Hello all,

I'm looking at getting into investing in precious metals to diversify a bit and it's completely foreign to me. I currently have a 457 through work, and a Roth IRA. Want to get into precious metals.

Do you have any tips for starters? Better to jump into to gold and buy just a bit or better to buy a bigger load of silver? My initial investment will be about $2500-3000.

Any suggestions on places to buy? Suggestions on what to buy as well, is it better to buy coins like the Krugerrand, or just buy bars? I see on some sites buying coins like the American eagle and Krugerrand are more expensive than buying just bars.

Thanks for any feed back

I'd think a precious metals ETF would be a better investment than actual metal, cheaper to buy, perhaps generating earnings, and far more liquid.

I prefer to stay diversified with "rounds" of lead and brass rather than gold.

No doubt ETF's are much easier to sell (and buy).
Some people like buying physical but for me as an investment ETF's are the way to go.
I still have some coins and other physical but since it is not as easy to sell they tend to be the last thing I liquidate.
YMMV

I don't think this is really an investment for an amateur.
Lots of people selling that as an investment are pretty scam like salesman.
If you insist, maybe a precious metals mutual fund that is professionally managed after a lot of research.

At one point I bought a whole bunch of bars and coins here:

https://www.apmex.com/search?q...YEAAYASAAEgIldPD_BwE

I enjoyed physically holding it, but agree with the above for your purposes an EFT would be just fine.

Just know the price of silver hasn't done much the past 5 years. You missed a low opportunity in March. .

Consider this...are you seeking an investment (make money from it) or do you want an insurance policy against inflation/devaluation of the U.S. dollar? There is a big difference.

For the actual purchase, start by checking our your local coin dealers. Check them out to make sure they are reputable. Some are, some not so much. You can get some good deals buying locally vs. purchasing over the internet because you will always pay a heavier markup above the market price for the precious metal. Start off with some silver, pretty inexpensive to start with and learn from there.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jcsabolt2,

I bought physical gold and silver and never considered it an "investment". For me, it is SHTF capital, a means to retain some sort of wealth if the Dollar heads south.

quote:

if the Dollar heads south.

If you listen to Peter Schiff, Jim Rogers, Ron Paul, Doug Casey, and Gerald Celente, among others, the Dollar should have already collapsed!

I feel that if I don't physically have possession of the metals they may not even exist. Too many "investment" scams out there.

"Sure, we've got your gold in our vault" ...

I agree with Waterbury on bullion and possession. I was told a few years back that the actual amount of bullion backing the paper of ETF's is less than 10%.

Oddball is right. Gold really isn't an investment to gain value but more of a hedge specifically against inflation.

As far as gold via ETF versus physical bars, consider this: if gold does increase and you bought ETF or some other certificate type and later sold, that transaction would be captured and accounted for in terms of taxes owed. If on the other hand, you bought and stored physical gold, you can sell the physical gold with no transactions recorded as to your cost basis for tax purposes. That's if you think income taxes are exorbitant and oppressive.

The old saying is “If you can’t hold it in your hand, then you don’t really own it.”

As for coins vs bars, go with government-issued coins versus “rounds”, as they have already been weighed out and have an official stamp on them. Each bar, while it may have a weight and fineness stamped on it, will have to be re-weighed and checked for fitness each time.

And bullion is a hedge against inflation not as an investment as such, unless you want to speculate.

Bullion will always have an intrinsic value, while paper only has a value if someone will accept it based upon the trust of the issuing organization.

Physical and I like junk silver. Get a mix of dimes, quarters, halves and dollars so making change is not a hassle. Gun shows are often good places to buy. Stack it high and deep.

Went to a Louisville show a few years back, like 10 maybe. A guy in the aisle we were in had some really cool stuff. I was interested in his Randall knife sheaths. I foolishly bought 2 but left the other one.

Then as I was about to walk away, I noticed he had a couple of gold coins. Always interested, I asked him about them. They weren't for sale, but he showed me how he could pick them up with a magnet! I need one of those, a magnet that picks up gold! But then he handed me one of the coins, I just felt a little too light. Like it was stamped from steel.

The idea being to take along a drug scale, or we call them reloading scales. Learn in advance how many grains each weighs. Unless you're way smarter than me, write it down.

Also, there is a bunch of mythology involved. My buddy Joe, who was a wholesale jeweler, has done scrapping all his adult life. Myths aren't always true. My poor father passed way back in 1980. Like so much associated with the depression, one myth was no body had anything. Well, he had some gold coins. My mother gave the $20s to my brother. Feeling guilty because she always gave him the best things, she gave me $1 and a $5.

So a year or 2 ago, I brought them to a gun show to let Joe have a look. He instantly said the $1 is a fake. I wasn't really offended, I just wanted to know why he thought that. He said it was common knowledge within the coin community. I was amused at being that far ahead of the curve! They'd been in his "stuff" since the depression. Go figure. The Chinese picked my old man for a sucker 80+ years ago.

Do your thing your way, but always remember two things:
1) A thing is only worth what someone ELSE will pay for it...at any given moment.
2) A thing can be unavailable to purchase, especially if the price is at an extreme low.

Real life examples from my experience: I wanted to sell a relatively rare gold coin, but none of the dealers wanted to pay anything significant over spot value. Oh but they sure sell them for high premiums due to "rarity".
Then, when metals prices sank to very attractive spot prices guess what? Yep, sold out...everywhere.
Which I suspect was most often a lie. Rather I think they had shitloads of stuff but weren't about to sell for the new low prices the market indicated.

15 or so years ago, gold tanked. As in around $300 an ounce. We'd been going to the little show in Mt. Sterling, KY for a long time. One of the vendors had a Kuggerand in his case, and I'd been tormenting him trying to buy it. He wouldn't come down at all. So that one day, I made my usual pass and again saw the coin. He must have took me for a browser and called my bluff. He said he'd sell it to me for $300 if I bought it in the next minute. That was enough time that I didn't need to tear my pants getting the billfold out. Strike when the iron is hot.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
Oddball is right. Gold really isn't an investment to gain value but more of a hedge specifically against inflation.

As far as gold via ETF versus physical bars, consider this: if gold does increase and you bought ETF or some other certificate type and later sold, that transaction would be captured and accounted for in terms of taxes owed. If on the other hand, you bought and stored physical gold, you can sell the physical gold with no transactions recorded as to your cost basis for tax purposes. That's if you think income taxes are exorbitant and oppressive.

Depends on the size of the sale. Dealers are required to report sales above a certain amount.

https://www.longtermtrends.net...-vs-gold-comparison/

If you want precious metals I’d go with the Vanguard precious metals fund. Easy in, easy out, or a low cost ETF.

Just to back up a bit, compare historical returns of metals to the overall market. There have been some sharp bumps, up & down, much of the time returns have been lackluster. With hindsight many seem to think they can call those bumps.

Common advice would be to only put a small portion into gold or silver, as part of the larger, diversified portfolio.

Let’s say SHTF develops, for real, do you pass a few bars of silver to the neighbor for 1/2 a cow? Before we get there, chaos will be widespread. Those beans & a case of 223 may be more valuable.

quote:

investing in precious metals to diversify a bit

PMs can help diversify risk as a percentage of a portfolio - it sounds like that's what you're looking to do, rather than trying to time the market and use it as a way to buy-low and sell-high.

GLD and SIVR are good ETFs (gold and silver, respectively). Depending on where your account is, they may even be commission-free trades.

What I would do, if building a position to hold indefinitely, is decide which of the above you prefer (gold vs silver), divide the investment into three parts, and use 1/3 to buy now, 1/3 to buy 30 days after, and use the rest 30 days after that. Especially in a zero-commission account, that gets you a sort of 'dollar-cost-averaged' price and in a low/no commission account, splitting into three transactions to do that isn't whacking you with transactions costs.