Peter Schiff: The Real Crash

[GeorgiaAvenger]

Going to buy the book. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/12...mp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1250004470

Lots of praise I notice:

"Peter Schiff sounded the alarm about the housing bubble created by the Federal Reserve and predicted the bubble's inevitable collapse, yet he was ignored by mainstream economists and ridiculed by the media. In The Real Crash he is at it again, illustrating how the financial crisis of 2008 is nothing compared to what is coming down the road. Peter Schiff is right again. I hope more people listen this time." – Ron Paul; Congressman (TX-14) and three time Presidential Candidate



"Peter Schiff's new book "The Real Crash; America's Coming Bankruptcy" is written in the same blunt and punchy style that makes him a favorite guest on my Fox News show. It's not just what he says, but the fact that he lives what he says. Unlike Some authors who talk about business as spectators, Peter doesn't speak from the ivory tower of academia or from the comfort of an anchor chair. He runs a real business and fights every day to make it a success in spite of all the government's tax and regulatory policies."-- Mike Huckabee; Host of The Huckabee Show and former Arkansas Governor and Presidential Candidate



"America's political leaders should have taken Peter's 2007 book, Crash Proof, to heart before they tried to borrow, print and bail us out of trouble. Today, they -- along with all Americans -- absolutely must take heed of The Real Crash. Peter Schiff understands the marketplace, and he understands the consequences that occur when government attempts to manage that marketplace. Pay attention, America!”-- Gary Johnson, Former governor of New Mexico and presidential candidate



“In ‘The Real Crash,’ the fearless Peter Schiff has written the most compelling argument against central economic planning and debt-financed consumption to come along since our present woes were exacerbated in 2008. His explanations of how unfettered free choices will produce prosperity, and how ending the Federal Reserve, abolishing the IRS, and returning to the gold standard will tame the federal beast are among the most forceful and cogent I have seen. He even explains how anyone can prosper from government stupidity in these perilous times. And he does all this in a breezy and readable format.”-- Judge Andrew P. Napolitano, Senior Judicial Analyst, Fox News



“Peter Schiff is an original thinker, a man of startling insight and honesty, in many ways, a genius. I have learned that you disagree with him at your peril. He is one of the few men of finance of whom I wish I could say I had paid more attention to. Live and learn. Read and learn.”-- Ben Stein; author, actor, political and economic commentator



"Peter Schiff says the Fed's bubble machine is destroying the American economy and he is right. Zero interest rates and QE are crushing savers, rewarding speculators and enabling the Washington politicians to issue endless debt. Every concerned citizen should read this."-- David Stockman; Former OMB director under President Ronald Reagan



“Peter Schiff has been painfully right about the downward spiral of the U.S. economy over the last four years. Easy money, rising tax rates, and unbridled debt are a prescription for economic disaster. Let's hope Barack Obama reads this.”-- Stephen Moore, Economist and Fox News commentator



“While many of us have justifiably focused on how high taxes are economically corrosive, Peter Schiff does a great job of explaining why government spending and debt are even worse. As we continue grappling with the monster of a runaway federal government, this book is one of the best assets conservatives can turn to in making the case for fiscal responsibility and capitalism.” -- Grover Glenn Norquist; President of Americans for Tax Reform

“Peter Schiff was one of the few pundits who predicted correctly the 2008 economic and financial collapse. Now, he makes a compelling case in a highly readable book that the day will come when the world stops trusting the dollar and the ability of the US government to pay its debts. I agree with him that “Then we’ll get the real crash.”-- Marc Faber; Editor, The Gloom Boom & Doom Report



“You need to know his case whether he is right or not if you are going to be prepared for this decade.”-- Jim Rogers; Investor and Bestselling Author of “A Gift to My Children” and “Investment Biker”

Anyone else read it?

 

[Len Larson]

What a coincidence, I just downloaded it on my iPad. Looks good so far.

 

[Swarmed]

I have read the book. I found it to be a very informative read.

 

[DEGuy]

I'll have to pick that up. In the meanwhile, is he advocating any new way to potentially make a profit on the upcoming crash? Besides buying PMs, real estate, and other types of wealth-saving tangible goods...

 

[CaptLouAlbano]

Personally, I feel the best way to shield yourself from most economic downturns is to have income producing assets: businesses, rental properties, etc. I am not a big fan of speculative investments. Essentially, if you have a few hundred grand sitting in an investment account you are much better off buying a investment property and collecting rents on a monthly basis than you are leaving it in the market and risking a collapse.

 

[jbauer]

Its a decent book. I was disapointed that he spent alot of time talking about how to change the government rather then how we can change ourselves. I'd give it 7/10 or so.

 

[jbauer]

Personally, I feel the best way to shield yourself from most economic downturns is to have income producing assets: businesses, rental properties, etc. I am not a big fan of speculative investments. Essentially, if you have a few hundred grand sitting in an investment account you are much better off buying a investment property and collecting rents on a monthly basis than you are leaving it in the market and risking a collapse.

Not to pee in your cheerios but how is holding a rental property not speculative? You may or may not get paid rent. You may or may not have the local market change on you. You may or may not be able to aford the property taxes. You may or may not be able to move the property if your plan changes.

Rental property is very speculative. Income producing items only produce income if the investment "pays" an income.

Edit, I know more then one family that went the rental route and are getting their arses handed to them. In fact the only person I know that has done rentals and lliked it is a big time investor in them (several millions) so he's able to spread his risk out.

 

[angelatc]

Not to pee in your cheerios but how is holding a rental property not speculative? You may or may not get paid rent. You may or may not have the local market change on you. You may or may not be able to aford the property taxes. You may or may not be able to move the property if your plan changes.

Rental property is very speculative. Income producing items only produce income if the investment "pays" an income.

Edit, I know more then one family that went the rental route and are getting their arses handed to them. In fact the only person I know that has done rentals and lliked it is a big time investor in them (several millions) so he's able to spread his risk out.

Want to get nauseous? We were looking at HUD Homes, and did a lot of reading on the topic. I saw several investors say that HUD contacted them to see if they would be willing to lease their homes to Section 8 customers after they were rehabbed.

 

[Tod]

Most businesses are only allowed to have losses for so long before the IRS decides it is just a hobby and rules that expenses cannot be deducted. Not so with housing......a lot of people who are landlords lose money continually and use the loss as a deduction. The IRS encourages landlords to stay landlords by doing that.

(I learned that while working in a tax office for a couple years.....very few of the rental houses showed a profit)

Personally, I'd go for farm land. You don't have the maintenance headaches and near the tenant problems as with a house/apartment.

 

[roho76]

“Peter Schiff is an original thinker, a man of startling insight and honesty, in many ways, a genius. I have learned that you disagree with him at your peril. He is one of the few men of finance of whom I wish I could say I had paid more attention to. Live and learn. Read and learn.”-- Ben Stein; author, actor, political and economic commentator

WOW!!! That had to hurt to write that.

 

[CaptLouAlbano]

Not to pee in your cheerios but how is holding a rental property not speculative? You may or may not get paid rent. You may or may not have the local market change on you. You may or may not be able to aford the property taxes. You may or may not be able to move the property if your plan changes.

Rental property is very speculative. Income producing items only produce income if the investment "pays" an income.

Edit, I know more then one family that went the rental route and are getting their arses handed to them. In fact the only person I know that has done rentals and lliked it is a big time investor in them (several millions) so he's able to spread his risk out.

The majority of my real estate holdings are in commercial properties. I do have some residential properties, but they are all multi dwelling units, or combined with a commercial unit (i.e. business on the bottom floor and some apartments on the second floor). And yes, any sort of investment involves risk. But those who are able to build wealth are able to manage the risk and spread it out. I would not advise someone to put all their eggs in one basket and buy a single dwelling unit hoping to rent it out. That is just bad business sense.

I differentiate income producing assets such as businesses and real estate from speculative investments like stocks simply because one buys a stock with the hope that the price of the stock will increase (or in the case of short selling that it will go down). Compare that with buying a commercial property that already has a track record of rental income. Yes, there is still risk, but there is far less speculation.

Even though I am retired, I still own several rental properties and have my hand in a few businesses. I am been wise enough to spread things around enough so that when one asset is producing less income the others can pick up the slack. I have pretty much stayed away from stocks my entire life with the exception of stocks that pay out a decent dividend. I liken playing the stock market to be more like gambling than investing per se.

If someone were to come to me for advice I would counsel them to find assets that they can purchase that have a track record of producing income and then use that income to acquire more income producing assets. Sort of a snowball effect. Eventually you will get to a point where your "job" becomes a secondary income and you can live more than comfortably from the income your assets are producing.

 

[keh10]

WOW!!! That had to hurt to write that.

Lol, that's what I was thinking. Maybe ol' Ben is starting to come around.

 

[Zippyjuan]

Not to pee in your cheerios but how is holding a rental property not speculative? You may or may not get paid rent. You may or may not have the local market change on you. You may or may not be able to aford the property taxes. You may or may not be able to move the property if your plan changes.

Rental property is very speculative. Income producing items only produce income if the investment "pays" an income.

Edit, I know more then one family that went the rental route and are getting their arses handed to them. In fact the only person I know that has done rentals and lliked it is a big time investor in them (several millions) so he's able to spread his risk out.

Some are too optimistic about the potential revenue stream (they suggest for budgeting that you figure that you get zero rent for at least three months out of the year- transition time between residents- and charge enough rent the rest of the time to cover all your bills) and underestimate the costs involved. If you want to go this route be sure to find a reliable property manager to help you out with the properties (some trying to save costs figure they can do that themselves and save money- it costs them money in the long run).

Commercial property rentals today are much more difficult than residential. Residential demand is very high while commercial is way off and there are many vacant units for potential tenants to choose from.

 

[CaptLouAlbano]

You are correct about commercial demand being down at the present time. However, the good thing about commercial property though is when you get tenants who are solid businesses, they do tend to stay in the same location for a very long time. I have a 5 unit property that has been occupied by the same tenants for over a decade now. These are small offices, reasonably priced and in a good location. So even though I have no been able to raise the rent there over the last few years because of the economy, it still provides a reliable source of income each month that far exceeds the expenses.

 

[seraphson]

I'm a little over half-way done and I've made many footnotes on a reference sheet I made due to all the good points. It's almost been a year since I've left my apathy behind and this book IMO is excellent in assessing the issues and does pretty well in laying out no non-sense, common sense solutions that even the layman like me could understand.