September 1st, and we sit and wait in anticipation of the beginning of the much discussed Trump USA / China tariffs. Wait! Haven't those already begun? Nooooooooo - that starts on Tuesday my good friend! So, sit back, enjoy your Labor Day, maybe have a beer, look at your online portfolio at night after replying to pre-workweek emails, and rest easy Monday night after you Amazon Prime and chill. You're good, right? Oh, I wish it were so. I'm a cautious optimist. I drive my friends nuts with my predictions of what's right around the corner...but you know? I'm usually correct!
Ok, so let's maintain the spirit of my last post and not try to write people into a mercurial and lachrymose state of mind. I want to instill hope, but first.... It's Labor Day weekend! We have much to reflect on during our day off!
The downside: Student loan debt is well over $1 trillion; consumer AND corporate debt is at an all time high; the entire housing market is well overheated, and US city officials (especially on the expensive West Coast) are enabling once upscale neighborhood to be destroyed by blatant drug use, unenforced crime, and urban blight. Just look at Los Angeles, San Francisco, and expensive downtown Seattle for evidence. And this trend is rapidly spreading around the country like virus. Does anyone here see a second, more locally devastating housing bubble in the making? I do. AND, starting Tuesday, our friendly neighborhood tariffs go into effect! USA USA! The Almighty Dollar, right? 'Sitting pretty in our 401K's, SEPs, and savings! Everything's fine, we all still have access to the most trusted form of fiat in the world. You're good bro! INSERT RECORD SCRATCH HERE
My grandfather told me to never rest on my yannis, I mean laurels. I suppose that's when I became a "cautious optimist". How can I recover any optimism after that second paragraph?
The upside: We live in interesting and exciting times, peoples. I don't need to tell you that your number 1 priority is to get out of that debt. So, rest up on Labor Day, and hit the ground running Tuesday morning ready to be as productive as ever at the office - whether that "office" be behind a desk, behind the wheel, or behind a piano. Sharpen your skills, separate yourself from the competition, and look hard for opportunities to help you eliminate your student loans, car notes, and credit card bills. And stay out of debt! (Auto Zone exists to keep that old car running). But, we're going to split the atom here and give you a second number 1 priority - just as important as the aforementioned. INVEST IN CRYPTOCURRENCIES and METAL ETF's. Not a lot - start at the minimum (often $25 per month). Cryptocurrencies* such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, LiteCoin, and AltCoins such as ROKS Stablecoins are real, and here to stay. *That e-buzzword from 2017 is no longer to be scoffed at, or brushed off at the water cooler. I also highly recommend venerable metal Exchange Traded Funds such as GLD and SIVR. You can get those on E*TRADE for example. *Online brokerages will also set up a small auto-debit from your account.
Let's wrap it up, I've got a steak to marinate for tomorrow. What did we learn today? Be open to alternate forms of investing. Yes, invest in one of those ETFs, but be open minded to the future of money in the form of cryptocurrencies. The ROKS Stablecoin is tied to the more familiar Ethereum. And Ethereum was designed as an open-source code on the blockchain to ease the coupling of altcoins. For example: the ROKS Stablecoin, coupled to Ethers, is perhaps the most innovative crypto-token created to streamline the sending of money to and from your families, anywhere in the world.
See you after the holiday weekend! 'Hope you already purchased that new appliance (Home Depot still open for another hour here).
NOTE: The Author does not officially endorse Amazon, Home Depot, E*Trade, or AutoZone.