From: "speednxs" 
Newsgroups: misc.invest.financial-plan
Subject: Re: Kiyosaki bets on gold
Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2006 11:20:00 -0500
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	=y83k

I'll respond to joetaxpayer, ignoramus14720 and Douglas Johnson in
one post.

The S&P 500 is a huge disappointment to me.  It didn't do much during
the 1970s, but it did have a very good run from 1980 to 1985 and 1995
to 2000.  Your 26 year period conveniently includes these two boom
periods.  I looked at the dividend yield



and for the last ten years it has mostly been under 2%.  This is lower
than the inflation rate even before taxes.

I had a wad of money to invest in 2000.  I sure am glad I put it in
California Real Estate and not the S&P500.  I never would have left it
in while my investment was cut in half from 2000 to 2002.

In reality you need to take money out of the stock market when you need
to.  Maybe you can wait a year or so, but if you are buying a house,
changing jobs, moving to more conservative investment due to age,
starting a business or paying for a college education you can't
necessarily wait 5 to 10 years for the peak.

Foreign stocks are something I hadn't really considered because I
know so little about foreign countries.  Maybe it's time to study up.

I still might invest in the S&P 500, but it will be hard on my nerves.

If you like history, the value of the dollar has gone done
consistently.  2% to 3% is commonly quoted, but I think the real rate
is much higher.  Productivity increases tend to hide inflation.  Most
electronic products are good examples.  Hoover dam cost $165 million.
Money sure don't buy as much as it used to.  The budget deficits
really scare me.  Inflation is a convenient way for the government to
solve it's debt problems.

As dollars become worth less, "real" assets tend to be worth more.
Plus there is a lot of demand from China and India for commodities.
This may all work itself out, but it is hard to ignore.  It's easy
enough to sell assets for dollars when you want to buy something.  Even
real estate, which I own, can be sold in 3 to 6 months.

I'm willing to beat up on Kiyosaki when he's wrong.  He does need
big, splashy attention grabbing headlines to sell his books.  So there
is simplification and emotion in his work.  How many products position
themselves as an aphrodisiac?  Do girls really want guys who drink
beer, drive Camaros and spray on Hai Karate?  I'm guessing not.
Kiyosaki does explain financial statements, the difference between
defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans, being long
and short in the stock market, real estate and commodity investing.  So
he does some things well.

Actually each of you gave me something valuable to think about because
you look at things from a different perspective.

Thank you