I believe in being diversified...which I am. I think Wall St has a greater appeal to most because it is widely held and there is an absolute value for a share of stock which there is not for a 65 Mantle.

It appears card market moves closely mirror Wall St. If Wall St is down so are your cards.

Diversity is good.

The other big greater appeal is that there is nothing protecting baseball cards at all. Nobody will do anything if the market collapses. It relies on the hype to survive and grow.

If the stock market collapses, not has a bad year and downturns for a brief period as the cycle always goes, but actually collapses, the US dollar loses its value, cards are worth nothing, and civil order and structure will quickly collapse with it. The state and our institutions will go to extreme measures to keep it up in the worst scenarios. The downside risk is a lot less when every institution and person, whether they own stock or not, is so heavily invested in this not happening to the market.

All that really matters in life, is how many Ty cobbs you have ;)

Agree!! I will say the major pumpers Gary Vee PWCC Ect are not average guys who have to move their retirement account monies out and go all in with funds to cards. Those guys already have the money and big money. They may want the average guy to deplete their 401ks moving the funds into cards but people who are smart, like the guys here aren't going to do that and the people that are don't have enough money in their 401s anyway to make a difference. A fool and their money are soon parted. If you're wise you can still invest in cards and your retirement account.

Many don't have the smarts to invest wisely in cards just as many don't have the stomach to invest in the stock market.

Fair points, Jeff. i am particularly hostile to Wall Street but i see little else out there. All assets have their ups and downs, pros and cons.

I invest in the usual stuff but also in cards....but in the latter only with the proceeds of what I sell. Definitely makes it a challenge but also a boatload of fun.

I try not to forget that not everything is about making money (there's also women and weed, for example). Cards are (I hope) more than an investment for the denizens of this board. As Burdick said, a card collection is: "a magic carpet that takes you away from work-a-day cares to havens of relaxing quietude where you can relive the pleasures and adventures of a past day—brought to life in vivid picture and prose."

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...0Zernial_1.jpg

Gus agrees.

To be fair, I have no doubt that the game is rigged and try to proceed accordingly. I once told a financial planner friend that a stockbroker is one of only two professions that get paid on the way in and on the way out. He didn't disagree.

My biggest issue with doing this is that I would not want to sell a card. Especially if I grew an emotional attachment to it. Most of my collection, I do not look at as investments.

Retirement funds could be savings, which is only paying a max of 2.3% YMMV. I could see using a small portion of savings to buy a few cards, rather than staring at number in a screen. The hobby has been a place of camaraderie for decades, as well as a magic carpet as Burdick wrote. You cant put a price on that!

This thread has morphed from "retirement funds" to major stocks, indexes, 401ks, and the like. I see there caveats and pitfalls of all. In cards, like anything else

Be greedy when others are fearful. Be fearful when others are greedy. Where say you, are we on that scale?

When the shoeshine boy is giving tips to buy prewar HOFers...

You have that right Jeff. The system is somewhat rigged against the average normal person. From companies and people that seek out where Wall Street and stock exchanges put their computers and servers, so they can place their own computers and servers just across the street to try and get trading info and price updates mere milliseconds before everyone else, to investment firms acting as underwriters and handling IPOs and letting their stockbrokers selectively pick and choose which favored customers and clients to initially offer such shares to. Even when you decide to purchase (or sell) a stock, remember, that order is not instantaneously executed, and is potentially subject to various decisions and options by brokers, third market makers, and others that may be involved in the process, and also making money off your transaction as well. And whether you place market orders or limit orders can have a great impact on this process. Though the SEC has rules and laws in place to provide more transparency and try and ensure brokers and others are always giving customers the best executions possible of their stock orders, there are still ways for brokers and others involved to work the system to their advantage, sometimes over that of their customers.

By the way, what is the other profession........doctors? On some level then I guess you could also possibly include Auction Houses that charge seller's commissions AND buyer's premiums.

Prostitutes.

The way in and the way out!

LOL

Good one!

You got it, you sell it, you still got it. What a business!

I mean…not that I have any experience in such matters, but it does seem like there would be a degradation factor over time…

You are talking to BobC, our resident tax expert. The correct term is depreciation.

Jeff,

Nic/raulus is also a CPA, and knows his stuff. But that is funny when you through the depreciation factor in there. Good one.