Opinion sought on investing advice given to me:-

Waaib

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I've been advised to refinance a car I own and invest the cash in gold / gold shares. The amount would be about R200,000.00

What are your thoughts on this advice?

The person giving the advice has nothing to gain (e.g. not a broker etc) but is someone with vested interest in me (e.g. family member).
 

hxc87x

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gold has increased a lot over the past 10 years, so it might have been a viable option if it wasnt for the current economic situation with most of the mines constantly firing people and not running at their usual capacities due to operating and labour costs...
and refinancing a car gives rise to an obligated repayment, so if your cashflow isnt looking too good then i'd definately stay away from that idea.
 

Dolby

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I wouldn't do that either.

I'm no invester or broker, but I don't see gold doing exceptionally well. Why did he tell you to invest in gold/gold shares specifcally ?
 

Iwojima

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Whatever you do, don't put it into platinum. Its fast approaching the a point at which its at the same level as gold.
 

Jacobl

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My humble opinion, you do not borrow money to invest. Do the calculation what is your interest rate on the borrowed money, versus the projected ROI on the gold / gold share investment which is by the way not certain. It sounds to me like a very high risk gamble.
 

Rouxenator

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Waaib, do you own a home or are you paying rent?
That should be your first question.
 

Pitbull

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Whatever you do, don't put it into platinum. Its fast approaching the a point at which its at the same level as gold.

:confused:

That means Platinum is low. 101 in trading, buy low sell high. I'm confused at this statement tbh :eek:
 

Rouxenator

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I rent a place. How is that relevant?

Then invest in property - it is much better than burning money every month paying for someones else property.

It is also a lot better than owning a car worth more than R150k that will be worth half that in 3 years time.
 

Pitbull

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What kind of property should I buy for R200k?

You don't buy for R 200k Why would you re-finance your cars to buy a house :confused:

Just go and buy a house and leave your car paid off as it is.
 

Rouxenator

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Staalbal - you said it right :p

Besides, one never asks what kind of a house am I going to buy with Rxxx xxx - instead you should ask, what kind of a house am I going to finance using Rxxx xxx as deposit.
 

Waaib

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You don't buy for R 200k Why would you re-finance your cars to buy a house :confused:

Just go and buy a house and leave your car paid off as it is.

Ja. That makes sense to me but I don't want a house.

Staalbal - you said it right :p

Besides, one never asks what kind of a house am I going to buy with Rxxx xxx - instead you should ask, what kind of a house am I going to finance using Rxxx xxx as deposit.

So instead of going R200k into debt and investing in gold as per original advice. I should go R2million into debt and use the R200k as the deposit? Just checking I understand the logic.
 

Pitbull

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Waaib, we're trying to give you good advice, it does however sound that you made up your mind. It's your mistake to make not mine :p
 

oober

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Haha and just make sure you earn R40k+ pm before even trying to apply for a lone. Best thing you can do is just to pay of any debt you have.
 

CathJ

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So instead of going R200k into debt and investing in gold as per original advice. I should go R2million into debt and use the R200k as the deposit? Just checking I understand the logic.

And then you have to take into account whether you can afford the monthly repayments, especially if the interest rate goes up again...

And are you going to live there, or take on the added responsibility of being a landlord? (Which is not at all insignificant).

Property as an investment works well for some people, but not for everyone.
 

Rouxenator

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Waaib, firstly, what are you doing with a car worth that much ?

Remember, the only asset that does not loose value is property. That is because they stopped making propery a very long time ago. So get it while you can. Don't spend your hard earned cash paying off someone else propery.

You should perhaps talk to a financial advisor. They will look at your situation and make sure that firsty your risks are covered - like : do you have enough insurance, are you making provision for when you are retired or no longer able to work and do you have good medical cover. The last thing you want to do is be a burden for your loved ones.

After your risks is covered you need to look at ways to settle your debts at the lowest costs to you. Pay off your cars as fast as you can and then use the money you would have spent on repaying cars (a value decreasing asset) on property.

I drive car worth R50k and it cost me R100k (used) 5 years ago. The finance cost was R20k and in the last 5 years my total maintenance and wear and tear costs was R50k. So in the end I spent about R170k on something that is worth R50k now and getting less every day. In the long run you will not have that with property.
 

Waaib

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Waaib, we're trying to give you good advice, it does however sound that you made up your mind. It's your mistake to make not mine :p

Staalbal. Thanks. I don't mean to sound unappreciative. It's just that I asked about a specific scenario and the forum veered off into some other tangent. I have no issue with that but it's just not what I asked about.
 

Waaib

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Waaib, firstly, what are you doing with a car worth that much ?

Remember, the only asset that does not loose value is property. That is because they stopped making propery a very long time ago. So get it while you can. Don't spend your hard earned cash paying off someone else propery.

You should perhaps talk to a financial advisor. They will look at your situation and make sure that firsty your risks are covered - like : do you have enough insurance, are you making provision for when you are retired or no longer able to work and do you have good medical cover. The last thing you want to do is be a burden for your loved ones.

After your risks is covered you need to look at ways to settle your debts at the lowest costs to you. Pay off your cars as fast as you can and then use the money you would have spent on repaying cars (a value decreasing asset) on property.

I drive car worth R50k and it cost me R100k (used) 5 years ago. The finance cost was R20k and in the last 5 years my total maintenance and wear and tear costs was R50k. So in the end I spent about R170k on something that is worth R50k now and getting less every day. In the long run you will not have that with property.

I get what you are saying. It just isn't what I asked about. Property does loose value in the short term by the way. Houses that people bought for R2mill 12 months ago are selling for R1.5mill now. Agreed it does not loose value in the long term.

Bottom line is that I'm not going to buy property now. My risks are covered. I have no debt. I see your point about the cost for the car but you also drove the car so that value (i.e. the value of transport) has to be offset against the total cost. I'm asking about the logic in the advice given to me in my original post.

I guess it's really a gamble of the cost to finance vs the perceived increase in gold price. I think gamble is the right word to use.
 
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