Is there any advantage to owning physical gold? I can see somewhat that it might be okay if the dollar drops ridiculously low, but how can you spend physical gold without selling it for dollars first and then using the money to buy what you need. In that scenario, you are in the same shape.

yes. money is paper.

I agree, but how do you spend it without turning it into paper and is the only advantage to keeping physical gold is you wait until the price goes up and you have enough paper to live on until the price of gold allows you to own more paper?

The premise of having real gold is that IF the dollar is ever defunct, then the gold still holds value. May not be as much value, but it is better than the paper that the dollar is printed on. It is like saying is it better to have money in a real estate fund or to actually have real estate.

There are arguments for both ways, and really these are rich men issues, as gold and property should be part of a diverse portfolio and not the sole thing in a portfolio.

Early investors should focus more on savings, having emergency cash for extended lengths of unemployment or disability, and then looking for ways to cut debt payments. Advanced investors look for ways to diversify their wealth into things that are liquid, hard, and paper. You don't want to over leveraged in one aspect.

I bought a gun with krugerrand. Sold the gun and bought more krugerrands.., ..., when gold price tanked later that year

Once upon a time, at one of the trading companies I worked for we got big bonuses. One of my coworkers bought gold with most of his bonus, and gold prices tanked. He swore he’d never sell at a loss, and I know he kept the gold for at least a decade.

At one job I was the precious metals guy, though mostly I just bought for use in catalysts. I did gold, platinum, silver, and palladium. Platinum or Palladium might be better long term buys than gold if you want to speculate. But, the way those markets swing, I stay away from precious metals.

Trading is Ok if you are under 40. I don’t think I ever met an old trader (over 40). Too stressful. I used to wonder where the old traders were, till I hit the early 40’s. Then I understood. My doc said to me “son, you need to find a lower stress job”.

April 1st. 2021 I bought 1 oz. gold coins for $1809 each in paper money. Today I could sell them for $2076 in paper money. I don't know if they are a good investment or not. But just like everything else it is all timing.

Yes. It's one of the few forms of tangible private wealth that you can pass on to family WITHOUT getting government or courts involved. If/when you sell it to a private party, or in person to a gold dealer, you typically get paid in cash without any 1099 reporting (unless you're selling a large amount at one time).

Upsides include being able to store a significant amount of wealth in a very small safe (small enough that a thief in your home might not even know it was there). Also nice that gold prices tend to shoot up when stocks are going down. Downsides are that you only get price appreciation - no dividends or interest payments on gold. Also have to arrange storage, which not everyone can do.

I've been a coin collector and 'gold bug/silver stacker' for a long time. The most I've had invested in coins & metals is about 18% of our total assets, and for most people I would say 5-10% is enough. Have to keep these things in perspective.

I did better than any gold purchase I made in the last 2 years. Bought a classic car for $37K in June 2020. Invested $2K in service and repair then sold it for $65K in December 2021! Classic car market is stupid crazy. NO income tax either...

Well given the scenario, you would have to figure the value of the gold and use gold coin rather than gold bar. A lot of places will take gold coin rather than paper since the value of USD is trash. I would only imagine the price of gold being insanely high so one oz of it you wouldn’t want to purchase everyday items like groceries or toilet paper.

I would also invest in copper, silver and bronze. those can be used to bridge the gap on the price of gold.

Uncle Zeek stated it very well.
I started buying physical gold almost 50yrs ago....

The best gig going. Look at what classics are bringing at auction now. Talk about inflation hedge.

It is also one of the first things to go when the bubble bursts. Again, diversification is key. Wrapping all your eggs in one basket hurts when that basket drops. Classic cars and luxury properties are great when the market is good, but they go quickly downhill when the money to buy them dries up

Yep...timing is key for sure.

If it ever came down to really needing to own physical gold, you'd wish you owned more lead...

Only in my mouth.

Old Colt's and Winchesters, they always go up.

How no income tax?

I bet the folks in Russia would rather have gold than their currency about right now. There was a time before refrigeration that salt was a good commodity to barter with...

I’m 79 and started collecting coins as a young teen. Still looking at my change. Never too serious and have never sold one. But, I have a heckuva lot, more than a bucket full, of silver. I ought to sell at spot without digging out the semi rare ones.

Problem is that I don’t need the coins and don’t have a target for the money if I sold. Situation is that, not rich(whatever that is) but the wolf is a long way from the door. Also, debt free with rent houses, and 133 acres of recreational property(junk land) South of Bowie.

With neither a goal or target, I’ll probably sit on my butt collecting rent, Social Security, etc.


If I die, it won’t take long for my wife to sell the coins, guns, rent houses and 133 acres.

True words here.

Charlie

Do I really have to explain? FTF sale, private party.

Ohhhhh, was assuming a business from the way you described it. My bad.

The long term hold strategy with gold is you only convert a little at a time for what you need. Gold was $400 an ounce 20 years ago. If dollar goes to nothing and and they come out with a new dollar or crypto or world currency, you take your one ounce gold Coin and covert it to the new currency and buy what you need. You never covert a pile of Gold to fiat currency if your are looking to preserve wealth.