Why I think buying gold is a bad idea.

[Nate K]

I don't understand what the big deal with gold is, I have found so many reasons this is an absolute waste of money. I understand the concept, but unless I'm wrong in the following, most of you haven't thought deep enough about this. Here goes..

Why do people say buy gold? Well because of inflation right, it's a hedge against the crashing dollar and it will actually gain you more money if and when it goes up in price. But if your reason to buy gold is to prepare because you ACTUALLY THINK things are going to get bad enough like having our economy collapse.. you begin to take steps to ensure your investment is most safe. So you generally want to buy the physical thing if "TSHTF" right? Well here's the problem.

If things are going to get as bad as some of you are preparing for, shouldn't you also put into consideration gold confiscation? Don't you think the government has a plan for all the 'smart people' who were a small voice at first but eventually grew to the point of gold buying being a popular thing?

Ok, say I'm wrong with the last part, but we'll still say that the economy collapses like you are preparing for. If you have read some stories of those who have lived through the Argentina hyper-inflation, you will find that silver, gold and other precious metals are traded at "fool's gold" price, since not everyone is a professional to be able to tell if what you have is the real deal or not, meaning.. your gold will be worth less than the dollar.


Taking this into consideration you should find that the event you are preparing for has such a tiny little chance of turning out, among all the other possibilities.

If you're gonna go fishing, don't just bring your rod, bring your hooks too. And bait.

 

[josephadel_3]

What about silver?

 

[Nate K]

What about silver?

I may be the most uneducated on economics at this forum, so just as a reminder this is all my own opinion from reading a lot of survival stuff then tying it to economics. I think silver would be better than gold, but some say that in a SHTF scenario silver wouldn't likely be a primary trade because it's "industrious" (i think i got that from this forum actually).. I'm honestly not sure about silver, or the other metals.

All my advice for those who are still looking for something to invest in worthwhile, would be to look towards the real necessities, things that you might expect to be traded if you put a shitty scenario through your head. Supply and demand right? If people need to eat, or need soap, medicine, other necessities, the demand will be extremely high so if you have the supplies to trade ahead of time, you'll be doing fine I think. That "sector" will be a booming one IF something were to happen.

 

[ChickenHawk]

Confiscation isn't a problem for anyone who is the least bit prepared for it. The government doesn't know who has gold, they can't search every house in America and I'm certainly not telling them where I put it.

The other scenarios are a possibility, but that is why you don't put everything in gold or silver. You need to diversify to cover a number of potential scenarios.

 

[sevin]

I've been wondering a lot of the same things as Nate K. Won't they just confiscate gold like they did during the Great Depression? What happens if we switch to a one-world currency? And for those who put gold in a safe at home, do you really think you'll be able to spend it at the grocery store, or that local coin dealers will actually give you a fair price when people are desperate for whatever they can get? And doesn't the world bank control have a lot of control over the supply and price of gold.

For once, I would love to see someone give a clear, intelligent answer to these questions.

 

[bill50]

Gold sniffing dogs anyone?

 

[Malakai]

Sorry that doesn't even make sense.

If we had hyper inflation no retailer would turn down gold or silver. When the dollar was near it's low a few months back no one would turn down a euro, people know what has value.

If you flash an old silver dollar at even a gas station one of the workers will probably pay for your item with their money and take your coin. I did it a few times at a CVS and then a gas station I worked at. If you work that type of job you should know what years are what % silver =)

 

[weatherbill]

this thread is a joke, right??? got me laughing

 

[efiniti]

If things are going to get as bad as some of you are preparing for, shouldn't you also put into consideration gold confiscation? Don't you think the government has a plan for all the 'smart people' who were a small voice at first but eventually grew to the point of gold buying being a popular thing?

Right, so that's why you buy a gun to prevent the mafia from stealing from you. If a life of freedom and ability to maintain wealth is important to you then you need to protect it. And a gun is pretty good at doing just that.

 

[Nate K]

Sorry that doesn't even make sense.

If we had hyper inflation no retailer would turn down gold or silver. When the dollar was near it's low a few months back no one would turn down a euro, people know what has value.

If you flash an old silver dollar at even a gas station one of the workers will probably pay for your item with their money and take your coin. I did it a few times at a CVS and then a gas station I worked at. If you work that type of job you should know what years are what % silver =)

So what I said about all metals being devalued for that reason, this wouldn't apply at all ever?

That happened to be the case in Argentina.

 

[Nate K]

this thread is a joke, right??? got me laughing

I'm guessing you're sitting on a couple pounds of gold right now

Right, so that's why you buy a gun to prevent the mafia from stealing from you. If a life of freedom and ability to maintain wealth is important to you then you need to protect it. And a gun is pretty good at doing just that.

Oh, trust me, I don't disagree.

 

[DFF]

There's no such thing as a gold manufacturing machine.

The Fed, with all it's power, and all it's might can't create a single ounce of gold.

They can however, create billions of dollars via a printing press that subsequently leeches value away from the money in your wallet.

Granted, central banks actively collude together daily to distort and manipulate the true price of gold, but they can't do this to the extent which they do with paper money.

So, this is a no brainer.

Gold > Paper

 

[jonahtrainer]

I don't understand what the big deal with gold is, I have found so many reasons this is an absolute waste of money. I understand the concept, but unless I'm wrong in the following, most of you haven't thought deep enough about this.

I do not think you have thought deeply enough about it. What is the 'risk-free' allocation of capital? In other words, where do you store your capital when you do not want to allocate it? Gold is cash and the wise investors use it to calculate value. Fiat currencies are only 'like-cash'.

A fiat currency, by definition, cannot be 'risk-free' because it can become worthless through hyperinflation. The reason to own gold is because it is 'risk-free'. It is a safe place to store your capital when you do not have another place to allocate it. Remember, it is not the price of bullion that fluctuates but the price of the irredeemable worthless pieces of fiat currency that do. Gold is not a portfolio asset; everything else is.

Silver is primarily an industrial metal and only a quasi-monetary metal. Gold is the only monetary metal as evidenced by the above ground stockpiles. Gold IS money and nothing else is. The US$ is only a money substitute.

 

[Grimnir Wotansvolk]

Any way you angle the issue, there is no fool-proof, perfectly safe way to hold your money.

But is having a valuable commodity physically present and within reach better than having electronic funds or nigh-on valueless cash? If I have to answer that for you, we're speaking entirely different languages altogether.

 

[Ozwest]

Shit mate.

Catch your drift... The world is spinning.

Since I sold my business, I study. I ain't no font.

For what it's worth, my thoughts are as follows:

During the coming months we are not heading towards a " classical recession, " but rather a period of stagflation.

Higher inflation is coming from every direction you care to look. Normally, the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank would move to stomp out inflation by raising interest rates and tightening money supply. Now, thanks to a weakening U.S. economy and the turmoil in debt markets, the FED and ECB are doing the opposite of what is required by flooding markets with short term cash and lowering interest rates. China, Russia, and other emerging economies determined to keep their currencies from gaining against the dollar are creating money to buy dollars, inflating their own currencies.

As the world's opinion of the U.S. dollar grows more and more unfavorable, owning gold becomes more and more important for preserving capital or for profiting from the trend.

My 2cents.

 

[rrcamp]

Keep in mind also that a lot of people hold their gold out of the country. An example of this is the bullion held in Perth Mint in Australia by Peter Schiff's clients, or the bullion held by many people in vaults in Switzerland or UK by Goldmoney.com clients.

If the government tried to seize gold like before, making it illegal to open a safe deposit box without an IRS agent present, those people with bullion out of the country can CHOOSE to report it or not.

Sure, Australia/Switzerland/etc could cooperate with the US government, but... it's pretty much as safe as you can get beyond burrying it in the backyard and sitting over it with s shotgun.

 

[Ozwest]

I have purchased 46,,701 from the Perth Mint from the first of September till today.

Mainly five ounce and once bars.

Weight matters. Coin fascia is diddly.

 

[Ozwest]

Keep in mind also that a lot of people hold their gold out of the country. An example of this is the bullion held in Perth Mint in Australia by Peter Schiff's clients, or the bullion held by many people in vaults in Switzerland or UK by Goldmoney.com clients.

If the government tried to seize gold like before, making it illegal to open a safe deposit box without an IRS agent present, those people with bullion out of the country can CHOOSE to report it or not.

Sure, Australia/Switzerland/etc could cooperate with the US government, but... it's pretty much as safe as you can get beyond burrying it in the backyard and sitting over it with s shotgun.

I ain't no pirate, but gold is easy to hide.

Make great sinkers for fishing.

 

[MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2]

I don't understand what the big deal with gold is, I have found so many reasons this is an absolute waste of money. I understand the concept, but unless I'm wrong in the following, most of you haven't thought deep enough about this. Here goes..

Why do people say buy gold? Well because of inflation right, it's a hedge against the crashing dollar and it will actually gain you more money if and when it goes up in price. But if your reason to buy gold is to prepare because you ACTUALLY THINK things are going to get bad enough like having our economy collapse.. you begin to take steps to ensure your investment is most safe.

I have life insurance. As it turns out, I'm not running the streets trying to get myself killed.

We'd all like a healthy economy. Many of us here have spent plenty of our personal time and money trying to make a better country - for everyone. Why would you think we'd wish collapse on everyone so we can make a few bucks?

If everything crashes, you'd have to have A LOT of gold to actually be better off. We become richer through trade and production, not through acquiring gold. (unless you're a mining company.) No one will be better off in a crash. People with holdings in gold just won't get screwed as badly.

 

[angelatc]

If things are going to get as bad as some of you are preparing for, shouldn't you also put into consideration gold confiscation? Don't you think the government has a plan for all the 'smart people' who were a small voice at first but eventually grew to the point of gold buying being a popular thing?

I don't have gold, but I wonder about the people who are buying it from mail order places using a credit card. It just seems like leaving a paper trail isn't a terribly good idea.