How to make money in times of crisis

From the end of May until mid July Russia was going through another financial crisis: alarmed customers rushed to banks to withdraw their savings, while the regulating authorities tried to do everything they could to assuage everyone.

Heart-rending scenes when thousands of worried clients used to besiege ATMs and boycott right by bank offices, no longer bring back horrifying memories of the Russian financial crisis of 1998. What we get to face nowadays, are mere consequences.

The panic caused major leap of prices on various products. Among them are gold, antique, rare musical instruments and surprisingly enough, used autos. Indeed, these are very useful items to invest in.

“Golden coins are in demand these days,” says head of the department of emissive operations of precious metals NOMOS-Bank Vadim Efimov. “In comparison to gold bullion, coins are not taxed,” informs Efimov.

Second category of items includes antiques. “Demand for these items is great this summer in particular,” stated director of one of the antique salons in Moscow. According to him, high-ranking officials are regular customers in such establishments.

Usually, there is slight recession on the market during summertime, since everyone leaves on vocations. This summer however is quite different: people are willingly  purchasing antique paintings and statues decorated with gem stones. This is indicative of the fact that people today are willing to invest in something rather than keep money under pillows at home.

Rare musical instruments appear to be “in style” today as well. Managing director of “MuzTorg” (music store) Evgeny Getmansky informed “Izvestia” of the fact that a properly chosen music instrument can significantly increase the owner’s fortune. According to him, hand made instruments, such as guitars and violins with the master’s autograph are most valuable.

Also, brand name guitars in good condition can also turn out to be quite profitable investment. Although the process of picking the right instrument can be rather time-consuming, the process is surely worth the effort.

One of the most popular items this season are used cars, used foreign cars to be exact. Thing is, a car purchased from a dealer immediately loses almost 20% of its value once it leaves premises. On average, a car goes down in price by 7-8% every year depending on the use. This however is the official price, the price a dealer would pay you should you decide to bring it to the dealer. Used foreign cars cost more on the market (the prices exceed official ones by 30%). This summer, due to the unstable market economy, prices on three-year cars has increased by 15%.

In case you are scared to store your money at home, if you do not trust your bank—you could invest in a wide array of items. It all depends how much money you are willing to invest.