London panics as Stocks plunge. Biggest crash since 9/11

[cageybee]

So, if some folks wouldn't mind sharing their wisdom...

I'm 31, totally debt free, with about $10,000 in the bank. I've also got a rock solid whole life/savings plan with Northwestern Mutual that is banked in extremely stable stocks with about $15,000 in it. No 401k yet, was just planning to start that up now that the car is paid off. Decent and stable job in IT in NY with another opportunity in VA I have to decide upon today or tomorrow - more money, but not nearly as fun of a place to work, plus moving will suck. Reston's housing market is still very expensive.

What would be the best course of action to provide some future insurance against a stock meltdown? I've been planning to dump that savings into a Vanguard Roth/IRA, but right now I'm wondering if BullionVault might not be a better choice, for, say, half of that money, with more to follow if gold declines in value in the coming weeks (up to say $7500). I can always pump future paychecks back into stocks later.

My job skills are formidable - I can perform any IT task, specializing in hardware (up into the six figure range with 15 years experience to back it up). If the economy goes bust I can easily open up a business fixing/rebuilding/refurbishing computers. I'm not particularly worried about future income. It may not be what I am used to but I can live on it surely.

buy gold

 

[asgardshill]

Plastics, my boy. Plastics.

 

[freelance]

The Europeans have been coming to the US for cheap shopping for months now. Looks like the worm is turning, as it always does. Think I'll book that flight to Paris and hit the Avenue Montaigne next week.

I wouldn't pack just yet.

 

[asgardshill]

I wouldn't pack just yet.

Good point - it might be 2 weeks instead. I missed booking my connection from Brussels, and I've got all this chocolate to eat up ...

 

[JustBcuz]

So, if some folks wouldn't mind sharing their wisdom...

I'm 31, totally debt free, with about $10,000 in the bank. I've also got a rock solid whole life/savings plan with Northwestern Mutual that is banked in extremely stable stocks with about $15,000 in it. No 401k yet, was just planning to start that up now that the car is paid off. Decent and stable job in IT in NY with another opportunity in VA I have to decide upon today or tomorrow - more money, but not nearly as fun of a place to work, plus moving will suck. Reston's housing market is still very expensive.

What would be the best course of action to provide some future insurance against a stock meltdown? I've been planning to dump that savings into a Vanguard Roth/IRA, but right now I'm wondering if BullionVault might not be a better choice, for, say, half of that money, with more to follow if gold declines in value in the coming weeks (up to say $7500). I can always pump future paychecks back into stocks later.

My job skills are formidable - I can perform any IT task, specializing in hardware (up into the six figure range with 15 years experience to back it up). If the economy goes bust I can easily open up a business fixing/rebuilding/refurbishing computers. I'm not particularly worried about future income. It may not be what I am used to but I can live on it surely.

Gold, Gold, & more Gold

If you can, get some coins or bullion you can store at home, in a safe place. All the money in the world is worth nothing if you have no access to it. If/when this thing gets REALLY bad, the system could get shut down on you.

I wouldn't be buying anything but gold right now. There will come a time when you want to get out of the gold, and start buying all these stocks for dirt, dirt, cheap. But as they say, trying to pick the bottom is like trying to catch falling knifes. Even oil could take a dump. If the entire world economy goes to hell, demand for oil will likely fall sharply too. If it crashes let it crash. Let the dust settle & start picking up the pieces for pennies on the dollar.

You are debt free. You have savings. That is AWESOME. You are in a much better place than 80-90% of the American public.

Not too many people alive today were alive the last time this happened, so your guess is as good as mine. The only constant is gold has always held it's value.

This is all IMHO, and I'm not a 'licensed advisor' or anything like that, I'm just some guy off the streets, so take that for what it's worth.

Edit to add: If you not familiar with shorting stocks &/or put options, you may want to start doing some research.

 

[FrankRep]

Holiday saves U.S. markets
Black Monday meltdown in Asia, Europe as Wall Street watches


http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59792

 

[asgardshill]

"Hello, Mike's Liquor? Yes, go ahead and have that order I placed delivered to my home tomorrow. Yes, yes ... that's correct - 500 cases of Goldschlager."

 

[SeanEdwards]

Thumper, I hate to say it, but I don't think he's going to get elected at this point without a major stock market displacement or a crash...the American people just don't get it yet....a big slap in the face might make things come into focus.

That's a nice thought, but sadly I don't have that much respect for the average American. Rather than turning to the wise gentleman who knows what he is talking about, they'll flock to some blow-dried stooge who mumbles soothing sounds and promises firm 'leadership'.

Get ready for some overt fascism and more state control. This leviathan will not go gently...

 

[SeanEdwards]

"Hello, Mike's Liquor? Yes, go ahead and have that order I placed delivered to my home tomorrow. Yes, yes ... that's correct - 500 cases of Goldschlager."

That sounds like a wise investment.

 

[youngbuck]

Yeah...a crash will be great for the wealthy power elite who have the money to buy up everything on the market for pennies on the dollar. They are the only ones with enough "money" to benefit from something like this.

Everyone should be hoping that we get RP elected and get this under control without a market crash. We're the ones that will lose our jobs and our homes if it does crash hard.

Exactly.

 

[2young2vote]

I would really like to see a graph of government involvement in the economy and the stability of the economy. I bet as Government involvement goes up, stability goes down.

 

[LibertyOfOne]

You can thank the fed and the countless other shit banks that let the credit bubble form. You can also thank the governemnt for being as useless as ever. The market correction is coming and there is not much that can be done to soften the fall.

 

[PeacePlan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCtQL5b_rCM

 

[Fox McCloud]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCtQL5b_rCM

and thus why it's unwise to invest in any stock...when the whole system goes, everything...EVERYTHING that's not a hard-asset (touchable physical capital) will be worthless.

I hope he learned his lesson...on one hand, people can feel sorry for him, but hey, that's the Free Market; you make unwise decisions, and it teaches you a lesson.