The Gold Wrapping Paper

Once upon a time, there was a man who worked very hard just to keep food on the table for his family. This particular year a few days before Christmas, he punished his little five-year-old daughter after learning that she had used up the family's only roll of expensive gold wrapping paper.

As money was tight, he became even more upset when on Christmas Eve he saw that the child had used all of the expensive gold paper to decorate one shoebox she had put under the Christmas tree. He also was concerned about where she had gotten money to buy what was in the shoebox.

Nevertheless, the next morning the little girl, filled with excitement, brought the gift box to her father and said, "This is for you, Daddy!"

As he opened the box, the father was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, now regretting how he had punished her.

But when he opened the shoebox, he found it was empty and again his anger flared. "Don't you know, young lady," he said harshly, "when you give someone a present, there's supposed to be something inside the package!"

The little girl looked up at him with sad tears rolling from her eyes and whispered: "Daddy, it's not empty. I blew kisses into it until it was all full."

The father was crushed. He fell on his knees and put his arms around his precious little girl. He begged her to forgive him for his unnecessary anger.

An accident took the life of the child only a short time later. It is told that the father kept this little gold box by his bed for all the years of his life. Whenever he was discouraged or faced difficult problems, he would open the box, take out an imaginary kiss, and remember the love of this beautiful child who had put it there.

In a very real sense, each of us has been given an invisible golden box filled with unconditional love and kisses from our children, family, friends and God.

During this holiday season we hope you cherish all those who have given you their unconditional love.  Happy holidays from all of us here at Family Investment Center!

To read more inspiring short Christmas stories, click here.

Top 7 Warren Buffett Quotes on Gold Investing

In response to a few recent inquiries about investing in gold, we are sharing some of Warren Buffett's thoughts on gold in this interesting article that was posted October 3rd on Minyanville.com:

"Warren Buffett, the Oracle of Omaha and Chief Executive Officer of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A), is one of the most famous investors of all time. This billionaire has made so much money that he hardly knows what to do with it, although he has decided that after his passing he would like a sizable portion of his earnings to be dedicated to charity. Still, for all of the successes and endeavors that Buffett has taken on in his lifetime, there is one asset that he never quite warmed up to: gold.

Buffett is well-known for not only his strengths as a businessman, but also for his rather outspoken hatred of gold. The stance is somewhat controversial given the massive popularity of the precious metal that has made millions for investors all around. Also, we have seen other billionaire investors betting big on gold in recent weeks. Nevertheless, Buffett is not the least bit timid about his opposition towards the commodity. We scoured the Internet to bring you the seven best Warren Buffett quotes regarding gold and why he hates it so much.

1. “Gold gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head.”

2. “The problem with commodities is that you are betting on what someone else would pay for them in six months. The commodity itself isn’t going to do anything for you….it is an entirely different game to buy a lump of something and hope that somebody else pays you more for that lump two years from now than it is to buy something that you expect to produce income for you over time.”

3. “Gold is a way of going long on fear, and it has been a pretty good way of going long on fear from time to time. But you really have to hope people become more afraid in a year or two years than they are now. And if they become more afraid you make money,  if they become less afraid you lose money, but the gold itself doesn’t produce anything."

4. “I will say this about gold. If you took all the gold in the world, it would roughly make a cube 67 feet on a side…Now for that same cube of gold, it would be worth at today’s market prices about $7 trillion – that’s probably about a third of the value of all the stocks in the United States…For $7 trillion…you could have all the farmland in the United States, you could have about seven Exxon Mobils (NYSE:XOM) and you could have a trillion dollars of walking-around money…And if you offered me the choice of looking at some 67 foot cube of gold and looking at it all day, and you know me touching it and fondling it occasionally…Call me crazy, but I’ll take the farmland and the Exxon Mobils.”

5. “The major asset in this category is gold, currently a huge favorite of investors who fear almost all other assets, especially paper money (of whose value, as noted, they are right to be fearful). Gold, however, has two significant shortcomings, being neither of much use nor procreative. True, gold has some industrial and decorative utility, but the demand for these purposes is both limited and incapable of soaking up new production. Meanwhile, if you own one ounce of gold for an eternity, you will still own one ounce at its end.”

6. “What motivates most gold purchasers is their belief that the ranks of the fearful will grow. During the past decade that belief has proved correct. Beyond that, the rising price has on its own generated additional buying enthusiasm, attracting purchasers who see the rise as validating an investment thesis. As 'bandwagon' investors join any party, they create their own truth — for a while."

7. “I have no views as to where it will be, but the one thing I can tell you is it won’t do anything between now and then except look at you. Whereas, you know, Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) will be making money, and I think Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) will be making a lot of money and there will be a lot — and it’s a lot — it’s a lot better to have a goose that keeps laying eggs than a goose that just sits there and eats insurance and storage and a few things like that."

While Buffett certainly makes a lot of good points about gold, it is very difficult to argue with its historical performance in recent years. What do you all think? Is Buffett  simply stuck in his ways, or is he right about gold?"
The direct link to this article is: http://www.minyanville.com/trading-and-investing/commodities/articles/Warren-Buffett-brka-gold-investing-investing/10/3/2012/id/44617. 

Media mentions: Dan Danford on gold

Family Investment Center’s Dan Danford was recently interviewed by Ray Scherer, a reporter for the St. Joseph News-Press, for an article on gold. Thank you, Ray!

Click here to read the article:

http://www.newspressnow.com/news/2010/oct/03/golds-shine-lingers/

Financial advice from TV experts is a no-go

By Robyn Davis Sekula

I ran across a story this week about Glenn Beck's financial advice. First of all, you need to understand I'm not a fan of his. I think he's theatrical and reactionary. I do think he makes some good points, but I can't get through the drama to listen to what he actually says. It's too much to wade through for me.

It bothers me to read that he's been dispensing financial advice. He has no expertise on this, and his idea about buying gold is just plain silly.

I've heard Dave Ramsey address buying gold a number of times, and his point is always this: when an economy collapses to the point that paper money is not valuable, gold is not helpful, either. He points to New Orleans during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as the most recent example of economic collapse. Were people trading gold coins? Not at all. They were bartering for bottled water, tarps, building supplies, generators and gasoline. Those were the things that were desperately needed and in very short supply.

There's also the journalist in me that notes that Beck is paid for his endorsement of gold as a commodity, and he's likely paid very well. It may even be in his contract to endorse it on his "news" show. Therefore, he's not objective.

I asked Dan Danford, Principal and CEO of the Family Investment Center, to weigh in on Beck, and here's what he thinks:

I share Beck's concern that many political policies discourage entrepreneurship and capitalism. And I also believe that investors have suffered at the hands of Wall Street and supportive bureaucrats. But capitalism grows from the basic initiative of people, and no government has ever succeeded is destroying that trait. I believe, strongly, that creative people find ways to make money and build companies even when the government discourages it. Corporations adjust to changing situations and needs. In brief, I don't think capitalism is dead and I don't believe all the doomsayers about the U.S. economy.

Then, I specifically asked about Glenn's endorsement of gold as an investment. Dan said this:

The time to buy gold is always before people start talking about it. I think Glenn should stick to broadcasting but there are a host of others who disagree!

What it all boils down to is this: if you are taking specific investment advice from someone who is talking to you, and not with you, you're heading down a dangerous path. There are some universal ideas, such as that we all need to save for retirement, and shouldn't have credit card debt. But how to invest that retirement, specifically, is a question Beck isn't qualified to answer, because he doesn't know you.

If you are seeking good, solid financial advice that applies to you, which is what you should want, you need to seek an independent financial advisor who isn't being paid a commission or a fee or anything else to endorse a specific product. That advisor needs to know how tolerant you are of risk, how far away from retirement you are, how many children you have and their circumstances, and whether or not you're divorced, widowed, married or single. All of that is important, as well as 100 other small factors that really change how you save, and what for.

For instance, in my case, I'm self-employed. That fact alone means I probably need a larger cash savings fund than many people, and a qualified investment advisor would tell me that, and NOT tell me to have a bunch of gold sitting around. You can't pay your mortgage with gold if you lose your biggest client.

Listen to Beck, if you like. But take any advice he gives with more than a grain of salt.

Should you invest in gold?

Dan Danford regularly contributes to Dad's Divorce, a web site for men going through the divorce process. Recently, Dan addressed the idea of buying gold, which has seen a surge in value recently. Watch the video below to find out what Dan has to say about this investment option.