What should I do with my money (read post first)

[Standing Like A Rock]

I am 15, have about 3 thousand dollars saved. In the winter I make about 200 dollars a month refereeing hockey games. I don't want my money to become worthless and want to put it into something.

 

[CitizenPlain]

get it in nickels from the bank..

...

 

[Cam]

Copper

Start with Copper! Why? Because copper is over $3 a pound. 154 pennies make a pound. Take your cash and get rolls of pennies. Pull out all the pre-1982 pennies. Since only those are almost 100% copper. Melt them down and sell to a scrap metal dealer. You will double your money. Then buy silver rounds.

I am not an investment adviser and the information here is for informational purposes only.

 

[KevinR]

Food, can never have too much :]

 

[cien750hp]

Start with Copper! Why? Because copper is over $3 a pound. 154 pennies make a pound. Take your cash and get rolls of pennies. Pull out all the pre-1982 pennies. Since only those are almost 100% copper. Melt them down and sell to a scrap metal dealer. You will double your money. Then buy silver rounds.

I am not an investment adviser and the information here is for informational purposes only.

that's illegal...

i'd say buy two ounces of gold and the rest (~70 oz) silver

 

[eric_cartman]

just stick to gold. don't get fancy... don't start buying pennies... just buy a good supply of gold. then, when you have enough gold, you can get some silver too... then once you have your gold/silver base, then go ahead and buy whatever.

i would go 2/3 gold, 1/3 silver (or maybe even 3/4, 1/4). that's pretty much all you need to know. buy physical, stuff that you can hold in your hands. either bullion bars, coins (eagles, maple leafs, etc.)... or if you can find them, the $20 gold piece market (saints or liberties) are the way to go.

 

[eric_cartman]

if you've got 3K... buy 2 ounces of gold, and then 2 or 3 rolls of silver. (and food is probably a good idea too).

 

[misericordia]

rice and beans, dried. shelf life, 60 months. food, water, clothes, cash in hand, some silver.

 

[fj45lvr]

Pre-1964 dimes, quarters, half dollars and dollars (called "junk silver")... if you put a ad out there you might be able to buy small quantities from older folks around town willing to help out a "young lad".... you could save back $500 of it and try to "mine" your own by: finding a local bank branch that would sell you their bags of quarters or half dollars that gather from their coin counting machine (usually $500 bags) you buy a bag and then could sort these bags and try to find some of these 90% silver pre-1964 coins (would cost you only the face value of the coin) whatever is just not silver you could take to another bank and get cash-back to try again with new bags as they come available (half dollars could take awhile depending on the bank traffic).

 

[Zippyjuan]

Before you invest in in things, be sure you have enough in a fairly liquid account to be able to pay all of your bills for several months- in the event that you are unable to work for whatever reason.

 

[John of Des Moines]

Buy junk silver (pre 64) first. Right now you can get $300 face value for a bit more than your $3,000. Yes, gold coins are nice and all however when shtf (not if) try getting change for a $20 gold piece when you want to buy a loaf of bread and a pound of ham - a couple of silver dimes will do that. Secondly, right now the gold to silver ratio is 1 to 68 (1 oz of gold will get you 68 oz of silver). However, it's been trading at around 1 to 50 until the recent commodity price dip, so when commodities begin heading up again silver will rebound more so. (Historicially, the gold to silver ratio was about 1 to 15 - Congress even established that exchange ratio in the first coinage act - but since gold and silver are no longer used as everyday money both their value as such a money medium is not presently reflected in their market price. When people start again using gold and silver as a medium of exchange in everyday transactions they both will gain "value" because of their use as money with silver gaining more and eventually nearing the historical 1 to 15 ratio.

But also be sure you can feed yourself and others for at least 4 months if not 1 plus years. Get vegetable seeds (heirloom not hybrid). Start a garden, learn how to can your garden bounty.

 

[devil21]

Good advice in this thread but I gotta ask. You are 15 right? What are your PARENTS doing? They are still legally responsible for you until you are 18. Have you talked with them about the current state of things? Your $3k is pocket change in comparison (no offense).

 

[Cam]

that's illegal...

i'd say buy two ounces of gold and the rest (~70 oz) silver

Illegal . . . In a way. It is not defacing currency since legally pennies are coinage. The head of the mint came out a few years ago declaring you can't do it. Years before the courts ruled that you could do anything you want with your coins. Ever seen a penny press? These machines are located around tourist destinations. They smash the penny and impress an image into the flattened elongated coin. Also, a couple of years ago so called collectables companies sold state quarters that were painted.

Either way, I save all the pre-82 pennies I find in my change. With the hyper-inflation that is coming because of this bailout we will be trading bags of pennies like we do now with so-called junk silver.

 

[Standing Like A Rock]

most of you are saying to buy gold and silver. where would I start the process of doing this?

 

[tmosley]

Try APMEX.com

And seriously, don't even think about copper. Pennies may be worth less than their copper value, but it costs money to melt them down. Unless the metal is worth 4-5X as much as the coin, it isn't worth the risk or the effort. If it weren't illegal, then you could just send it to a smelter, who does it in greater quantity, so it is cheaper for them to do it.

 

[bander87]

I think two ounces of gold is a little too much. I personally like to have slightly more money in silver than gold.

I would not pull all your money out of the bank. It's always good to have cash on hand.

I don't know what your family or personal situation is. I don't know if you'll need to pay for things, and it's a bad idea to be turning your PMs back into cash.

I would buy some 1964 kennedy halves, lots of silver rounds (screw eagles I say ), and maybe some 10s bars if you can find any. I wouldn't buy any more than an ounce of gold.

And get a fireproof safe - doesn't have to be anything fancy. You can pick them up at walmart.