As we move into the first half of 2009, I’ve never seen anything like this. I have never seen the fear and panic in the eyes of investors like in recent months. He was thinking of heading up a new organization, perhaps calling it something like the Battered Investors Club or BIA, an acronym for Broke Investors Of America. The stock market has become nothing more than a roulette table, and retirement accounts like 401K plans have separated the worker from half to almost all of the savings he has responsibly set aside for retirement.

Do you believe the politicians and financial “gurus” who assure us that hundreds of billions of “stimulus” dollars being printed 24/7 and thrown around like confetti are going to fix this financial mess we find ourselves in? I don’t, I think it’s going to get worse. Sure, you’ll see the stock market, real estate market, etc. pick up a little bit. The amount of money (read: our taxes, the children’s, the great-grandchildren’s) that the government is doling out will surely cause the screen to flicker for a short while, but then watch out! The long-term result of all this may be reminiscent of something that happened in the history of Rome.

In the meantime, I made the decision that I wanted to get my money back (what was left after they broke up with me) and control when and how it was invested. I took my money out of my 401K and bought collectibles. Now I have something tangible that I can hold in my hand and admire. It doesn’t have the potential to drop to zero, I can enjoy looking at it or in many cases using it, and then sell it in the future at some point. future for a good profit.

You can start investing in collectibles right away and at any dollar level, whether you have $100.00 or $1,000,000 to invest, there are collectibles for any interest you can imagine. Some of the most popular areas of investment in collectibles are coins, stamps, antique furniture, art, rare books, autographs, and even classic cars that are good investments now.

There are dealers, appraisers, and experts in all fields who can help you get started. Attending auctions, antique and collectible shows, and online places like eBay are good places to do some research and see what might interest you.

Many investors start out buying some collectibles only with the intention of selling them for a profit, without planning to develop an interest in the collectible markets. With many, this soon changes as they develop a love of buying and selling collectibles and end up making a business and career with collectibles.

I have been in the collectibles business for 25 years and feel your dollar investment could not be safer at this time. There are no guarantees in life, but know this: I will take a document signed by George Washington or Abraham Lincoln for an equal dollar amount of blue chip stock every time!

As investors, we have all taken some pretty hard hits over the past year. But you don’t have to continue. You can stop the bleeding today in your investment situation. Put your money in tangible collectible investments and go back to sleep at night!