Contrary to popular belief a home is not an investment unless it is paid for. And since 2008 it is worse than that. A home in the wrong zip code isn't considered an investment either even if it IS paid for after the Great Recession Debacle.
A car or truck generally is not considered an investment. However, there are exceptions to this:
If it is an antique in good condition and will continue to go up in value. Certain cars and trucks if maintained (if you are careful and check) might continue to go up in value.
So, now we have dealt with vehicles and homes it is much easier to move forward.
What has recovered the most in financial gain since the 2008 Great Recession?
Answer: The Stock Market.
The reason for this is if we are talking about American Blue Chip Stocks many or most American Based Blue Chip Companies are world wide in nature and scope. So, the American Stock Market is not just based upon how the United States is doing but on how the whole world is doing economically speaking. So, when you invest in international Blue Chips you are investing in the whole world not just the United States.
However, because of volatility since 2008 and because we don't presently have something like a Glass Steagle Act in place to protect investors only the upper middle class and rich tend to invest presently in the stock market.
For example, the stocks right now this moment are 16,875 etc. and have dropped so far today around 32 points. What does that mean?
It means that if you had $16,875 invested in stocks your average loss right now since yesterday is $32.
However, if you are a long term investor that means nothing to you because the whole point is investing for the long haul. For example, I know someone who invested $50,000 in General Electric in the 1950s by the early 2000s that $50,000 became $3,000,000.
So, though you can make a whole lot of money in the stock market you have to be patient.
Understanding that you can't really do this with Real Estate usually is a good place to start learning about investing.
So, understanding this one could have invested $50,000 in 1955 and then sold their $3,000,000 in stocks in 2000 and bought likely a $2,000,000 house for cash in 2000 but then that house might have lost $1,000,000 dollars in value in 2008 and 2009. So, you would have lost $1,000,000 of those dollars in value. However, you didn't have to make payments beyond the property taxes because you paid cash for that house. So if you could afford the taxes and to live, you would still own this home and likely it has now returned to the $2,000,000 in value if you held fast. So, at this point you wouldn't have lost anything because your investment(because you paid cash) has recovered.
If you wanted to you could now sell that home for $2,000,000 and diversify it into stocks and Municipal bonds at a 60% stocks 40% muni bond split.
Doing this you are hedging your bets. The municipal bonds if you buy them in the same state you presently live in are tax free from both state and Federal taxes. (This is the investment that did the best during the Great Depression).
So, if the stock market tanks for some reason you still have your 40% invested tax free in municipal bonds. However, you have to be very careful right now of making sure your municipal bonds are insured by Treasuries or some form of insurance. Because if the city you are investing in goes bankrupt you will not only lose interest you will also lose principal as well.
So, by investing 60% into a diversified stock portfolio at an opportune time for investment combined with a 40% investment into Municipal bonds you are hedging your bets for the future. Most people who do this are not disappointed in the future of their investments.
However, the more diversified you are in your investments usually the better chance for success on into the future you have. In other words your house, car, portfolio are all completely paid for and if you want to go 10% gold for times where your home economy completely collapses that is up to you.
However, generally speaking I have found that unless you are an experienced gold trader you will always lose money buy just buying and selling gold. God is best if you just buy it and keep it 30 to 50 years or more as a survival tool for emergencies for your family.
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