No I didn't buy Macquarie Bank. As a rule I don't invest in banks, investment banks or insurance companies as I find them to be far too risky, too opaque and too complicated.
Or... do something like have a small(ish) hobby type farm, grow all your own fruit and veg, grow and process you own meat into smallgoods and fresh products . Live the "good life" and the sink the $$ you save into PM's. you will to a certain extent becom self sufficient in food, you will be slowly removing yourself from the most painful aspects of our FIAT economy aall at the same time poking your finger in the Grubbyments eye
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/2013/10/19/10/55/brazil-fire-burns-300-000-tonnes-of-sugar This is the nature of farming.
An alternative option that I don't believe I have seen mentioned before: http://gladstoneland.investorroom.com
Also Jim Rogers' Australian Farmland Fund: http://www.greenworldbvi.com/alternative-investments-options/agricultural-farmland/australian/ Website couldn't look any more professional...
Turn key mango farm anyone? http://simplynaturalinvestments.com/ (high cost per acre but if the returns are even half true they're good!)
Apropos, we are putting our place on the market. It's actually a home and packhouse on a 5 acre block with hydroponics at the back: Packers who grow, rather than farmers who pack. We have access to 'real' farmers in the area; the skills needed are more to do with handling logistics and operations. Done it for ten years, want to do something different. We supply packaged product to supermarkets in the top half of Queensland; it's profitable, would suit a family, and in a SHTF scenario the hydroponics could be used for food and barter. Not an investment, per se - more of a treechange We're not feeling suicidal yet.
Most people are led to believe that farmers are broke.... Sure it depends how they go about things and some do go broke as people fail in various industry but most farmers are absolutely loaded....
Alpacas !!!! It cost like $300/year to grow them. They can be sold for $15,000-$25,000. You do the math. What makes them so desirable? Their wool is similar to cashmere. xD!!! EDIT: check this out : http://qz.com/207489/why-your-next-sweater-should-be-alpaca-not-cashmere/
