Bazz good advice that, never borrow to buy shares
Runner interesting that you use spite to comment on the coming crash, not unusual from you but interesting
We can bank on the down turn, it is almost here if not already under way
The very rich can make a killing by buying in at what they think, is the bottom
Others will take huge losses
But for now what to do
My house bought at the right time was an investment that paid off
But you can not eat a house
So how do you park money till the down turn is over, buying a house right now is not a safe investment
More suffer in a downturn than win

The ones who rig the share market are the ones who don't lose ! The best investment is the one you don't have to rely on to make a profit, property to live in ! Any more is the risk & the loss you deserve for being greedy !

As usual, my story varies somewhat from the mainstream.
I am not, nor have I ever been, a gambler.
I have always lived by my philosophy of 'why on earth give your money to anyone, in the hope that they are going to make YOU rich.
By and large I have been right.
Daily we are hearing news reports of scumbags ripping millions out of people, people who cannot afford to lose not one penny let alone hundreds of thousands.
My only time I delved into the world of shares was when a good friend was floating a company, and told me what to buy and when to sell, and he was extremely clear on when to sell.
I have been watching the impending shitstorm that is slowly advancing and I have been, somewhat preparing, for the ensuing doom and gloom which is about to befall us.
About a year ago I needed to quell the boredom that had been slowly rising in me.
I decided to pull a $mill out of the bank and build a bunch of houses.
What led to this decision was;
1. Money in the bank meant I was only making those Jewish bastards wealthier, at my expense. (an example, a $175,000 loan=$900/mth approx
where-as interest on $3-400,000 is $1,000/mth approx)
No the Rothschilds can go and get f;d and with malice.
2. The govt slipped a bill through a few months ago making it legal to take money out of depositors accounts to stop the 'too big to fail banks' from failing.
So it was that I would rather invest in my own bit of benevolence and help the first home buyers.
Of course the banks thwart any young peoples dream by putting unrealistic demands like 20% deposit.
Now my houses are around the $300,000 mark, and even so, can you see anyone, especially a young couple coming up with $60,000?
NO, neither can I.
Let's see if this new govt election promise will bare fruit, whereby the govt will cover fifteen percent of the deposit, leaving the buyers to only find 5%
continue................

continuing,

More importantly the point I wish to make which is something anyone with a reasonable 'stash' of money in the bank, is a thing called;

BAIL-IN.

This is the name of the act which allows, (by law) the mongrel banks to access a depositors account and take your money out to prop up the bank, if it's books are looking sad.
So I thought well they can get stuffed and I can only hope that they do go tits-up.
No chance of that happening now.
Anyway, with house prices at affordable levels, the banks are again the road block.
I have mentioned it before, BAIL-IN, look it up, this is very bad for everyone not just those of us with some liquidity.
I am one of the, dare I say, lucky ones because at any stage I can switch to rentals but I can wait it out as I am not beholding to the bastards.
My life long dealings have, in the main, been in cash.

In my very humble opinnion it's never a good idea to invest in share markets when you have more investing options such as real estate. You can't control share markets by any means however, for instance now that I mention real estate market, you can choose the right property, you can change the conditions, you can upgrade and renovate your property. So you are the one who is pulling the strings. Especially right now I find overseas property markets very favorable as it's offering the best prices and profit rate. For example you can buy an apartment in Barcelona https://tranio.com/spain/adt/1711260/ with two bedrooms in a new building for 485,000 € and either sell or keep it. Also it has other adventages such as favourable mortgage options and residence permit in the EU zone. So, I'd better invest in real estate instead of share markets.

Lou_09, I obviously agree, I just wrote the piece before yours telling all about the virtues of property over shares.
I think it's pretty much set in stone by now that shares are amongst the worse and last thing to invest in.
The reason they are still being pushed, with proviso's, is because so many people make so much money from your money, but when things go South they shrug their shoulders and blame it on market trends.
Anything where you have to rely on a third party or people, to make you money or increase your wealth, is a pipe dream.
In fact I have taken out a fair chunk of my money and built a group of houses.
Seven figures to be exact.
I too am looking for property overseas, but for social/personal reasons not investment.
I am perplexed at your choice of Barcelona, and for high fours.
Europe, say Italy, is a top place to look as the variety is huge in quality and quantity.
For a tenth of what you are quoting there are many properties to chose from.
I don't mind a fixer-upper or a block of land.
I just don't find Barcelona interesting enough, even though it would be more a base from where to go too or come from, when not touring other countries, which are all a stones throw from upper Italy.
I fully expect to right the expense off as I do not expect to sell it in a timely fashion if the time ever came, and at the kind of numbers I'm talking, it would almost be expected.