people think that silver will reach $55 or more an oz in the coming days.

A fun thing you could do is take the $500 an get 2 boxes of dimes at the bank at $250 each. Search through the coins to find all of the silver dimes pre 64. They are worth $1.93 silver melt value. We call this "coin roll hunting". It's fun! We have found over 200.

We also hunt for copper pennies. You can sell them on ebay. A two boxes of copper cents ($50) can get you over $123 on ebay. They are easier to find than the silver dimes.

You could do this with any coin really. Another good one would be the half dollar.

Hope this helps.

http://www.coinflation.com/coin_calculators.html