How to Invest

Many men today are discouraged from investing. They think that it is too complicated or requires more money than they have. The truth is that investing can be pretty simple and it does not have to cost you a penny thanks to new investment apps such as RobinHood, Openfolio and others.

More on those opportunities in later articles. Right now, let's consider the different things that you can do with your money in order to put it to work for you.

Eliminate Debt First

Before you start investing your money in securities and accounts that can return anywhere from 2% to more than 10% in a year, you must eliminate that credit card debt.

This is not technically an investment but I cannot stress the importance of this enough. You are paying as much as 30% or maybe more in interest on such debt. Your other investments are pointless as long as you are paying the shylocks at the credit card companies and the banks for these cards.Eliminating these debts will put more money in your pocket than any type of investment, no matter how lucrative

Some people will tell you that you should keep a single credit card for emergencies and use it at least once per month in order to keep a good credit rating. This point is debatable but if you choose to do this, keep your balance below a few hundred dollars. Even a balance of just $1,000 on a card could turn into a few hundred dollars lost per year due given present interest rates..

Bank Products

Savings accounts, money markets, certificates of deposit (CD) and other bank accounts are very conservative investment choices. In general, the risk is very low. As long as the bank does not fail, your money will be safe. As of 2017, you can expect anywhere from a little less than 1% to as much as 2% interest per year for most such accounts.

Prior to the present age of the Internet, you could only take advantage of CDs, which offer better
returns than savings accounts, if you could open the account with a minimum of five or ten thousand dollars. Now, with Internet banks, you can open a CD with $100 or even less and still get as much as 2% interest, which beats the average savings account today.

This is a great way to save money if you are low-income but still want to enjoy the benefits of compounding interest. You can sock away $100 at a time at no cost.

However, you should understand that you cannot take the money out of a CD before maturity without paying a penalty, so don't do it unless you are sure that you can keep your hands off the money. Don't open a CD if you have massive credit card debt. Pay the debt, then save money.

Bonds

Our knowledge of bonds is theoretical. With low cost CDs available and bond returns well below 2%, it does not seem to make sense t
o invest in a few federal bonds at a time. There are also bonds issued by corporations and local governments which will pay higher interest rates but they are riskier in terms of getting your principal paid back. Access to them is also more complicated.

You can buy T-notes for $100 each from the US Treasury website. The yield on these notes changes from day to day but is generally pretty low. As of April 2017, you can get above 2% on a ten-year note. That means that each year the Treasury will send you the money earned from the note. You do not have the opportunity of compounded interest on this investment.

Stocks

There is good reason to feel a little apprehension about investing in the stock market, Stories about depressions and recessions are not just stories - they are real events that wiped out the wealth of millions of people. However, millions more have survived all these events with their wealth intact by obeying a few simple rules of stock investment.

People who are not invested, or who allow brokers to manage their money, often think of stock investment as a form of gambling. Unfortunately, there are people who treat it this way, sinking money into names and numbers they see on stock tickers and betting that the numbers will go up or down.

Successful long-term investors understand that investment in stocks is simply investment in the businesses that make up the economy itself. They focus on buying shares in companies with proven records of success.

Most importantly, they buy stocks that will pay dividends. When you buy dividend stocks, you receive money every month, quarter or year, depending on the company behind the stock. This money is not taken from your holdings and it does not reduce your stake in the company. It is your rightful portion of the profits as a partial owner of the company.

When you take this money and reinvest it into more stocks or other forms of investment, you will see that your wealth continues to grow steadily, whether the market crashes or not.

Precious Metals

In prepping and/or alt-right circles, precious metals investments are all the rage. You will hear some people say that they only invest in precious metals and that this is the safest and ultimately the most lucrative form of investment.

In addition, you may hear some cryptic references to the coming collapse of the economy. Apparently, in the future, we will all inhabit a stone age world reduced to a barter and trade economy. Somehow, your store of gold coins is going to help you manage this scenario successfully.

The knights do not participate in this doomsday porn but that does not mean that precious metal investment is bunk. A look at most investment portfolios of rich men around the world will reveal that they devote a varying portion of their wealth to precious metal holdings.

When you have finished paying off your debt and are beginning to buy bank products and stocks, consider putting five or ten percent of your savings into precious metals. Their value tends to increase when stock values drop. This provides some balance to your portfolio and lessens the impact of market setbacks.

Alternative Investments

This is article is not long enough to cover the benefits of any single type of investment, let alone all of them. Let it suffice to say that there are many investment possibilities for your money and it is a good idea to spread out your wealth into different areas.

A quick mention of potential alternative investments include real estate, direct investments in oil or gas, pieces of art and other types of collections.

Future articles will cover all these investment opportunities individually and in in greater depth.

Don't Pay Back Your Credit Card Debt!

If you are heavily in debt and feeling trapped, you may be experiencing a lot of the same emotions that I suffered when I was in the same position. I felt shame and fear but I also felt a sincere determination to pay off every penny of my debt. I suppose that I felt that this was the noble and honorable thing to do.

Here's what actually happened: My wife divorced me, I went flat-ass broke and defaulted on all my debts. Then, I started living without credit cards or other forms of loans and debts without any choice.

I have written elsewhere about the importance of going cold turkey with regard to debt. Defaulting like this is one easy way to accomplish it. If you stop making payments, no one is going to loan you money for a long time. You have no choice but to learn to live without debt.

Is This Honorable?

Now, this may not sound very honorable for someone who is seeking to live like a modern-day knight. If you have been stirred to find this website and peruse the articles, you probably cling to some notions about honor and the importance of paying back your debt.

First of all, let me assure you that you will pay back your debt. I am doing so now. But I will get to that later.

Second, you should understand that your notion of honor has no place in this world. In fact, sentiments like this are used to keep you enslaved. Once they have suckered you into $10,000 or more of debt on cards with interest rates ranging as high as 30%, they know damn well that you will be paying them forever. 

Unless you win the lottery (and don't tell me that you haven't had this dream) you will never pay off a debt that size. If you do the calculations, you will find that you will pay hundreds of thousands of dollars over a lifetime managing that debt.

You could buy a house with that much money. And believe me, your creditors ARE buying houses with that money. 

Furthermore, how much honor is there in supporting the causes of your creditors with your monthly payments? You should look into some of the sick stuff that these companies do. They further leftist causes like transgender acceptance and seek to pervert your children in public school. They are the enemy and you are giving them money. 

This is not an excuse for your prior financial carelessness. That was bad and you probably get that. But trust me, you have probably already paid that debt if you total your interest payments. That satisfies the demands of honor.

You Will Eventually Pay It Back

Anyway, the end of my story is that I am paying it back. After you quit making payments, the credit card companies will pester you for awhile. Get used to not answering the phone if you don't recognize the number. This is also liberating. You will be living credit free and ignoring your damn phone, which probably takes up too much of your time already.

Eventually, the credit card companies will turn their debts over to collection companies, selling them the debt at reduced rates. These companies then start coming after you. You can ignore them, too. Or you can negotiate to pay back your debt now, possibly in a reduced quantity. 

In my case, I waited so long that the original creditor found me (my life was kind of sketchy for a while after the divorce and I guess I fell off their radar) and garnished my wages. I could have avoided even this but I got lazy and, anyway, I was ready to pay my debts, having acquired a good job by then. In five months of stiff payments, I paid the whole thing and I am now free of all but one credit card debt. (I am still gaming that last one.)

The great thing about paying your debt back now is that interest is not accruing. If you owed $4,000 on that card, the debt was just getting bigger every month and most of your payments went to interest. Now, your payments will always reduce the principal significantly. Payments equivalent to ten or twelve of your old monthly payments may pay off the debt completely and get it off your back.

I am in this process now. I cannot tell you how good it felt to get credit out of my life to start with. Now, I feel even better because I was able to get myself into a good position financially and begin to pay off my old debt quickly and on better terms.

Do It Now

Some writers on this topic will suggest that you consider this method if it seems right to you after some consideration, etc. I am not going to do that. If you want to become a christian warrior, you need to cut ties to these companies and this way of life. Stop funding their terror and stop soiling your own soul with the frivolous lifestyle choices that credit cards offer. 

Do it now. Stop making credit card payments. They cannot take your home and they cannot put you in jail. You will change your life. You will stop funding Leftist terror. You will break the chains of financial slavery and immediately start living a better life. 

Yes, your credit rating will take a huge hit. So what? What is it that you were going to do with your credit rating? Buy another car? Buy a house? When you buy these things, you just buy your way into more slavery. 

They might take you to court. This is not actually scary if it happens. Just don't go. Eventually, they may garnish your wages. If this happens, you bite the bullet and pay it off quick. It's better than paying interest for ten years and still owing the principal.

You will still be able to make money. You will still be able to buy things for your family and take the out to dinner. In fact, you will be able to do these things more often now that you are free of unnecessary debt service.

If you are single, I really do not know why you are waiting. Cut yourself loose from these state-supported slavers. Otherwise, you are just Ed Norton's character in Fight Club, buying trinkets from Ikea and wasting your manhood.

One final thing. Do not let wrist-flipping, pearl clutching neo-con types scold and shame you about paying your debts. These people are the enemy. After we deal with the credit card scum we will deal with them as well.