I find really quite irresistible; I can see this developing into an addiction before long.
I'd like to get some idea of how much members hold, and what is considered an 'average' stack? Whilst I appreciate it'll largely depend on how much disposable you have, at what point do you feel it becomes a 'stack' rather than a few bars, and what would you consider a reasonable monthly purchase moving forwards using your own price predictions? Would you even consider a 'monthly purchase', or rather save money and buy on the dips? I ask as I'm obviously very green in all of this, and don't want to go crazy and end up biting off more than I can chew. I'm by no means rich, not even well off, I'm just an average Joe purchasing a little Silver to (hopefully) offer some form of security for the future.
Whilst I'd love to go all out and buy with everything I have (which isn't much I might add!), I know that's not a good idea and may not end well. Those of you who've been into this a while probably have a pretty good idea of how much of a loss in one purchase, can be absorbed or substantially softened by another at a lower price? Whilst I'd love buy it all at as low a price as possible, in reality it's just not that easy is it; sooner or later I'll be calculating the average. How much do you think I should buy with the prices as they are? Should I hold out on any further purchases on the assumption it'll go considerably lower, or buy a little now, and a little later, taking the average route?
First off welcome ! I think there's some really important questions you're asking here, and am glad you are. For every "to da moon" thread, we should have a BEWARE message too.
Pay attention to your concerns expressed... you say that you have some. Be sure to listen to your own intuition, and your concerns you've already stated. Ignore the random guys on the net with get rich schemes!
You're surrounded by enablers here, so watch out for that. I love this place but be warned, (and I'm among the worst because I love silver). People will joke about addiction and going too far.. and you wonder if they really mean bad when they say "it's bad". This can be a very costly thing to get interested in!
Sometimes I go out to breakfast on the weekend with some people I know who talk all about the expensive stuff they buy, (but can't afford to) and how hard they are up for cash to pay bills for food, rent, medicine... just doesn't make any sense!
What I risk on silver, is a small amount of my disposable income. I'd be ok if it fell 50% in value and I decided to dump it and take the loss... or if I wanted to hold it until I kicked the bucket and passed it on. I sure hope the price eventually goes up to where I think it deserves to be, but if it doesn't, it's not the end of everything for me. Consider your time horizon, until you need to get that silver money back. 1 year? 5 years? 20 years?
A guy I talk with told me the other day how's he's having a hard time sleeping at night because silver is falling and he's losing thousands more every time it drops. There's a lot of stress and anxiety around how you invest your hard earned money. What kind of losses are you comfortable with? How much loss is enough to make you feel sick to your stomach? Are you ok with losing 40% of your money in this investment? These are things to consider.
Risk management is key. There's ton's of stuff the pros have written about this. Van Tharpe's book "Trade your way to financial freedom" comes to mind for starters. Don't risk more than you can afford to lose. Only you and a financial advisor can answer many of these questions, how much does your budget afford for investing? Consider how much disposable income you have? Pay attention to sound financial advice regarding monthly budgeting. Consider how much a month is realistic for you to set aside for collecting silver.
If it's not much then pick up an oz or two every so often instead of the bigger bars.
My 2c is make it a priority to pay off all your debts. Why try to 'save up' when there's a drain in the bottom. There is tremendous financial freedom that comes with being debt free. I often read about people who owe credit, mortage and so on, but then talk about the investments they hold... but it's really money owed. Debt costs really add up long term. Paying off the bills ain't fun, but it's smart.
Diversification in investing is important as well. It's often said, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket". Silver is volatile compared with many other investments. It's like a double bladed axe, it can really do amazing things for you, but also can hurt you if it comes back against you. Many investors are trying to find investments that have lower volatility to protect their life savings. You want to try to protect your savings from erosion by inflation, but without risking 55% of your money due to a massive market selloff (like in 2009).
Although it's boring, what may be a safe investment is a 5 year GIC.
Dollar cost averaging is a great topic, I've tried to raise that before... here in this thread. (Some really interesting responses too)
http://forums.silverstackers.com/topic-38948-dollar-cost-averaging.html
If you're into comparing stack sizes... check out youtube for silver prOn. All numbers of videos there with people showing off their silver stacks in amateur vids.
