It is either the different nations, most especially the Asians, have cut prices or they have tied their currency to the dollar's value which is why most Americans do not feel the decline in dollar. The meaning of this is pretty simple wherein it indicates that the products that are imported from them haven't increased in price. You'll be surprised to know that the things that can be purchased using a dollar in Europe are not that many.
What then may happen in the future? Have you ever thought the value of the dollar today may differ in the future? Your best bet now is to allot a small portion of your funds to savings even if the Fed claims that inflation is regulated.
Within a span of 24 years, the purchasing power of your money can be cut down and all this can happen at an annual inflation rate of 3 percent. To keep the way of living that you are enjoying right now, you need to raise twice as much money for your retirement. Now that's intimidating.
It would be of help if you consider at least some form of hedge against the possibility of the dollar's decrease in value in the future. Gold is the basic way of hedging but today, it is a lot easier for investors to invest into other currencies. Foreign currency futures are traded by speculators but also, there are different investment vehicles to choose from for long term investors.
Most commonly referred to as CD, the foreign currency bank certificate of deposit is a type of investment. If you want to trade your dollars into Euros, pounds or yen, you don't need to open another account in a foreign bank. You may also check online sites since they offer different FDIC insured certificates wherein it shows the denominations of the different currencies.
The interest that you would be accumulating is just about the same to what you'll be earning in a foreign bank. You may convert the CD back into dollars once it reaches its maturity date but the possibility here is that you may either earn or lose depending on how strong or weak the foreign currency was. If you want to venture in this kind of investment, you need to have at least $10,000.
Next, foreign currency ETFs is also another form of investment. This is a listed security wherein it is new in the market and that its value is dependent on the assets of that certain fund. Assets here are that one currency ETF such as British pound, euro or any other type of currencies. The venue where these shares are traded are on the NYSE or Amex wherein whenever you trade, you would feeling like owning a currency because you actually have a foreign money market account.
Also, another wise investment would be to put your money in currency mutual funds. This is a good investment because there is a certain mutual fund that concentrates in hard currencies. In May 2005, the no load fund begun wherein its assets today are over $110 million.
This is a good form of investment because in this way, one may choose from the different foreign currencies available. With this, the fund becomes suitable for a longer term investor who wants to diversify and expose their investments. Today, the fund has 22.5 percent in Swedish, Norwegian, British, Australian and New Zealand currencies, 43 percent assets in euro, 16.5 percent in Canadian dollar, 10 percent in Swiss francs and 8 percent in gold. In order to invest here, you have to be willing to shell out $2,500, as for their prospectus and application form, you get can it from their sites or buy it through fund networks.
You need to save a lot in order to invest properly so next time you pull out a dollar out of your wallet, think twice. Let's just hope that these dollars will be worth it for your retirement. It's a bet you might want to hedge in some small way and that's The Savage Truth.
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