Gold & silver coins from a local dealer. Sure, you will pay a premium for each coin; but PAY IN CASH - leave NO paper trail (your name, etc.). When you cash out, do it the same way. No trail! No IRS! No taxes. Put them in a safe deposit box, if that will make you feel more secure.
Sidenote: 10 years ago, just before the Y2K scare, the 1 oz. coins were hovering around $313/oz.

What is 'spot gold' mean...
 

Forgive my ignorance, but what is 'spot gold'?! I hear that a lot and also with respect to other commodities like gas - must be some type of contract price but how is it different from the price per ounce that goes up and down everyday with the market?! Plz educate -

Thx,
James

Spot gold is the price that goes up and down by the minute...

Thats kind of what I was thinking, except for the paying taxes part.;)

My plan was to convert most of my cash to gold, than in 2 years or so when I need it cash out. In the meantime I figure that the US dollar will continue to tank and my gold will get me a lot more dollars but with probably the same purchasing power.

vs

Letting it sit in the bank and let it lose value.

How does it sound?:D

some opinions have changed here since the last 'buy gold now!' thread.


I have on my desk the latest issue of the Foreign Affairs journal. I am going to quote Barry Eichengreen in his paper "The Dollar Dilemma".

"The only problem is that, for all the talk about change, the dollar's importance to the world has not diminished. In the foreign exchange market, the dollar actually strengthened following the outbreak of the crisis.... Since then the dollar exchange rate has fluctuated, but there has been no dollar crash. And there is no evidence of a massive loss of confidence.
The same conclusion follows from data on the composition of the foreign currency reserves of central banks and governments. According to the IMF, 64 percent of all identified official foreign exchange holdings were in dollars at the end of 2007, down only marginally from 66 percent in 2002-03 and still considerably higher than during the first half of the 1990s."

the summary of the article quotes:
"Many pundits are arguing that the economic crisis is hurting the world's top currency - and some even that it may prove fatal....But the pound, the yen, the euro, the renminbi, and the IMF's accounting currency are no match for the dollar. At least for now."

Yes the solders are a big part, they actually bath a Printed circuit board in solder to connect the discrete components to the board.
Inside the chips, etc is silver, the etchings on the pc board itself are silver, at least partially.

Gold is really only used at various contact points, and now adays those are thin thin platings. Contacts for the memory, and processor. Most other contacts use silver, again a thin thin plating.

I am saying in quantity or weight, not $ value, there is more silver in electronics.

Ask the electronic recyclers.

For newer systems, you're probably right, but for the older ones..... gold plated hard drives, etc.... :D

You could but a ETF like GLD. Not the same as holding real gold but
much easier to buy/sell.

Also any foreign investment that is not based on US dollars.

Read Peter Schiff, he is very dollar short. Not sure he is correct but
makes some good arguments.

He certainly has been very correct in the past. That gives him a lot of credibility as far as I'm concerned.

DO NOT buy an EFT or certificate.... Buy the real thing.... If the institution collapses, chances are high that the institution will be looted by employees. Even if it is not looted, the paper will be just another piece of paper.... You might get a bit of heat out of it... That's it.
As for holding funds in USD, I wouldn't do that at all..... Should OPEC ever decide to stop using the USD as the only currency to buy oil with, not only will the USD be worthless, the days of America as a superpower will be over. Just like the collapse of the Soviet Union...
Buy physical Gold and Silver. For currency, I'd look at the Swiss Franc as the Swiss government is looking to bring back backing the currency with gold. I believe the rate was going to be 40% of the previous backing.