Business Lessons

Title: Art, Jewels as Investments

Many people believe that collections of semi rare antique furniture, collectible plates and figurines, oriental rugs, artwork of non national artists, unusual diamonds, fancy watches and jewelry and firearms make good investments.

As I view it from my experience, the truth of the matter is that these are repetitions of the salesmans sales pitch

and that the Buyer usually rationalizes that these items make good investments.

But the truth of the matter as I veiw it is that these items rarely increase much in value over long periods … and usually do not keep up with inflation.

Worse than that,

in bad economic times, with everyone else being in the same difficult financial situations,

there isn’t any “market” at all for these things,

and they have become a “trap for the unwary”

so you have deceived yourself into believing that they have increased in value and can be sold when in fact, they cannot.

Perhaps it is better to view purchase of these kinds of items
as “toys.”

My Definition of a “real” Investment:

Something that can be easily converted into cash without sacrificing it’s value, and in just about “any” market.