When Did Everything Become An Investment?

[sax4blues]

As best I can remember investments were business related: stocks which are business ownership, bonds which are loans for business purpose, property which was not your primary residence, commodiies which are used for business. I know there is much more.

Everything else was just stuff you buy and use. Exception was the primary home which was an "investment" in your future security through elimination of monthly house payment.

What triggered me was an article suggesting now is the time to sell your house because of possible peak. That would be great except for the question; where do I live? Same with all of our discussion of music gear prices. If I sell my gear what do I do for a hobby? Sell my used car for top dollar and ride the bus? At least I won't have a guitar and amp to carry on the bus, I sold those.

 

[StrangerNY]

Outside of our house and our retirement funds, I don't consider anything I've got as an investment.

I don't even think of my vintage gear as an investment, because that's not why I got any of it. I see so many people who buy gear and immediately start looking at how much they could get if they re-sell it. That, to me, takes all the joy out of having it in the first place.

- D

 

[57joonya]

This is something I’ve noticed too. When someone wants a quote for a siding job on their house , it’s like “ I do t know if I’m gonna recoup that money when I sell it in two yrs” . But I suppose that’s just a natural thought now , with things being so expensive all around . But if your house needs siding and your gonna live in it….best to do it if u can afford it. And I’m talking about folks who can most certainly afford it .

 

[Papanate]

Gradually over the last 30 years there is big pressure to monetize everything - to many greedy types - mixed in with people who want to cash in on everything - believe it or not Antiques Roadshow is an outcome of that thinking - eBay was too - where everything has a value. I dislike it - things were easier when people didn't price everything - even now you have people who think there guitars even though they are pieces of crap - are worth zillions because there old.

 

[bgmacaw]

 

[imwjl]

As best I can remember investments were business related: stocks which are business ownership, bonds which are loans for business purpose, property which was not your primary residence, commodiies which are used for business. I know there is much more.

Everything else was just stuff you buy and use. Exception was the primary home which was an "investment" in your future security through elimination of monthly house payment.

What triggered me was an article suggesting now is the time to sell your house because of possible peak. That would be great except for the question; where do I live? Same with all of our discussion of music gear prices. If I sell my gear what do I do for a hobby? Sell my used car for top dollar and ride the bus? At least I won't have a guitar and amp to carry on the bus, I sold those.

When marketing department terms usurped the meanings of words set in traditional dictionaries?

I admit I'll get annoyed with how the word investment can be used but blame that on getting an economics degree after very much blue collar type work.

 

[teletail]

Mostly calling something an investment is just a lie that companies tell in order to help you justify spending your money. As you pointed out with your example of a house - if you sell it, where are you going to live? Are you going to rent until the market crashes? With the current cost of rents, that's going to significantly eat into your "profit." Whenever somebody brags about how much they "made" on their home, I never see them deduct mortgage payments and upkeep in their calculations.

 

[1293]

How is a house an investment? You need a place to live. It's not like you can divest it.

 

[oldunc]

While there's a certain cynical charm to the notion of basing an economy- and in fact a society- on greed, it rather obviously bears within itself the seeds of its own destruction. The country is now virtually owned by corporations, which institutionalize greed without the tempering effect of humanity- to the point that children's lives are dedicated to corporate demands; you need to do this and that to get into a GOOD school and get a GOOD job. Virtually everything is now a consumer product, including the most basic aspects of life that other species are able to handle for themselves; your immediate environment, your food, your recreation, even care of your children. We are constantly bombarded with propaganda on all sides, to the point where it's difficult to know if even your thoughts are your own. All makes me rather glad I won't be around much longer, this is leading to a future that I'd really rather not experience

 

[telleutelleme]

Hoarder's excuse

 

[Robert H.]

As best I can remember investments were business related: stocks which are business ownership, bonds which are loans for business purpose, property which was not your primary residence, commodiies which are used for business. I know there is much more.

Everything else was just stuff you buy and use. Exception was the primary home which was an "investment" in your future security through elimination of monthly house payment.

What triggered me was an article suggesting now is the time to sell your house because of possible peak. That would be great except for the question; where do I live? Same with all of our discussion of music gear prices. If I sell my gear what do I do for a hobby? Sell my used car for top dollar and ride the bus? At least I won't have a guitar and amp to carry on the bus, I sold those.

When money grubbing went from an art to a science.

 

[1293]

I just invested in a trampoline.

 

[PoorNoodle]

I don’t get this whole music is a competition and gear is an investment schtick. Why can’t we just enjoy writing, playing and listening to music?

 

[Ronzo]

Gradually over the last 30 years there is big pressure to monetize everything - to many greedy types - mixed in with people who want to cash in on everything - believe it or not Antiques Roadshow is an outcome of that thinking - eBay was too - where everything has a value. I dislike it - things were easier when people didn't price everything - even now you have people who think there guitars even though they are pieces of crap - are worth zillions because there old.

Everything DOES have a value. That value is, always, what someone is willing to pay for it. Nothing more, nothing less.

There was a book published about five years ago titled “The Million Dollar Les Paul”. It talked about the ‘58 - ‘59 Bursts being sold for higher and higher prices. The author’s position was that there would soon be a Burst sold for over one million dollars US.

Anybody heard of that happening yet?

As with eBay, people can LIST items for however much they like. But more experienced buyers look at the COMPLETED listings to see what price comparable items actually fetched at thee time of sale.

OP, I think you got it exactly right. If you sell your home now, where will you live?

FYI, I re-financed my home mortgage last year to take advantage of the market value change. I was able to eliminate PMI and lower my monthly payment, which covered my homeowners insurance increase. Just had to sign some papers. But I didn’t spend any of the recovered cash. I suspected that inflation would hit.

 

[notmyusualuserid]

People here post about the future prices of their equipment as though it was an investment - "Teles hold their value better than Strats" was one recent gem.

I've never bought any physical thing as an investment. I bought my first home as somewhere for my wife and I to live, and that's how it's been ever since. I'm fortunate that now if I wanted to 'downsize' (ugh) I could make a tidy profit and still have a nice, but smaller, house. Don't need to, so won't.

Meantime, pre-owned Rolex watches are selling for more than a new one from an authorised dealer. I have a several expensive watches, some of which are worth as least as much as a Rolex Sub before anyone plays the envy card.

Some people know the price of everything but the value of nothing.

 

[notmyusualuserid]

.

 

[brookdalebill]

Pretty vacant.
Like the Pistols said.

 

[soundchaser59]

While there's a certain cynical charm to the notion of basing an economy- and in fact a society- on greed, it rather obviously bears within itself the seeds of its own destruction. The country is now virtually owned by corporations, which institutionalize greed without the tempering effect of humanity- to the point that children's lives are dedicated to corporate demands; you need to do this and that to get into a GOOD school and get a GOOD job. Virtually everything is now a consumer product, including the most basic aspects of life that other species are able to handle for themselves; your immediate environment, your food, your recreation, even care of your children. We are constantly bombarded with propaganda on all sides, to the point where it's difficult to know if even your thoughts are your own. All makes me rather glad I won't be around much longer, this is leading to a future that I'd really rather not experience

E X A C T L Y ! ! !
If we have a "right to life" then why is it so expensive to be alive?

 

[loopfinding]

Well it depends what end of the economic spectrum you’re on. Me, I’m a deadbeat. Good for you if you don’t have to think about resale value if something doesn’t pan out. "I've never bought gear with investment in mind" isn't some noble moral thing, it's just a circumstance thing.

I have some great scores for under 1k that are now worth 2k. I’m also a tech and can just rebuild them for the price I bought them for and make like 1500 bucks. It’s a no brainer to sell, and it helps me recoup other gear/life costs. I’m not explicitly looking for that, but it’s treated me well as a financial cushion and nice to always have in the background for emergencies, so I do it often enough to keep that as a backup side hustle. Some of that stuff I definitely don’t “need,” but I still have gotten some live or recording use out of it, so worst case it's worth either a minimal loss (a “rental fee”) or best case a considerable profit. I don't buy anything that can't at least be resold for about the same out of an abundance of caution. You really can't ever know whether a piece is a keeper or not.

OTOH I have some stuff that’s worth 2k or more that I scored for much less than that - invaluable tools - and I know I will never get the chance at that price again, so I hold on to them for dear life.

I really don’t understand those people who splurge blindly on some over 2k high end thing or custom built thing, don’t like it, and eat the cost "cause you're worth it," or whatever. I don’t have the means to mess around like that. There is a "synthfluencer" out there who calls it a “security deposit”. I tend to think more about it that way. Being impulsive about the gear purchases is like neglecting your apartment and blowing the security deposit, totally unnecessary.

 

[Grandy]

While there's a certain cynical charm to the notion of basing an economy- and in fact a society- on greed, it rather obviously bears within itself the seeds of its own destruction. The country is now virtually owned by corporations, which institutionalize greed without the tempering effect of humanity- to the point that children's lives are dedicated to corporate demands; you need to do this and that to get into a GOOD school and get a GOOD job. Virtually everything is now a consumer product, including the most basic aspects of life that other species are able to handle for themselves; your immediate environment, your food, your recreation, even care of your children. We are constantly bombarded with propaganda on all sides, to the point where it's difficult to know if even your thoughts are your own. All makes me rather glad I won't be around much longer, this is leading to a future that I'd really rather not experience

Yep, that's cynical, but I agree.

What annoys me is all the talk about networking, like your friends are acquired resources for you to use.