BP #32 – Have I Turned into a Silver Bug?

///Have I Turned into a Silver Bug?///

To be up-front: no, I have not turned into a silver bug. As I’ve said before, owning gold or silver as an investment is stupid. Metal doesn’t pay you a dividend. Metal doesn’t pay you interest. It just sits there.

This week (actually, this was last week’s post, but I got offered $50 to run last Friday’s video so I replaced this item), I decided to fondle my silver, which is about all you can do with precious metal.

When I was taking stock of this limited physical wealth, I looked at my two sets of Canadian Centennial coins (one set is in un-circulated, sealed condition, and the other is in rough shape). I remember my Dad saying something about old coins having silver in them. So I Googled it. Apparently Canadian dimes, quarters, half-dollars, and dollars, were made with a lot of silver until 1967, after which silver was eliminated from coins in circulation (actually, some dimes and quarters from 1967 were only made with 50% silver and this continued into 1968, the year during which silver was eliminated from dimes and quarters; if you have a silver-coloured coin from 1968 or before, definitely look up whether it has any silver content!).

In short, I used to think I had about 2 ounces of silver. I found out that I own a little under double that amount. Bear in mind that I only have between $110 and $120 worth of silver. I’m not precisely sure about the value, because I’m not certain of the silver content of four of my coins. As noted, dimes and quarters from 1967 (I have two of each) may have been minted with 50% silver or 80% silver, and this explains the $10 discrepancy.

It seems kind of silly to keep over a hundred bucks worth of metal sitting around doing nothing. If asset deflation occurs hand-in-hand with Canada’s real estate bust, I’ll stand to lose $50 of that stagnant value. But, alas, the value of these silver pieces is more sentimental than financial.

///The Movie Project///

Kubrick’s use of symmetry really is impressive and unsettling. Perhaps this section is evolving into an attempt at helping readers become more critical consumers of media.

///Catherine a.k.a. Nepeta Cataria///

Because I haven’t posted many smiley pics lately (besides her BlackBerry obsession, she’s started to teethe!), here are four:

///Mentions///

///Amendments and Addenda///

• The Beginner’s Guide to Saving and Investing for Canadians has been updated in PDF format.

///Tweet(s) of the Week///

TeachersCreditUnion called me. Going to start charging me a fee in December. I’ll be moving to THRiVE chequing before then. Sad!

— TimelessFinance (@TimelessFinance) August 31, 2012

I’ve been a member of the Teachers Credit Union since I was a kid, and I’ve actively promoted their services since 2005. It’s unfortunate they’re willing to lose me over approximately $7 a month (it was kind of lol-worthy that they used it as a sales call to offer me overdraft protection and a MasterCard… as if!). They’ve by no means been perfect to me. If I had to point to a loyalty on my part that’s been “money-stupid”, it’s probably this one. And they have the coolest-looking debit card. </sentimentality> All well, I have a few months but it looks like it’s ING THRiVE for me!

///Keyword Fun///

Money-Smart Keyword Award goes to:

trent hamm idiot

True that.

ultramar gas fowlers corners prices

They’re generally low.

Money-Stupid Keyword Award goes to:

Honestly, there are so many money-stupid searches that lead people into this site that I am starting to worry about my content.

is it possible to get a $600,000 house with a low down payment

Yes; please see the next keyword:

cmhc is suing me ontario

I get tons of these searches now. Way more than a few months ago. Draw your own conclusions.

can resp pay rent to parents

I dunno, but either way you’re an awful parent. You should have contributed that money to an RRSP instead of an RESP, so you could get a tax break. RESP withdrawals are income for your son or daughter; if they pay you rent, that’s taxable income for you. GENIUS.

lol wut? Keyword Award goes to:

incandescent

…?

Notably missing keyword to SEO-optimize this post by increasing the keyword density

silver bug

///YouTube///

The music is annoying, but the video is neat.

If you think old cars are awesome, please watch this clip and realize that they are death traps:

This kind of scam makes me want to get a dash cam.

///Quote of the Week///

“Our children’s pediatrician has recommended a small dose of acetaminophen (Tylenol) for helping our children two and older to cope with the discomfort and lethargy of a fever, so I went to our medicine cabinet to find some. Alas, there was none on hand.”

- Trent Hamm, The Simpleton Dollar

“Oh my God, he’s going to make his own Tylenol.”

- ControlYourCash

///Links///

1.  “My Atomic Holiday” struck me as an interesting article. Apparently, if you’re willing to schedule well in advance, you can take a free tour of America’s biggest nuclear test range.

2. I’ve heard that Dale Carnegie’s ”How to Win Friends and Influence People” is an excellent book. Warren Buffett highly recommends it and he’s a pretty cool guy. I actually had this book on my “to read” list, although my progress on said list is glacial (and some months, non-existent). I was delighted to find this intelligent “mind-map” of the book’s key concepts.

3. An article about 47 exploitable heuristics endemic to the flawed human mind, written by a PhD in psychology. It’s a really long article, but completely worth your time if your work involves marketing, sales, or visual design.

4. Whiny articles of the week:

• Young people whine about their inability to find well-paid, fulfilling work straight out of their useless educations.
• Old people whine that investors won’t pay enough for their unprofitable businesses.

///lol-worthy///