by Higgenbotham » Thu Jan 08, 2026 3:56 pm
Thirty years ago, plus or minus, I thought things like silver and real estate were good ways to build wealth. I was reminded of that during two recent conversations.
The first was with a man around age 65 who is invested in silver. He said that he wished he had picked up on silver being a good buy a long time ago but he wasn't aware of it. I told him that I had been interested in silver in the 1990s but no longer am. Silver recently passed $75, a new record high. I told him that I am now interested in producing my own food and that I feel food shortages are coming long term. He gave me a rather blank look. That was when I realized that even if I had mentioned silver to him back at $5 I would have received the same blank look, as I recognized that same look in people I had talked to about silver back at that time.
The second was with a man around age 50 who is interested in real estate. He said that if he can just find a way to get a hold of enough real estate he would have it made long term. I told him that I had bought some real estate back in the 1980s in a town where it was really cheap. Since Zillow, etc., are now available, we looked at two of the houses I had purchased back then that had sold recently. One that I purchased for $11,500 had recently sold for $165,000. As we looked through the pictures, it was evident that essentially nothing had been done to the house since I had upgraded it. A second house that I had purchased for $15,900 had recently sold for $225,000. As we looked at these I told him that I am no longer interested in real estate. My latest interest is gardening because I believe the price of food is going to increase more and more and that eventually food shortages are coming. He ignored that and went back to talking about real estate.
If the above is predictive in any way, though, it will be true that we have a good 10 years to run before food prices and food shortages become a really major issue. Silver and real estate in that town bumped along at pretty low prices for a decade before finally making their major move. This year I grew about 3% of our family's food and my goal for next year is 8%. It may be 10 or 20 more years before many people say that good home grown food is wealth in a way, as in an investment in their family's health and future well being.
Thirty years ago, plus or minus, I thought things like silver and real estate were good ways to build wealth. I was reminded of that during two recent conversations.
The first was with a man around age 65 who is invested in silver. He said that he wished he had picked up on silver being a good buy a long time ago but he wasn't aware of it. I told him that I had been interested in silver in the 1990s but no longer am. Silver recently passed $75, a new record high. I told him that I am now interested in producing my own food and that I feel food shortages are coming long term. He gave me a rather blank look. That was when I realized that even if I had mentioned silver to him back at $5 I would have received the same blank look, as I recognized that same look in people I had talked to about silver back at that time.
The second was with a man around age 50 who is interested in real estate. He said that if he can just find a way to get a hold of enough real estate he would have it made long term. I told him that I had bought some real estate back in the 1980s in a town where it was really cheap. Since Zillow, etc., are now available, we looked at two of the houses I had purchased back then that had sold recently. One that I purchased for $11,500 had recently sold for $165,000. As we looked through the pictures, it was evident that essentially nothing had been done to the house since I had upgraded it. A second house that I had purchased for $15,900 had recently sold for $225,000. As we looked at these I told him that I am no longer interested in real estate. My latest interest is gardening because I believe the price of food is going to increase more and more and that eventually food shortages are coming. He ignored that and went back to talking about real estate.
If the above is predictive in any way, though, it will be true that we have a good 10 years to run before food prices and food shortages become a really major issue. Silver and real estate in that town bumped along at pretty low prices for a decade before finally making their major move. This year I grew about 3% of our family's food and my goal for next year is 8%. It may be 10 or 20 more years before many people say that good home grown food is wealth in a way, as in an investment in their family's health and future well being.