On Converting Savings to Gold

[Thrashertm]

To tide you over...

Hello,

I'm ashamed to say, but I have had very little experience with economics; and while I'm trying to correct that now, I realize that the only way to protect what little assets I have in this troubled economy is to act now. The problem is that every time I try to research the topic of buying gold, I'm plagued with "information paralysis." Essentially this is what I want to do: I have a decent and growing savings account, and I would like to take the money in this account and buy gold bullion for local (and secure) storage. In other words, I want to keep the gold myself. Would it be possible for me to have my local bank arrange for me to buy this bullion, or would I have to go to a reputable gold dealer, or somewhere else entirely? I would understand if I were in the market to buy gold coins; but I'm wanting to buy thousands of dollars of gold for long term storage, and I'm just not sure how to get the process started. My inexperience makes me hesitant to act on my own without sound advice from those who know better than I.

Thanks for your time.

If you want to take a position on gold, without having to store it, there are a couple gold ETF's I own. Open an account on TD Ameritrade or Etrade or something, and buy "GLD" or "IAU" - these are companies that buy bullion and hold it on your behalf. A share of each stock is about the price of an ounce of gold divided by 10.

If you think that our economic system will collapse, then these may not be the best places to put your money. However, if you think that our financial framework will remain more or less intact despite some tumltuous times, they are a convenient way to own gold.

 

[Joseph Hart]

I have a bad feeling about everyone buying gold! When illegal searches occur.

 

[Allen72289]

Be sure to keep enough money in cash to be able to meet several months expenses should something happen to you and you could not work. many financial planners suggest at least six to eight months worth of your expenses in a fairly liquid account. Gold may be slow to liquidate if you had an emergency.

I personally would not buy something like gold online. I would rather trade my money directly in person for it. No risks of being taken or have it disappear in transit. You can actually see what you are getting.

As for the copper content on pennies, it would be illegal for anyone to melt them down for the copper content (the mint has been doing this though) so a penny saved (even if it was copper) would still be worth a penny fifty years from now. Not a great return.

In an economic collapse I don't think anyone would care about the law.

Time for some good old anarchy.

Why would you want toilet paper on hand instead of hard metals?

Besides, it's just 6-8 months of living expenses

As for liquidity I would keep digital gold..

However, if I must have federal reserve currency on hand I want copper or nickels, forget toilet paper.

I would buy a few years of food.

People used to store food on the homestead because of natural disasters, we still need to store food for the same disasters.

Don't think that will never happen because I'm sure a lot of people thought the same pre katrina.

After having a few years in supply of medicine, water, food, bullets and clothing I would diversify the rest.. http://www.europac.net
http://www.ryedalecoin.com http://www.goldmoney.com

Buying a ryedale machine isn't a loss.

You can easily sell the copper pennies on ebay for double the face value to break even with the cost of the machine.

Having paper currency nobody wants is a loss.

 

[justatrey]

Thanks to everyone for the links in this thread. I'm a newbie to precious metals also and have about a year's worth of salary slowly losing value in a savings account at the moment. So, I'm looking to buy gold or silver before its too late..

On the APMEX site, I noticed there different varieties of the 1 oz. gold coins:

1 Ounce Gold Krugerrands
1 Ounce Gold American Eagles
1 Ounce Gold Canadian Maple Leafs

Does it matter that the American Eagle is the "official gold bullion coin" of the US?
It seems to me that 1 oz of gold is 1 oz of gold regardless of what its called or if its "official" or not.

 

[Dr.3D]

1 Ounce Gold Krugerrands are usually the cheapest. Gold is gold.

 

[justatrey]

1 Ounce Gold Krugerrands are usually the cheapest. Gold is gold.

Thanks - according to this that should save me 25 or so "toilet papers" per oz. Guess I'll start off with a few of these.

 

[steve005]

local coin shops are good too from my ex.