Gold…good or bad investment?

[PaulKersey]

Circa 2005, I heard some of Americas “self-aledged” top economists stating …”Precious metal, specifically gold, is the only commodity on earth that has a value (other than basic industrial value) strictly controlled by emotion”.

Any thoughts on the stability or value of gold?

 

[Hardcalibres]

Gold is good......as Gold!

 

[teeceetx]

Gold is great ... just remember, it is at record highs now ... not sure it's the best time to buy, unless you think it will go far higher!

 

[Caribou]

For me gold, and I prefer silver, is a hedge. When the currency collapses, as every fiat currency does, precious metals hold their value. Back in the 1600’s a good suit of clothing cost an ounce of gold. Today an ounce of gold will buy you pretty close to the same. I have a friend that sold her house, bought gold, and is paying rent. Not a good idea, in my estimation.

I don’t have much in the way of PM’s. I’d have more if the wife would go along with it. For several decades I’ve heard that 10% to 15% of your assets should be in PM’s. I wish I had that much. Before you buy PM’s pay off all debt. If you have a mortgage and buy gold then the interest you are paying on the house increases the cost of your PM’s. I don’t buy metals with a plan to sell them but to hold them till I have no other choice. When the banks collapse or the country collapses, I will spend any cash till I use it up or people quit accepting it, then I will use my silver. An old dime will buy a loaf of bread but nobody is likely to give you change for an ounce of gold.

 

[Supervisor42]

Circa 2005, I heard some of Americas “self-aledged” top economists stating …”Precious metal, specifically gold, is the only commodity on earth that has a value (other than basic industrial value) strictly controlled by emotion”.

Any thoughts on the stability or value of gold?

If you haven't already, peek in on this thread:
https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/today-saturday-i-just-bought-a-couple-grand-worth-of-silver.3653/post-1026295
Lots of good info in the early pages.

 

[old tex]

I got into a discussion with someone a long time ago who was a big believer in gold as an investment. So I did the research on it. It turned out that up until that time it was a pretty good investment long term. Of course there were (more or less) dead times along the way but that happens with the stock market too. The one problem that I had with gold (& still have) is that you have to sell it to make a profit. Stocks can pay dividends along the way & those dividends can also grow over time. In other words, You can make money on the money you made.
But it can be a crap shoot either way. My wife tends to invest in dividend paying stocks & I tend to invest in fast growing & riskier stocks. Over short hauls she has almost caught me a couple of time. Over the long haul I'm ahead by a third.

 

[Tirediron]

something is only valuable if people think it is, gold has been excepted as valuable

 

[Hardcalibres]

People should diversify their investments.....as that is the best way to minimize risk.

But gold should have a special place in the investments or preppers.....because it has held value through thousands of years of human history. Few other investments have that history.

The currency ponzi scheme being run all around the world, over the last few decades, can't go on forever. It is fundamentally unsustainable.

It has only gone on this long because normalcy biased people can't comprehend that money may not have value during a crisis......money has always been there for them.

When (rather than if) a big enough crisis comes along.......modern cash (and bank balances) will become worth less than toilet paper.....but based upon history, gold will endure.

 

[Tim Horton]

Yes... Gold, silver are likely good investments, if you have the extra income to sit on it...

To me, the amounts, sizes of coins and such is not a useable quantity.. How you going to make change for a troy ounce of gold, silver, or such for 1 or even several carts of groceries ?? If coinage was in more useable sizes, maybe for instance a $10 or $20 coin size that would be a lot more manageable size to have...

Facts. details, thoughts.. ??

 

[Morgan101]

I look at Gold as more of a speculation than an investment. To the best of my knowledge, gold does not pay any interest or dividends. You buy Gold hoping it will go up, so when you sell it you will make a profit. Selling it will be the only time you will, hopefullly, see a profit

 

[Mountain trapper]

Yes... Gold, silver are likely good investments, if you have the extra income to sit on it...

To me, the amounts, sizes of coins and such is not a useable quantity.. How you going to make change for a troy ounce of gold, silver, or such for 1 or even several carts of groceries ?? If coinage was in more useable sizes, maybe for instance a $10 or $20 coin size that would be a lot more manageable size to have...

Facts. details, thoughts.. ??

That's why one should hold some gold in 1/10, 1/4 and 1/2 ounce pieces, as well as 1, 5, and 10 ounce bars. And at least a couple hundred face value coins in pre 64 silver dimes, quarters, half and dollars. As well as ounce, 5, 10 and 100 ounce bars.
I stopped buying gold 20+ years ago because I thought the price was too high. Over the last couple years I've been selling some gold making well over a profit of $2000 per ounce.
Gold has always been very valuable, and I see no reason for that to ever change. If the democrats win the election, they will get us in to WW3. And that will cause PM's to go much higher. That's just my opinion, which is worth less than nothing.

 

[Supervisor42]

I look at Gold as more of a speculation than an investment. To the best of my knowledge, gold does not pay any interest or dividends. You buy Gold hoping it will go up, so when you sell it you will make a profit. Selling it will be the only time you will, hopefullly, see a profit

That is exactly why it is not in my portfolio. I am Ferengi and I want my muuuney!
Most people cite SHTF is when it will really shine...
Think about it, if people are starving, how many do you think will be out buying gold at spot price?

 

[Mountain trapper]

That is exactly why it is not in my portfolio. I am Ferengi and I want my muuuney!
Most people cite SHTF is when it will really shine...
Think about it, if people are starving, how many do you think will be out buying gold?

They may not buy any gold, but they will trade for it. Like I said earlier, I've been selling some of my gold at over a $2000 profit per ounce. I'd say that was a good investment. When you buy or sell PM's there is no paper trail, unlike most other investments.
PM's should never be ones only investment, just like stocks should never be an only investment either.

 

[Ekatarina]

Gold always been a winner

 

[Caribou]

I look at Gold as more of a speculation than an investment. To the best of my knowledge, gold does not pay any interest or dividends. You buy Gold hoping it will go up, so when you sell it you will make a profit. Selling it will be the only time you will, hopefullly, see a profit

Not me! I buy PM’s as a hedge not as a profit producing investment. You can buy high risk high profit stock, You can buy bonds. You can buy low return low risk stocks. You can buy real estate. You can deposit money in banks or savings and loans. You can put your cash in the First National Mattress Bank. All these have their own risks and potential rewards. PM’s have little in the reward potential but almost no risk, it is a different investment type. It is not for everyone, the same is true about every other investment strategy.

 

[Hardcalibres]

Not me! I buy PM’s as a hedge not as a profit producing investment. You can buy high risk high profit stock, You can buy bonds. You can buy low return low risk stocks. You can buy real estate. You can deposit money in banks or savings and loans. You can put your cash in the First National Mattress Bank. All these have their own risks and potential rewards. PM’s have little in the reward potential but almost no risk, it is a different investment type. It is not for everyone, the same is true about every other investment strategy.

Correct.

Gold is a medium performing investment in the medium to long term......but it's main strength is as a hedge/lifeboat for wealth in a calamity.

 

[PaulKersey]

Well…it sounds like the value of gold is truly controlled by emotion. That being the case, in times of total collapse, a turnip could be worth more than gold of equal weight.

 

[dademoss]

My "precious metals" are lead, brass and assorted chemicals. Unless I can whack a squirrel with a gold coin, in absolute collapse it's worthless.

Gold is ok if you can sell or trade it. There was a time salt was worth a lot more. It all depends on trade and what you need. Would I trade the rabbit I trapped for a gold coin? I'd rather have the rabbit, unless there was a way to trade the gold for something else I needed.

I can see the rabbit is real, is the gold getting traded real gold, a lead core with a gold lining?

just my .00002 grams of gold

 

[Mountain trapper]

Gold has always had great value throughout history, and I'm sure that it always will. Gold is like any other investment; diversify. Many experts suggest 10 to 15% of one's investments should be in PM's, and I agree. I've been selling some gold over the last couple of years at a terrific profit. Gold, like most investments is for the long term. I've been investing since before I was a teenager planning for the day when I got old. That day is here.

 

[montanabill]

I see comments about gold not being worth holding if the country goes into absolute collapse and road warrior status..
What about inflation or monetary devaluation? Your cash in the mattress or investments denominated in dollars are going to be worrisome at best and at worst be worthless.
If we spiral down into inflation on a daily basis but with things still lurching along till hopefully the bottom is found and slowly things stabilize or start coming back I feel gold will have value not determined by a corrupt government..

On the other hand we are selling our hot tub today to put more money into antibiotics, non hybrid seeds and a couple of dump truck loads of garden soil.....

 

[teeceetx]

Consider this ... buying goods/services with gold ... the person receiving the gold will have to have some way of verifying the weight & purity of the gold you offer as payment. Then, once that's established, that person will have to provide you with "change" from that transaction. How does that work? Will that person give you gold as change also? How will you verify the weight and purity? How will one "divide" a larger piece of gold?

Unless you have small denomination gold coins / bars / ingots, things could be rather difficult.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Consider this ... buying goods/services with gold ... the person receiving the gold will have to have some way of verifying the weight & purity of the gold you offer as payment. Then, once that's established, that person will have to provide you with "change" from that transaction. How does that work? Will that person give you gold as change also? How will you verify the weight and purity? How will one "divide" a larger piece of gold?

Unless you have small denomination gold coins / bars / ingots, things could be rather difficult.

There are 1/10th, 1/4, and 1/2 ounce gold coins available. And there are test kits and scales available to determine the weight and purity of gold. A gold coin can easily be cut in to smaller sizes/weights for smaller purchases. Back when I owned a gold mine I had my gold assayed to determine purity, 94-96%. When I sold my small nuggets, flakes and fines I'd get 90% of spot. Larger nuggets sold for over spot, sometimes 2 or 3 times over spot. Of course there is also pre 64 US silver coins available that could be used for small purchases. I think it would be wise to hold a couple hundred dollars face value in pre 64 US silver coins, aka "junk" silver.

 

[Mountain trapper]

When it comes to trading PM's for goods or services, both sides first need agree on what the value is on the item or service. Over the years I've traded silver, up to 100 ounce bars, for things that I wanted. Me and the seller first agreed on what the item was worth. It really is just simple math.

 

[Haertig]

I look at Gold as more of a speculation than an investment.

I was going to say this exact thing - word for word - but @Morgan101 beat me to it.

Actually, it is an investment, just not one that is any better than other well researched and monitored securities. There are some downsides to using gold as an investment - storing it (either yourself or paying someone else to), selling it (more involved than selling securities), dividing it, etc. It is not practical as a replacement for currency. It has few uses for an individual. Trading is about it's only use, but I personally wouldn't want to trade for something that I had no practical use for.

But gold can be great for speculation. Just about anything can. If you know what you are doing (and get lucky along the way). As a long term investment, I don't give it too much weight (ha, ha!) I have some, in the name of diversification, but not a ton of it (I admit, a ton of gold would be nice to have though - that should cover a brick or two!)

In my mind, for a long term investment, the hassles of dealing with gold outweigh any benefits it might bring. You're not going to get a higher rate of return with it over most other things to justify the hassles. Sure, you can make money with it. And you can lose money with it too. Gold is no guaranty of price going up, up, up and never going down. It is not "ever appreciating", always gaining value, as some people think.

 

[Tirediron]

That is exactly why it is not in my portfolio. I am Ferengi and I want my muuuney!
Most people cite SHTF is when it will really shine...
Think about it, if people are starving, how many do you think will be out buying gold at spot price?

you Ferengi are all about latinum anyway, .

 

[Supervisor42]

.
... That's 'Gold-Pressed Latinum' !