My grandfather was a full-time farmer and part-time philosopher: “Don’t give advice,” he once told me. “Wise men don’t need it and fools won’t take it.”

At the risk of incurring the wrath of the old man – here is one piece of advice.

In tough economic times: ignore the charlatans. Markets are unpredictable enough without someone deliberately trying to separate you from your money. You have worked long and hard for it – you owe it to yourself to invest it with due care and attention. If it runs out before your 80th birthday you will have no one to blame but yourself. By then it will be too late to take any kind of remedial action.

As we look toward 2012, we know that securing any kind of decent investment return is going to be fraught with complexity. Anyone who tells you they have all the answers and can guarantee you a double digit return next year is either peddling an illicit investment scheme, is on an illegal substance or doesn’t have the faintest idea of what they are talking about.

Avoid them.

Volatility is the only game in town. Embrace it.

We have asked our team of investment writers as well as a number of carefully selected contributors to share their 2012 investment insights. As per my grandfather’s warning – it does not constitute advice but we hope our thoughts will help you formulate your own investment ideas.

Read the snippets (full article available in Finweek of 15 December) and then go vote on our poll here to stand the chance to win a bottle of fabulous wine.

Bruce Whitfield says:

Goal: Build a portfolio of top shares at a sensible price, harvest and re-invest dividends while hunting for growth opportunities.
Tools: A stockbroker who won’t hassle you to buy/sell to drive up their commissions. A double dose of resolve, plus the services of a fund manager with the guts to think differently.

Putting investment theory into practice requires the Wisdom of Solomon, the resolve of Winston Churchill and the pluck of Oscar Pistorius. Money, especially when it is your own, is an intensely personal commodity.

Investing it as the world feels like it is teetering on the edge of a precipice is tough. A failure to invest, however, is tantamount to robbing yourself. Leaving cash in the bank means your real returns are eroded as inflationary pressures mount.

So what to do?

Valuations on a range of US and European stocks look tempting – but the rand has shed 20% of its value this year – in true South African tradition, we tend to take money out of the country after the currency has depreciated rather than during periods of protracted strength. Global diversification, let’s face it, is also the preserve of the privileged few. Most of us invest what little available money we have here, and, if we do it properly, are able to get global exposure though local listings.

David McKay: Freelance writer

Goal: Get the balance right
Tools: Time, space and coffee

I intend to spend! Not the most obvious of personal finance goals for 2012, but my self-administered advice is really about spending time figuring out how to find another obsession after selling my share in the online mining publication, Miningmx, in 2011. As it turns out, freelance journalism is actually a pretty good place to start, especially if you think of the editors as discrete revenue streams. Okay, revenue streams with feelings, just like real people.

Freelancing feels like ‘evolved work’. The first step on this journey will be to think of oneself as a business plan. What can I afford? What do I need to earn to break even? What’s my focus, even? Next is to grasp the notion of being in the service business. The real pressure will be to keep everyone happy while living with the difficulty that while one client is being served, another is being ignored, potentially. A realtime news and weekly news delivery schedule seems sensible.

And in the great balance sheet of life, what you sacrifice in security you gain in the sweet taste of freedom. I can only imagine what corporate life is like. The dull and unnecessary meetings, having to listen to other peoples’ carping, having to carry the can with one hand and bury personal resentment with the other. Corporate life is for “the boss” and the young.

Garth Theunissen

Goal: Protect what’s yours
Tools: Unit trusts, krugerrands… and shotgun cartridges

According to Mayan prophecy, 2012 will be the year the world ends. I might not be quite as pessimistic, but I can’t help feeling that we’re on the cusp of financial Armageddon. If you think I’m over-reacting, just consider the evil portents for a moment.

So bad are things in the eurozone that German bond yields actually reached negative levels last month. What that means in plain English is that European investors are so desperate for a safe place to put their money that they’re actually paying the German government for the privilege of lending to it. That might seem like madness to some, but I’d argue that global bond investors probably know a tad more than we do.

If you think my faith in the wisdom of the bond market it exaggerated, just bear in mind that US mutual funds are now so reluctant to lend to euro-land banks – thanks to their exposure to toxic government (ie Greek) debt – that central banks are being forced to ply their commercial counterparts with greenbacks to help them meet their dollar liquidity needs.

If you’re not catching my drift, let me spell it out for you: Things aren’t bad, they’re worse than bad. I haven’t even gotten to the spectre of worldwide stagflation and government austerity measures so severe it’s prompted the Brits to plaster London tube stations with World War II-era posters imploring people to “Keep Calm and Carry On.’’

To read the full article online click here.