Silver: a good investment?

Silver prices have been getting lower lately. Is now a good time to invest? Will silver hold its vaule for another 10 year? 20? 50? I'm going to buy a small amount for sure but I'm wondering if now isnt the right time to start my retirement fund.

I like http://www.kitco.com/market/ for up to the date prices.

If you want to simply invest in silver (rather than taking physical posession) then you may consider investing in a silver fund. I believe Kitco offers a silver fund, and you get an advantageous "buy" price, plus you can invest any dollar amount you like instead of rounding it off into 1-ounce dollar value chunks.

Last July the price of palladium hit $175/oz., a five year low. A week ago it was up to $350. I was kicking myself...

Well, silver still seems kind of high to me. Just based on the cyclical nature of the price I won't buy for a while. I expect it to come down. But this is just my belief based on history. I have no actual analysis to back it up.

Yeah, when I bought silver last it was around $5.75/oz...

JM-99

thesurefir, thanks for the spot price link.

I think that silver prices will continue to slowly trend upward. Steadily increasing uses in electronics will keep the demand up.

It was a year ago when I bought for $6.96/oz

Read the reports on Kitco make your decision based on that info. This is the wrong place to ask that kind of question.

I offer one word of caution: Do not invest in precious metals (silver, gold, platinum) as retirement nest egg.

Prescious metals market always fluctuate wildly due to supply & demand. For your retirement fund, If you are still young, it best to invest in blue chip mutual fund to spread out the risk to entire fund.
However, if you are growing old in 50s, it is much better to transfer money into money income fund such as mortgage fund, T-Bill fund to reduce the risk of loss.

I had seen many people lose their entire life savings base on slick sale tactics of unscrupulous investment dealer. they intend to relieve you of your money. They aren't interested in protecting your money. For example, a Canadian investment firm, Portus Financial Management, had swindled all of its client out of $800.00 million US dollars. All of those investors are teachers, doctors, average joe truck driver, bus driver whom lost all of their income because of precious metal trading and energy trading. The major executives of the company had fled the country. No money was able to recovered from the company.

That is warning to you guys. This isn't islolated case in canada. You never put all your eggs in 1 basket.

Funny, I was just thinking about this yesterday.

I've always been 'bullish on silver'... But I wouldn't be investing in it NOW.

I like silver as a safety net for when the flit hits the shan, because silver, in addition to being a store of value has a lot of very utilitarian uses, unlike gold which 90% of the value is purely psychological....

But it is too late for it to be a wise investment for this go around IMHO. It COULD still go up significantly, but I wouldn't risk it now. Might as well go to Vegas and put your 'investment' on a Craps table. ABOUT the same odds as buying silver at this time.

Thanks for the input guys. I'm still young and not looking to put away any large sums of money yet, just some here and there. Its never to early to start thinking about the furture. I'm not planning on just having silver, it just seemed to be a somewhat logical start.

Right now I've very glad I put in my order when I did (got it for 11.90ish) and it seems to be to late to buy more. For the record if I was of legal gambling age I would be playing texas hold em and nothing else in vegas

I've read all the reports on kitco and various other websites, but most of them sell things so their advice is aways the same 'its a great investment, just buy it from us.'

I would have to second the earlier comment about this being the wrong venue for asking this question. Any investing decision would also have to take into account factors beyond and separate from the investment itself. Suitability should immediately come to mind...a good investment for one person may or may not be suitable for another. Think flashlights (torches for some of you)...a Fenix L1P is a great light, but is it suitable as a primary light for a LEO? Doubt it.

BTW, I am licensed to sell securities and other investments. Sorry to sound so harsh, no offense is meant to the great folks on CPF.

Candle Wax is definately the way of the future!


Just kidding. I believe land is the best investment a person can make, especially a young person that can hold onto it for 10 to 20 years.

I have to agree this is not the best place to get an answer for your financial future. I tend to agree precious metals is not a long term investment tool. But it somewhat hot right now due to currency traders jumping on board lately due to the instability and wild fluctuations in currency market. I also agree, that one of if not the most secure way to develop "wealth" is through the investment in land. The buildings and such are temporary but the value of the land will increase over time. As Will Rogers said "buy land they just not making it anymore" The issue with land from an investment stand point is liquidity you may not be able to sell it today if you need the money for the light bill but you could also be the poorest millionaire anyone ever met. If you take what I jsut said and add $1.00 to it you could possibly by a cup of cofee.

I would like to add that I've been very fond of Precious Metals(PM's) since it was legal to own gold, but I've never had more than 5% of my money tied up in them.

PM's themselves should not be thought of an investments, they are insurance against rampant inflation.

Since the turn of the last century a quality man's suit cost an ounce of gold, it still holds true even though gold has gone from $20 to $650

You see the price of gold has not gone up, the buying power of a dollar has gone down due to inflation.

Would gold be a better choice? You can use it as barter in SHTF situations.

Typically, Gold is viewed as a good hedge against a falling USD. When the greenback weakens, investors flock to gold. This is apparent even now.


WP

We need the Hunt brothers (or somebody new) to make a run on the silver market again like in the 70's. Silver went up to $50/oz!

I frequently kick myself for not cashing in on a few of the silver dollars from my old coin collection when that price hit $50/oz.

Geoff

With digital photography ramping up rapidly in popularity, demand for silver-based photographic emulsions will decline, leading to a glut in supply IMHO.