Gold Investing?

[Smith]

So I've been reading about SHTF stuff and the need for gold, but i just don't get it. If it is a true SHTF wouldn't barter items like food, ammo, etc be far more valuable? Now I'm all for having some gold in your investing portfolio, but if economies tank and governments are in dire straights it would seem gold wouldn't be worth any more than a paper bill. After all they are tired to the same system. Only need I could see it filling is in a recovery mode with a stable government. What do you guys think?

[Ebow1]

In a true SHTF situation gold would be invaluable. It is nothing more then a shiny medal that is an excellent conductor of electricity. Gold is an ideal investmant if only America's SHTF, as gold will maintain its value despite any kind of plummeting US dollar, as you will be able to get less and less gold for the same amount of money. The lower the currency of a country drops, the higher the value of gold is in that country. If you're really thinking about investing, or you truly believe the American economy will collapse, then invest now, because if that happens the cost is just going to increase.

[kb4ns]

If you are considering the use of precious metals for bartering, I'd consider getting silver. It's easier to barter with. I'd hate to have to trade a one ounce bar of gold for something small that I really needed. And I would make sure that you actually possess the metals, not one of those deals where they issue a certificate stating that you own so much of whatever.

Of course, I'd start collecting my precious metals after I had completed my stockpile of food and ammo.

[Smith]

If you are considering the use of precious metals for bartering, I'd consider getting silver. It's easier to barter with. I'd hate to have to trade a one ounce bar of gold for something small that I really needed. And I would make sure that you actually possess the metals, not one of those deals where they issue a certificate stating that you own so much of whatever.

Of course, I'd start collecting my precious metals after I had completed my stockpile of food and ammo.

Good point, yeah i'm talking about in possession physical gold. I prefer coins. Certificate stuff would be as worthless as confederate money if the economy truly collapsed or in a depression.

[willis68]

Trust me, you cannot go wrong investing in Gold, I have a co worker who invested $20K 5 years ago, he now only works when he wants and has just purchased a 2010 Lamborghini, Paid his 250K home in Houston Texas off, he paid cash for the car and only has insurance and utilities bills that have to be met each month. Believe me I wish I would have listened to his advice at the time he offered it to me

[willis68]

Duplicate Post

Edited May 12, 2010 by willis68

[kb4ns]

Good point, yeah i'm talking about in possession physical gold. I prefer coins. Certificate stuff would be as worthless as confederate money if the economy truly collapsed or in a depression.

Yep. You can snag silver bullion for a buck or so over spot price shipped on eBay as well as from some retailers. Usually, your local coin shop will have some in stock (in my experience, the ones around here charge spot price and nothing more). I had quite a bit of silver bullion stockpiled a while back, but when money got tight, I sold most of it off.

[kb4ns]

...

Edited May 12, 2010 by kb4ns
Double post

[Guest Plainsman]

Trust me, you cannot go wrong investing in Gold, I have a co worker who invested $20K 5 years ago, he now only works when he wants and has just purchased a 2010 Lamborghini, Paid his 250K home in Houston Texas off, he paid cash for the car and only has insurance and utilities bills that have to be met each month. Believe me I wish I would have listened to his advice at the time he offered it to me

Umm, yes you most certainly can. I mean, if you look at the track record of gold from 1833 until 2001, it made like 1.5%. Don't know about you, but I think thats a pretty crappy return for a really really long time. Gold is at an all time high right now. Why and the hell would you buy gold at an all time high? Your better off selling any gold you have right now than actually buying into it.

I'm with Dave Ramsey on this one; its like the Snuggie of investing. You buy it on late night TV and end up looking stupid.

[willis68]

Umm, yes you most certainly can. I mean, if you look at the track record of gold from 1833 until 2001, it made like 1.5%. Don't know about you, but I think thats a pretty crappy return for a really really long time. Gold is at an all time high right now. Why and the hell would you buy gold at an all time high? Your better off selling any gold you have right now than actually buying into it.

I'm with Dave Ramsey on this one; its like the Snuggie of investing. You buy it on late night TV and end up looking stupid.

You are right, I should have said 5 years ago , I know that Callum Watts the man I am talking about invested in Gold, whether it was Bond's or stocks, But I wish I would have listened to him

Edited May 13, 2010 by willis68

[Guest drv2fst]

Invest in brass (filled with powder and lead). It will be worth more than gold if SHTF. If not, then it's fun to shoot.

[Guest Plainsman]

I also find it quite odd that he has a Lambo, yet only lives in a 250K house in Houston, TX. Once again, his investing just doesn't add up. I wonder how much $$ that Lambo lost when he "stylishly" drove it off the lot.

[Guest Plainsman]

double

[willis68]

I also find it quite odd that he has a Lambo, yet only lives in a 250K house in Houston, TX. Once again, his investing just doesn't add up. I wonder how much $$ that Lambo lost when he "stylishly" drove it off the lot.

Would you like me to give you his cell phone number and then you can ask him that yourself???? if you have ever been to Harris County Texas (Houston) 250K will get you a home that will cost $800K in Brentwood Tennessee

[Guest Plainsman]

No. I'm sure he's found out by now that buying a car that cost almost as much as his house was a pretty dumb move.

[willis68]

No. I'm sure he's found out by now that buying a car that cost almost as much as his house was a pretty dumb move.

LOL, I never said it was not but it is his money and that is what he wanted so why the hell not, we only live once and he understands this at 52 years old

[Guest Plainsman]

Could've changed his family tree bigtime. Instead he bought a car. Yay for living once.

[willis68]

Could've changed his family tree bigtime. Instead he bought a car. Yay for living once.

My friend, he makes over $200K a year at work, he is single he is hardly hurting or wanting for anything so why not get a car that you have always wanted if you can pay for it with cash

[Guest Plainsman]

At least he paid cash for it. I must say that would have been pretty fun to walk into a lambo dealer and put down the money.

I'm sure he's rather diversified. It was a fun discussion though.

[gregintenn]

Have you ever thought that if the dollar will soon be worthless, and gold is such a great investment, why are all these people on tv so willing to trade their valuable gold for your worthless dollars?

[kb4ns]

Have you ever thought that if the dollar will soon be worthless, and gold is such a great investment, why are all these people on tv so willing to trade their valuable gold for your worthless dollars?

On the flip side of that, I see tons of commercials screaming "WE BUY YOUR SCRAP GOLD FOR TOP DOLLAR!!" at me. It's all just businesses being businesses. Not many businesses plan for a meltdown of our country.

I don't think precious metals are the most important thing to be stockpiling by a long shot. But if you have the time and funds to stash some away, it wouldn't be the worst idea in the world.

[saintsfanbrian]

Actually - in a short term SHTF scenario in this country having gold and silver would be a valuable asset. You should keep more silver in coin form (not the current nickels, dimes, quarters but the old ones that actually have silver in them) to trade. The dollar may be worthless but that gas station will likely take your silver coins to purchase fuel with. Silver can also be melted down and used for other things should you need to.

Having gold is nice but as some one stated - do you really want to have to haggle to get that gold coins value in goods at the local mini-mart? I doubt it but would have some to make larger purchases.

As for an individual that purchased $20K of gold and now has the lap of luxury - God on you! Keep it up and keep investing.

[Smith]

My thinking is that gold is a good insulator against inflation in normal market conditions, but if things got truly bad it would loose a great deal of it's value. In a SHTF it would be a liability to try and lug it around balanced against it's value.

[1gewehr]

My thinking is that gold is a good insulator against inflation in normal market conditions, but if things got truly bad it would loose a great deal of it's value. In a SHTF it would be a liability to try and lug it around balanced against it's value.

It has been said that in most periods of history, an ounce of gold would buy a good quality Men's outfit of clothing. As such, gold is not so much an investment, as it is a way to safely store wealth. Today's dollar will not even buy a 1lb loaf of bread from a bakery. Twenty years ago, it would buy a high-quality loaf, fifty years ago, you could get two loaves, and a hundred years ago, one dollar would buy twenty 1lb loaves of bread.

That is what is meant by 'inflation'. It means that it takes more dollars to buy something than it did in the past. In an economy where the government currency is purely based on faith, (like the US dollar, Euro, etc) it means that the more dollars they print, the less each one is worth.

What gold does is provide a means of storing your purchasing power in a way that the Feds can't control. That's why FDR made private ownership of gold illegal. It allowed him to control the economy and increase inflation past anything ever seen before.

For true SHTF situations, an ounce or two stuck away to bribe bureaucrats probably isn't a bad idea. Aside from that, I'd advise copper, brass, and lead with combustibles.

[Guest KevinG]

I have a couple gold coins and some silver that I got about 6 months ago. I just did it as an experiment. I have watched the prices very closely since I bought. The gold coins have gained about $300 each in value since I had them. The silver has gained about 7 or $8 in the same time period. Silver is predicted to gain at a higher percentage than gold by some of the "experts" because silver is used in some industry and electronics. It is also getting harder to find. I also like silver because as stated before you can keep it in smaller denominations. You won't often need to spend at the rate of $1500 or more at a time in a money crisis.