These are a series of questions that a leading newspaper in Australia pitches at celebrities in their Sunday edition investor section. Having seen these questions I thought the person I’d most like to answer them isn’t a celebrity, it’s Mark Knowles, a fellow author from HubPages.
I pitched them at him, here are his responses…
What was your first job?
Working Saturday’s in a camera shop in Holland – Dixons. Which was an English company run by my dad.
What did you get paid?
25 guilders
Are you a saver or a spender?
Depends – a saver when I need to save and a spender when I am financially secure. Leaning more towards saver as I get older but have been known to blow through money like grows on trees when I was younger.
What do you spend your money on?
Food, alcohol, fags, travel, wife.
What was your most irresponsible purchase?
A one way plane ticket to the USA with a Harley Davidson waiting the other end.
Credit cards are: a) great; b) helpful; c) a poor investment; d) work of the devil.
e) For emergencies only. Too easy to get money this way. Too expensive. I do not have any credit cards and would only consider getting one if I was desperate. Loan sharks are probably cheaper.
Does budgeting work for you?
Yes – no credit cards so if I have the money I can spend it – If I do not have the money I can’t. Traditional budgeting has never worked for me. I am more the type who will say “If I need more money I better go and earn it,” and go and earn it.
If I was given $20,000 I would buy…
Right now – nothing.
If I was given $20,000 I would invest in…
Gold. Physical gold – not paper gold.
What’s the best piece of investment advice you have heard?
Buy gold.
What’s the best piece of investment advice you have actually acted upon?
2005. I heard that the property market was going to crash, the banks were all in major doo doo and to get out of investment property if I was in it. Watched it beginning to unfold in the US. Flew back to the UK and sold my property there in 2006. Those properties are probably now worth half what I sold them for.
What’s your top money tip?
Don’t spend it if you do not have it. 
Seriously – At the moment this is a difficult question to answer. The crisis affecting the credit markets is far bigger than anyone is admitting to. I feel the current stock market bounce is a fake and will come crashing down even harder than it did last year. The ongoing asset devaluations will force the banks back to the governments for more help within the next 18 months. And the governments have already committed far more than was prudent.
Unfortunately there are no safe havens at the moment – except perhaps gold and silver. But I wouldn’t put it past the banking conglomerates to persuade the governments that it should be made illegal to own gold or silver as a private individual.
I think there will be an opportunity for the little guys like me in the next two years to get back into property at a ridiculously low price. This will probably occur around end 2011. I have actually set up a small property investment company with the intention of taking advantage of this. I guess you could call it a “property investment club.”
Private Offshore Real Estate investment Fund
I do not trust the institutions and feel that the small investor is going to come out the other side of the current crisis flat broke. All I see is banks and financials getting bigger and more powerful, and the little guys being eaten for breakfast. To me the only safe place over the next 7-10 years is going to be gold and a property portfolio that is not leveraged. The cost of money when the governments have finished filling in the black hole created over the last 20 years is going to break us all. With taxes, inflation and usurious interest costs.
Still building the website but I will have it finished soon. Already have some interest and a group of people committed.
Anyone interested in getting involved can contact me through the website.
Thanks for your time Mark and I’ll let you get back to the 100 Hub Challenge!
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