Looking for some financial perspective(inflation vs investment)

forgop · 11-04-2010, 06:16 PM

Disclaiminer: This is not intended to be an argument about who is to blame for where we are or anything.

So, I've been hearing bits and pieces about the value of the dollar with our national debt and its backing (or lack thereof) of gold. I've heard some points made about the values of investments like stocks/mutual funds being worth much less. Let's just say I have a stock that I made out well with as a small time investor and had to weigh the options of taking the capital gains and use that money for home improvements to include a geothermal system (which would probably yield an annual savings of heating and cooling costs at a 10% yield on initial investment and pay for itself within 10 years) and a significant amount of flooring work. Assume today's value/cost of materials is labor today in a bad economy is going to be much lower than possibly down the road due to anticipated inflation/devaluation or however you want to put it.

I'm nearing the end of my rope and feeling a bit nervous about being in it that much longer. Obviously, I could always sell and re-invest into something much more diversified, but then I'm hit with the gains today, which I'm not thrilled about taking unless used for fixing up the house. Your thoughts???

11-04-2010, 06:16 PM	#1
forgop Not a puffer Join Date: Oct 2008 First Name: Duane Location: Indianapolis, IN Posts: 2,869 Trading: (40)	Looking for some financial perspective(inflation vs investment) Disclaiminer: This is not intended to be an argument about who is to blame for where we are or anything. So, I've been hearing bits and pieces about the value of the dollar with our national debt and its backing (or lack thereof) of gold. I've heard some points made about the values of investments like stocks/mutual funds being worth much less. Let's just say I have a stock that I made out well with as a small time investor and had to weigh the options of taking the capital gains and use that money for home improvements to include a geothermal system (which would probably yield an annual savings of heating and cooling costs at a 10% yield on initial investment and pay for itself within 10 years) and a significant amount of flooring work. Assume today's value/cost of materials is labor today in a bad economy is going to be much lower than possibly down the road due to anticipated inflation/devaluation or however you want to put it. I'm nearing the end of my rope and feeling a bit nervous about being in it that much longer. Obviously, I could always sell and re-invest into something much more diversified, but then I'm hit with the gains today, which I'm not thrilled about taking unless used for fixing up the house. Your thoughts???