Safe places to park money?

[Toolin Around]

This may not be the best forum to post this but I don't really belong to any other forums (other than lurker) so this is it.

I thought in the current financial light a thread where those that have a better understanding of finanacial matters could have a place to voice their opinions and help shed some light for those that don't have such a clear picture of all the options available to them as to where there are safe(r) places to put money for the time being.

I suspect I'm like most here and what I have I can't afford to loose. So I'm trying to figure out what options there are out there to park some money in and see if this storm blows itself out before it reaches land.

I'm hoping this is one of the times where I can happily say I was wrong but I suspect we're in for some real hard times and I would like to make my finances as resistant to what may be ahead as possible. So any opinions are much appreciated

Please limit critisism of others opinions as I think there are many here that would like to hear what options there are out there without this degenerating into a sharpening thread and confusing everything and wasting the time of those that want to offer up their help to educate the ignorant - like me.

[Calm]

As a para-professional Accountant, i dont claim to be a financial advisor but i will try and stick to my logic.

With Superannuation you can ring your fund and change the stratagy from high risk-high return (all shares) to low risk - low returns(bank interest, usually term deposit) at any time you wish.

If you had all your super at high risk and you had $100,000 in value 12 months ago you will probably find if you are lucky you now have about $80,000, the value of the shares has fallen.

Yes everyone tells you that shares are for the long term and they will go back up again and now is not the time to sell as you will miss out on the gains. I DONY AGREE.

By my guess/estimation the share market is not getting better anytime soon, in fact in Australia i dont think we have seen the start of the hard times yet.

Term deposits are at the moment earning up to 8 percent so why not change your strategy to low risk (term deposit) for say about 12 months or until you think the share market is getting more stable and then change your stategy back to higher risk or more "balanced".

I would only use very stable Australian Banks term deposits for investments - my thoughts on this is that if the banks go under it wont mattter where your money is.

NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO BE GOING INTO PYRAMID - remember them - a lovely Geelong building society.

Thats my 2 bobs worth. This way your money will still be increasing - even though more slowly -and you can still buy back shares when they start to become a good investment again.

My thoughts are that it is even possible for the mining boom to be nearly over - this will depend on what happens in the global economy - if demand for that drops then the bubble will burst.

Its all doom and gloom at the moment but careful is definitely the way to go.

Cheers

[Gra]

DISCLAIMER: I am not a financial advisor and have no qualifications and no idea what I am talking about , so anybody following this advise without seeking professional advise is an idiot.

Ok now I have said that. at the moment cash is king. gold is also something that is commonly used as a refuge in troubled times (No matter what happens to the buying power of the money you can always convert gold back to a decent amount of cash). Looks like we will be living in "Interesting times" for the next couple of years..

Looking at the markets, any of the big miners that have been hurt in the current round of market drops should be a good buy, any of their drops have no basis in reality, as they will still be able to sell their stuff offshore no matter what happens, as they are selling to china and china will take all the resources they can get (More that we can currently supply). Remember the US is only about 30% of Chinas production (Made up statistic but its something like that), most of the rest is domestic.

So in summing up;
1. cynical answer buy gold bury it in the garden and under your mattress.
2. Optimistic answer buy resources companies and ride out the mess on the back of China

[Pheonix]

Get yourself a weather proof jar,dig a big hole in your backyard and bury it!
I suspect all the chickens are about to come home to roost

[Shutterbug]

An interesting article by Robert Gottliebsen today.

http://www.smartcompany.com.au/Free-...source=cmailer

Mike

[Toolin Around]

DISCLAIMER: I am not a financial advisor and have no qualifications and no idea what I am talking about , so anybody following this advise without seeking professional advise is an idiot.

Ok now I have said that. at the moment cash is king. gold is also something that is commonly used as a refuge in troubled times (No matter what happens to the buying power of the money you can always convert gold back to a decent amount of cash). Looks like we will be living in "Interesting times" for the next couple of years..

Looking at the markets, any of the big miners that have been hurt in the current round of market drops should be a good buy, any of their drops have no basis in reality, as they will still be able to sell their stuff offshore no matter what happens, as they are selling to china and china will take all the resources they can get (More that we can currently supply). Remember the US is only about 30% of Chinas production (Made up statistic but its something like that), most of the rest is domestic.

So in summing up;
1. cynical answer buy gold bury it in the garden and under your mattress.
2. Optimistic answer buy resources companies and ride out the mess on the back of China

In the past I played a bit with gold. That was with the Royal Bank in Canada. There I could buy bars that were minted by them and they were garanteed that they would buy them back but where or who here can do that.

[weisyboy]

in a jar down by the creek

you cant lose if ya got cash

[echnidna]

Give it to me, I'll look after it

[Ashore]

I wish I knew fixed term deposits at the larger banks , but with a rate drop of 1% by the reserve bank? Proberly the best investment would be another house , there are some good buys , if you can get one of those at the moment there could be in 4-5 years a 25% gain and with negative gearing and any improvements you do in you spare time ? but you gotta get the right one
Consumer spending is still good for the general economic conditions and there are still some reasonably stable shares available that are paying good dividents
The comodities sector may be ok but if china and india get affected as well then they might turn into a disaster , as I said I wish I knew , perhaps take up sin ( spend it now ) while its still worth something

[BobR]

Toolin Around, in asking for some advice/suggestions you need to provide some more information. Things like an indication of age, risk profile, reason for investing, are funds currently invested elsewhere, are you retired or near retiring age. Remember, that if your funds are currently invested you only have a paper loss. Sell to get cash up and it will become a real loss. I am a cynic when it comes to financial advisers as I believe that the majority of them are just product salespeople. Try and get one to put you into direct shares or directly into property.

[Toolin Around]

Toolin Around, in asking for some advice/suggestions you need to provide some more information. Things like an indication of age, risk profile, reason for investing, are funds currently invested elsewhere, are you retired or near retiring age. Remember, that if your funds are currently invested you only have a paper loss. Sell to get cash up and it will become a real loss. I am a cynic when it comes to financial advisers as I believe that the majority of them are just product salespeople. Try and get one to put you into direct shares or directly into property.

I was just looking for opinions to give me some food for thought that I could explore. I'm not into investing to be honest just looking for a safe place to park some money till things settle down. Thought of the property market but not in this country. I think things are still way over priced and have a long ways to fall yet especially if things get tough. Don't they say the income to debt ratio here is the worst it's ever been. If it is there's a lot of houses to be lost over the next couple years.

[Ron Dunn]

Your safest option is still a retail deposit with an Australian bank. You'll get interest (admittedly not a lot) and it will be protected by a government guarantee.

Once you move away from "safest", you start taking on varying degrees of risk. When you start chasing returns you increase your risk - the greater the return, the greater the risk.

Burying money is silly. You get no interest, and no protection from theft or other loss.

[m2c1Iw]

Hi TA,
M2c, for the foreseeable future or at least until the middle of next year when hopefully some sense will return to the markets term deposits are my choice. Depending on how much you have probably not a bad idea to spread it around the big 4. If you already have shares, well depending what they are you probably are stuck again until well into next year.
Did I see the government talking about government guaranteed private deposits?

I came across this vid on another forum and post it here with tongue firmly in cheek. I would say what is displayed here is exactly what is wrong at the moment, way too much hysteria coming from all fronts.

Cheers
Mike

[m2c1Iw]

and it will be protected by a government guarantee.

Are deposits currently protected? I thought there was just talk about legislating for it.

Mike

[Shutterbug]

Your safest option is still a retail deposit with an Australian bank. You'll get interest (admittedly not a lot) and it will be protected by a government guarantee.

Once you move away from "safest", you start taking on varying degrees of risk. When you start chasing returns you increase your risk - the greater the return, the greater the risk.

Burying money is silly. You get no interest, and no protection from theft or other loss.

Hear, hear.
The Big 4 aussie banks all have a AAA-rating. Only 18 of the worlds banks out of some 250,000 carry this rating.

Mike