I try not to quote any financial terrorists that I see online. They are always promoting something and trying to take advantage of your vulnerabilities. For example, let's say you are a wife whose financially astute husband just died. You might be vulnerable to financial terrorists. So, I make it a point of not quoting these kinds of people regarding money in any way. 

If there are news events that effect oil or other commodities I might report that because people should be aware even if it is just being aware of how much gas and diesel is going to cost them this next month or so.

But, there are so many financial terrorists out there that reading some articles just sort of rots your mind. So, never read articles like this when you are depressed or having emotional problems so you don't lose your financial shirt.

 

Beware of the Financial Terrorists

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There's a much greater threat out there, what I call “financial terrorism” - the self-proclaimed prophets of doom and gloom who are predicting financial Armageddon “just around the corner.” I've never seen so many “gloomy gus” forecasters out there as ...

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Beware of the Financial Terrorists

Mark Skousen | Jan 01, 2016

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“Nothing is more difficult than holding on to your stocks in a bull market.” — Jim Dines, “Maxims of Wall Street,” p. 99
Several hundred innocent people were killed by radical Islamic terrorists in 2015, and no doubt there will be more tragedies in 2016.
As bad as terrorism is, your chances of being maimed or killed by terrorists are extremely small.
There’s a much greater threat out there, what I call “financial terrorism” — the self-proclaimed prophets of doom and gloom who are predicting financial Armageddon “just around the corner.” I’ve never seen so many “gloomy gus” forecasters out there as I do these days.
The latest even abuses the world’s greatest investor with this headline: “Warren Buffett Indicator Signals Massive Collapse.” In the scary promotion, a bear (not Buffett) is quoted as saying, “We have no right to be surprised by a severe and imminent stock market crash. In fact, we must absolutely expect it.”
How can promoters get away with this abuse? Buffett is clearly no Cassandra. My son and I attended his 50^th anniversary shareholders’ meeting in Omaha last May, and he was outright bullish about the future.
These financial terrorists can do a lot more damage to your lifestyle than the radical Islamic terrorists by causing untold anxiety about your money and your investments. You may end up investing in gold and penny stocks, while missing out on profitable opportunities in the traditional stock and bond markets. I know one fellow who sold his home to buy gold and mining stocks, only to see his net worth fall sharply, and he’s still trying to make it all back. At the most recent New Orleans conference, I met investors who had lost more than 70% of their portfolio investing in penny mining stocks, even as Wall Street was near record highs. It reminds me of one of my favorite collectible financial books entitled, “Wiped Out: How I Lost a Fortune in the Stock Market While the Averages Were Making New Highs” (Simon & Schuster, 1966). It seems that investors will never learn.
Dennis Miller has appropriately warned, “Beware of the prophet seeking profits.”
Just remember, in the past 100 years on Wall Street, stocks have gone up twice as often as they have gone down.

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Beware of the Financial Terrorists

The safest form of investment likely might be to own stocks rather than mutual funds, dividend bearing blue chip stocks that you hold onto for 50 years while collecting the dividends or reinvesting them. Then you hedge this bet with 40% tax free muni bonds, so if the stock market dumps for a while you still have a bond ladder. Then you try to have any real property paid for. Because unless real property is paid for it is not an investment really, it is only a liability until it is paid for, especially if you have a flexible interest loan where changes in the economy and interest rates might rob you of your home at some point in the future.

So, just remember your home is not an investment until it is paid for. And it is only an investment after that if you can still afford to pay the taxes on it ongoing. 

Also, regarding owning a home it is Location Location Location. Otherwise your wonderful investment might be worth absolutely nothing and be underwater loan wise in another Great Recession or Great Depression. 

However, if you buy land somewhere you want to live the rest of your life then build the thing yourself so it is paid for, it is your home, and then you might not care what it is worth because you might always want to live there. And you will never pay rent again,  just property taxes the rest of your life.

I have a friend like this who bought 2 1/2 acres for around 5000 dollars in the mountains in 1976. Before the great recession he was offered around 1 million for it. But, he'll never sell it. He prefers having everything paid for all the time so he can take extra money and travel the world now.

Not having a mortgage or student loan to pay off can be very freeing, travel wise worldwide if you like that.

If you calculate how much you will pay for rent over the next 30 to 50 years it is something to consider. Because then you can either save or invest all this money you don't have to pay for rent or you can travel the world or all these things  with all this money you are saving not ever paying rent ever again (unless it is for a hotel or motel room while traveling).