Money into Gold & Silver

[riding moon]

Has anyone here or does anyone here intend to buy Silver or Gold soon. They are always a safe way of holding a physical asset if paper fails.

[streetster]

Wrong section?

[pauldarkside]

Moved to GD

[kalniel]

I wouldn't have thought gold was very safe to store yourself - if someone nicks it then there's nothing you can do to cancel the transaction, so you'd have to claim on insurance. If storing somewhere else then it's just another form of paper asset IMHO

[Sputnik]

If storing somewhere else then it's just another form of paper asset IMHO

Except a £50 note will always be worth just £50 and £50 worth of gold will be worth alot more in 10 to 20 years time.

If you had bought £200 worth of gold around 1999 it would be worth £1100 today. I don't know of any building society or bank that would offer that kind of interest on £200.

You can always store it in a safety deposit box.

EDIT: I would say it is a bit late to join the gold rush as prices are high at the moment but, If you going to be a long term investor (IMHO the only way) then it is worth it if you have cash to spare. Even if you don't have £40,000 to invest on a brick you can always buy Sovereigns.

[j1979]

I dabbled a little on http://www.bullionvault.com/

but i brought it when it was £590 a troy ounce. I think it will continue to go higher, but i had to sell my gold when i put down a deposit on my first home. I missed out big time, but to be honest i would have got itchy feet anyway and pulled out. Im too cautious. Each trade costs £10, and you have to pay a small fee for "rent" for housing your gold.

I intend now to open a bank account with bank of china in london. The yuan will get stronger for the next few years imo. either that or invest in a Ukrainian bank account. They offer 9% interest on dollar accounts, 9% euro accounts and 17% on the local currency the hryvnya. Of course there are risks with all investments.

[kalniel]

Except a £50 note will always be worth just £50 and £50 worth of gold will be worth alot more in 10 to 20 years time.

If you had bought £200 worth of gold around 1999 it would be worth £1100 today. I don't know of any building society or bank that would offer that kind of interest on £200.

You can always store it in a safety deposit box.

EDIT: I would say it is a bit late to join the gold rush as prices are high at the moment but, If you going to be a long term investor (IMHO the only way) then it is worth it if you have cash to spare. Even if you don't have £40,000 to invest on a brick you can always buy Sovereigns.

Then that's not gold as an asset, that's gold as an investment, which is entirely different. Compare gold to another form of investment and it's just another type of investment with its own risks and advantages - the value of gold may go down as well as up, you may not get back what you put in etc.

[melon]

I wouldn't have thought gold was very safe to store yourself - if someone nicks it then there's nothing you can do to cancel the transaction, so you'd have to claim on insurance. If storing somewhere else then it's just another form of paper asset IMHO

Real estate seems a better idea to me, once I have this flat I might just rent it out and relocate somewhere else where i can actually open my curtains .

m

[Sputnik]

I doubt the long term price of gold ( say in 10 or 15 years time) will be lower than it is now. So working on that basis I would say it is worth having some.

[riding moon]

It's just that given on the of chance that US debt is realised to be so excessive for the world and global players pull out of the US Dollar, and with the UK tied fairly closely to the US. Also the EU € in a bad way and so many other countries all being at a high level of GDP dept, paper money may just be paper with a lower value than now on a global scale. Not trying to scare monger but finances all around do look shoddy.

Given the worst that could happen is market's collapsing, inflation and life being hard due to that. The value of a tangible commodity like gold and silver will always be valued everywhere, as it has done historically.

Though I was just after advice as to where to buy as Germany has a lower VAT rate on them at 7%.

[TheAnimus]

Soverigns are free of CGT, however given the price they are trading for right now and the current price of gold, they might well be at the peak of a bubble.....

[kalniel]

It's just that given on the of chance that US debt is realised to be so excessive for the world and global players pull out of the US Dollar, and with the UK tied fairly closely to the US. Also the EU € in a bad way and so many other countries all being at a high level of GDP dept, paper money may just be paper with a lower value than now on a global scale. Not trying to scare monger but finances all around do look shoddy.

Given the worst that could happen is market's collapsing, inflation and life being hard due to that. The value of a tangible commodity like gold and silver will always be valued everywhere, as it has done historically.

And you don't think someone will have thought of that already? Speculators are already on the case Granted, that's handy for chaps like me who include it in a portfolio to balance other investments, but that's just normal investment stuff. It's still what I think of as a paper asset because I don't look after any gold myself.

[badass]

I always find it somewhat amazing that someone thinks the best place for investment advice is a computer and gaming forum.

[melon]

What about collections / art ?

Dont their worth usually increase in time ?

[Sputnik]

Soverigns are free of CGT, however given the price they are trading for right now and the current price of gold, they might well be at the peak of a bubble.....

The fact that they are exempt of CGT makes them a good asset (or investment if you wish) I'd never suggest anyone put all their eggs into one basket but, It is good to have a bit of everything so that if something does go pear shaped you still have something left.

The gold prices have been floating about the same price for a while now. For those who have had some for the last 10 years it could be a good time to sell some just incase the prices fall again. Then they can buy it back at a lower rate.

In hind sight I wished I'd bought as much as I could 10 years ago.

[Sputnik]

What about collections / art ?

Dont their worth usually increase in time ?

It's always a sore point with me! I could be very rich if it hadn't been for one of my relatives throwing the paintings away.

I saw a program some time ago about a man who had gone to Russia during Soviet times and bought paintings from good artists for next to nothing, His now very wealthy from the proceeds off them.