I know I've invested in metals for only 5 months, but how do you watch the market and not get disappointed? I purchased at $16.15 in December and I just watch the price go up and down and stay along the same lines for the past 5 months. I hear things about prices going up all the time, and I am sure it will.... But jeez, I watch the market and it just does not seem to move. Please give me hope and inspiration silver stackers! Shine your silver light on my murky eyes. EDIT: I'm also not in the best financial situation which is why maybe I feel more disappointed.
Hope and inspiration. I'll give you some. What a lot of folk do is take a portion of their income and buy silver. When you get worried about price going down... buy a little more. Watch your stack grow. Forget about "dollar value", silver is not about "profiting", it's about accumulation for a day (in the future) that it will have purchasing power when currency no longer retains it. Lower prices and I do hope they go lower means "on sale". Much like seeing your favourite food items or clothing item for 80% discount. The US total debt is over 21 TRILLION DOLLARS, people are becoming more and more indebted. More and more money is being printed. What has changed? Things have become worse. Fast forwards 10-15 years.... Things will be worse still. Silver should be just another arrow in your quiver.
I was born on the 20th of February as well, Pisces in the Year of the Cat. As you have only been stacking for 5 months, you probably know how much you have spent on the ounces you have purchased. Think back over this time and ask yourself how much of that money would you still have available to you if it was kept in the bank or in cash. The difference is what you can show as your dividend.
You are one of the lucky ones, getting in at the very bottom of silver prices in the last 5 years! Silver has a rich history of sitting there doing nothing for long periods of time, at least now it's pretty volatile and you can get in on the short term dips.
Don't over extend yourself on metals purchases. If you have debt or other liabilities service those first and be sure to also invest in other asset classes. The mistake I've made over the last few years is totally neglecting other investments (e.g. the stockmarket) which has risen significantly while metals have taken a tumble. Remember that metal will not pay you an income over time - you are banking on the fact that at some point in the future, someone else will think it's worth more than it is now. I think it will rise sharply higher than where it is now, but I have horizon that is years away.
And when will that be? Hasn't happened in our life times in the US and Australia and many others places.
I wouldn't be too worried, a lot of us have been stacking for quite a bit longer and have been buying at prices of $20 , $30 & $40 per oz. We cope by seeing the end from the beginning. We see more ounces being added to the stack as we average down. We look at the goal posts being a number of years down the track. We see silver at sale prices and one day our purchasing power will be far greater than fiat.
Five months really isn't much time for prices to change. Unless something untoward happens the price of silver should just go up in line with inflation and the price of bread and milk. If the price of silver suddenly goes up then something is wrong.
Maybe folk haven't seen such debt and such a propped up stock market in their life time either. The stockmarket isn't doing dandy because companies are making fabulous profits; I don't see fab PE ratios and I sure don't see a screaming fabulous GDP from the worlds major countries. I see plenty of debt. History...people forget about history. Folk aren't good at timing. Holding precious metal has stood the test of time. Greek folk who owned physical gold and silver instead of fiat in the bank are happy. Folk who owned physical gold and silver before the rouble crashed are happy.
You've bought now so sit on it. You should not buy silver unless you can spare the money. It is a volatile market and there is no assurance it will go up....or fall.
Lets say you bought at $7 in 1987, you didn't see profit for another 20 years Yep, really stood the test of time there. Or lets say you bought at >$30 3 years ago, there is no indication at all it will ever get back there, could take another 20 years. Heck same could be said for buying at >$20. Silver only stood the test of time for those that bought in at the right time.
Think about it like this, especially if you are not currently in a good financial position: * The very fact that you are here, and asking an honest question, indicates you are making an effort to learn and to improve your situation. * If metals stagnate or drop due to an ongoing reasonable economic environment, then, with patience, your attitude towards learning and self improvement will help you to identify and take advantage of potentially profitable opportunities in the future... just keeping watching and learning and preparing. The worst case is that you'll still have some nice silver, but it won't be as important to you. Be patient, keep trying and don't let failure discourage you. * If the economy turns to shit, and precious metals advance, then you have also begun to prepare, and will be ahead of others who did nothing. Expect the best, prepare for the worst.