Jeff Clark, Senior Precious Metals Analyst
I was robbed of my gold.
True story. I had a bunch of gold Eagles and Maple Leafs stolen from my
home – most of my personal holdings at the time. The thing is, I thought they
were secure: the coins were stored in a small safe, well hidden from view,
with a key kept in a separate room. I never talked about them (this was
before I started writing about gold publicly). They had been delivered
discreetly.
But all the precautions I’d taken didn’t matter. The thief had searched my
home with meticulous desperation. Once he found the safe it was only the work
of a crowbar and hammer until my gold was gone.
I’ll never forgot the feelings of violation, anger, and confusion. I’m
sure you can relate if you’ve been victim of burglary, too. Yes, the chances
of such a robbery are low. I’m just glad we weren’t home at the time… more on
that in a minute.
The incident caused me to rethink how I store my precious metals.
Hopefully you can learn from my naivety. Even if you don’t think you’ll be
burglarized, you’ll probably find you can benefit from all the features of GoldSilver’s new allocated storage
program.
Because at the end of the day, do you want your gold and silver so much at
home you’d hesitate for a second to let go of them?
It’s Not Good Enough to “Be Careful”
When most investors buy gold, they instinctively know it needs to be kept
safe. It’s gold, after all, the same metal that’s held its cachet for
millennia. Movies have been made about stealing it, smuggling it, recovering
it from shipwrecks, and even just digging it out of the ground.
What most people don’t know is the right way to keep it safe. Many end up
hiding most or all of their precious metals at home, or in a safe deposit box
at the local bank. But those methods aren’t risk-free, as I painfully found
out. In fact, they come with more risk, and more cost, than many investors
realize. And keep in mind there’s no replacement policy that comes with your
gold: use it or lose it, it’s gone for good. Even insurance policies for home
storage fall woefully short.
If you think you’ve been “careful” with your bullion storage plan, see how
many of the following risks you’re exposed to with these common methods…
#1: Home Storage
Most beginners start by shipping their gold home. Many even display it
proudly for friends and family. You can’t blame them – if you’ve ever held a
gold or silver bar, you recognize the inherent emotion in that.
Usually though, common sense takes over, and they at least hide it from
prying eyes. But, doing so exposes you to several key risks:
Handheld home safe. Small safes with a handle so it can be easily
moved. These are usually designed to hold important household papers—not
valuable bullion.
If you carried the safe into your house, a thief can carry it out. All
they need do is find it, which is exactly what happened to me.
Large home safe, bolted to floor. Most investors think their
bullion is secure with this type of safe, especially if it’s also hidden from
view.
Regardless of whether it has a combination lock or a key, what will you do
if a thief demands entry—while brandishing a gun or knife? Don’t think this
is hyperbole: this happened to a close family friend, and the ending of the
story was very unpleasant… his wife was tortured and he was killed, and the
thieves made off with over half a million in bullion. Their kids have no
recourse and no parents.
How many people know you own gold? You might think you’ve been
careful about who you’ve told, but I bet more people know than you think…
- The local bank staff, when you did a wire transfer
- Local bullion shop staff, or maybe a neighbor who was
just sitting in his car “talking” on his phone your whole trip in and
out
- Those nice guys who helped you load a safe into your
truck, or who came to your house and installed it
You get the point.
And don’t forget about the “ripple effect”… if more than one person knows
you have gold, or just a sizable safe, who have they told? And who did those
people tell? Do your kids know? How certain are you that they don’t blather
at school?
Have you talked about gold in an enthusiastic way with anyone? Could they
have come away with the idea that you might own gold? If so, did they mention
it to anyone? How would you know?
How confident are you that only one other confidant knows you have gold at
home? If a would-be thief hears a rumor you might have gold, your entire home
storage plan is sunk. Once the word is out, there are no takebacks. You’re
now a potential target, with the risk increasing as bullion prices climb.
Backyard Burial.Not safe in the house? Just dig a few
holes in the backyard. If you’ve got the luxury of space, it gets gold out of
the house. But, consider:
Even if you’re sure the “midnight gardening” went unnoticed, you buried it
deep enough (modern metal detectors work to about four feet), and you used an
airtight, waterproof, erosion-resistant, insect-proof container…
The problems with home storage don’t end with personal safety. With
backyard burial, what happens when something unforeseen happens? Hit by a
drunk driver. Heart attack. . You break-up/get divorced and your ex feels
entitled to their share, or their new significant other does… Your kids
can’t interpret your treasure map, or they lose it. Or someone else finds it.
Natural disaster. It doesn’t just end poorly with personal tragedy.
Bullion stored at home can be lost to fire, flood, tornado, earthquake, and
any other natural disaster. Think of the 2011 Tsunami in Japan…
any gold stored at home was washed away, lost to the sea, no matter how
strong the safe or clever the hiding spot.
Or one of the 999
tornados that touches down every year in the US:
How’s your wall safe holding
up?
You have no control—and little recourse—should you become the victim of a
natural disaster. In the event of another Katrina, wouldn’t it be
nice to know your gold is safe and sound and available to sell with a few
clicks?
What about insurance? Yes, you can insure your home-gold stored on
a homeowner’s policy. However, the cost is usually exorbitant—2% or more of
the value annually according to our survey (many times what professional vault storage can cost).
And it almost never covers a rise in the gold price. Further, insurance
typically won’t cover negligence on your part or acts of God.
The truth is simple: while it makes sense to keep a small amount of gold
and silver at hand for emergencies, any more than an amount you can afford to
hand over willingly is the wrong move. Maybe you are the type who likes to
base-jump without a helmet. I’m not, and owe my family much more than that.
#2 Bank Safe Deposit Box
Some investors assume a bank safe deposit box is safe—but are you really
comfortable with all these risks and restrictions?
- No Insurance: Whatever you put in a
bank safe deposit box is uninsured against theft and all acts of nature.
If something happens, you have little recourse. The risk is yours, not
the bank’s.
- Loss of Access: A government imposed
bank “holiday”, or a failure (though cyclical, over 500 US banks have
failed since 2010 alone, and 2000+ failed in the 1980s), leaves no
access to boxes for often weeks or longer. Another financial crisis is a
very real specter, and your gold and silver would be inaccessible for
one of the very reasons you bought them: protection against the
financial system.
- Bank Intervention or Seizure: State and
federal governments could lock you out of your box or seize its contents
on the flimsiest allegation—it’s called civil asset forfeiture and
requires no conviction, not even an indictment. They come with no
warning and no presumed innocence. Banks are heavily regulated and
insured by the government, so they will unequivocally comply with any
order from the IRS or other agency, whereas a vault in Singapore has no
such requirement.
The bottom line is that storing the bulk of your precious metals at home
or in the banking system exposes you to many risks, any one of which could
impose financial hardship for an indefinite period.
A crisis hedge should not carry the degree of risk that comes with
these methods.
The Optimum Storage Solution
Keeping some bullion close at hand is important. You should have a little
readily accessible in the event of an economic or personal emergency. A financial
“go bag” if you will. Secure it properly, and tell only one other trusted
confidant where it’s located.
However, storing a significant amount of your tangible assets at home or
in a bank risks you losing too much in one mishap.
- After storing a little gold and silver close to
home, the remainder of your wealth should be stored in a private,
non-bank, fully allocated, fully insured vault. This offers the best
protection during times of financial and social crisis.
And forget about those fractional and pool schemes.
The appeal, in part, is that it’s cheap to store—but you pay for it in
other ways. For example, if you ever want to take delivery, you may find
yourself facing a “fabrication” fee, in some cases as much as 7% over spot,
for the metal you already bought. Imagine what happens if there is ever a
rush for the exits.
It’s also slow. The process can take weeks even in a calm market. And all
the while, you didn’t own a specific product but were just part of a group of
investors with a claim ticket on a large bar.
In contrast, with true allocated storage – what Mike recommends for almost
all bullion investors – what you buy is what is stored. No exorbitant fees or
protracted delays fees for delivery other than what the postman charges, and
with a few clicks your bullion will be shipped within one business day.
The other claim for these pooled schemes is the speed to trade. But, with
true allocated or segregated storage, you can buy and sell just as easily and
quickly, online or over the phone. Better still, because you’re dealing with
whole coins and bars only, you’re not dependent on one company to stay in
business to find a market for your gold. You can sell through us to our
extensive network of wholesalers and refiners, or take delivery and sell it
locally, or on eBay, or anywhere else there’s a bid.
Our program is second to none, and is more affordable than you think.
Check out all its features and benefits…
The New and Improved GoldSilver Storage Program
At GoldSilver, we’ve long offered segregated storage. And it’s hugely
popular with our customers.
But, for many, it’s been out of reach. High minimums made it impractical
for most investors. We’ve heard the requests for safe, true allocated storage
available to all, and have spent the better part of the last year rebuilding
our systems and processes to make private, non-bank storage affordable and
easy to use for everyone.
Here’s why we believe every investor should consider our allocated vault
storage for the bulk of their precious metals holdings:
ULTIMATE SECURITY. You simply cannot store your metals in
a safer and more secure environment. GoldSilver uses only independent,
non-bank, class 3 vault facilities (the highest rating in the industry), with
armed guards and 24/7 surveillance.
FULLY ALLOCATED. The gold and silver you buy is shipped
directly to storage, and held in full in your account’s name and title
(individually, joint, trust, or LLC). No pool accounts, no shared ownership,
no fractional claims on large bars—just what you bought, in your title, all
the time.
FULLY INSURED AND INDEPENDENTLY AUDITED. Your gold and
silver is insured for full replacement value (up to $50 million per account).
It is audited by a leading, independent commodities inspector and verified
regularly. You receive custody certificates documenting your holdings, and of
course can log on to view your account 24/7. No storage location in the world
is 100% secure from threats like natural disasters, but professional storage
is 100% insured.
ANYTIME DELIVERY. Want delivery of some or all of your
metal? Just click or call. Metals will be shipped to your address of record,
or you can have them delivered to another address almost anywhere in the
world (subject to security verification to protect your assets).
You can even transfer some or all of your holdings between vaults—just pay
shipping.
OUTSIDE THE BANKING SYSTEM: Your bullion is stored in a
professional, private vault, outside of the banking system. Safe deposit
boxes can be easily seized, are subject to bank closures, come with no
insurance and dubious privacy, and aren’t generally big enough to store
silver.
Remember, one reason we own physical bullion is to protect against
the banking system. You can scratch that risk off your list by using our
allocated storage.
EASY TO OPEN, EASY TO BUY. Just pick your products,
select your vault location, and buy online or over the phone. We’ll create an
account for you automatically. Once your payment clears, your metal is
shipped directly to the vault. No paper forms to complete, no ID or passports
to mail, and no waiting at home to sign for a shipment. It’s as easy and
straightforward as shopping for delivery, easier even.
EASY SELLING. You can sell back your holdings from
storage at any time. This makes your exit plan easy, simple, and quick—no
messing with packing up your coins or bars, and no traveling to a dealer’s
shop (and worrying if anyone is watching you enter or exit). This convenience
makes your metal more liquid than storing at home or in a bank.
INTERNATIONAL OPTIONS. Diversify internationally with the
same great service and convenience, and the same low storage rates. Current
vault offerings include Salt Lake City, USA; Hong Kong; Singapore; and
Toronto, Canada.
VERY AFFORDABLE: Even though allocated storage uses the
exact same vaults as segregated storage, allocated is cheaper, thanks to the
scale provided by GoldSilver’s status as one of the leading bullion sales and
storage providers in world.
Here is the fee for our new and improved allocated program, which
- Allocated storage: 0.06% of
metal value per month. $4 monthly minimum, per customer
account (mix and match metals and vaults as you see fit, no additional
charge).
As our founder, Mike Maloney, says: most investors should use allocated
due to the lower cost. Here’s how cheap it can be:
Gold and Silver minimum
monthly storage fee
|
1 large Cappuccino
|
Netflix monthly fee/Basic
plan
|
$4
|
$4.25
|
$7.99
|
2 oz. of gold at $1500 spot price
and 166 oz. of silver at $20 price. Real assets that lasts forever.
|
16 fluid oz. Gone in 20 minutes
|
New movie releases? Fuggetaboutit
|
If the value of your metal exceeds the minimums, it’s still very
inexpensive—here’s how low the monthly fee would be (at the same $1500 gold
and $20 silver spot price)…
10 oz. gold
|
500 oz. silver
|
1 large Cappuccino/week
|
Netflix monthly fee/Premium
plan
|
$9
|
$6
|
$17/month
|
$11.99/month + New ‘4K’ TV (Can
you see the difference? I sure can’t)
|
High net worth investors can store real wealth for about the same cost as
coffee junkies and movie buffs…
50 oz. gold
|
2,500 oz. silver
|
2 large Cappuccinos/week
|
Netflix Premium + 1 theatre
movie for 2
|
$45
|
$30
|
$34/month
|
$32/month, without popcorn!
|
Yes, as metals prices rise so does your storage bill—but that’s what you
want! It will mean your net worth is rising exponentially more.
SEGREGATED STORAGE AVAILABLE. Have strict corporation
security requirements? Holding assets in trust for clients? Or just prefer
additional piece of mind for substantial assets? You can also elect for
segregated storage to get all the benefits of allocated, plus your assets
will be separately shelved, wrapped, and marked apart from all other assets
held by GoldSilver and your chosen vault provider. You can even switch
between the plans as required—just call customer service to arrange a
transfer, or look for the link to request it yourself on your account page.
The cost? 0.08% of metal value per month. $35 monthly minimum per metal
type (i.e. silver, gold, etc.), per vault.
How to Get Started with Storage
We believe every investor should use professional storage once they have a
small stash close to home, and we’ve made it as affordable as possible to get
started with our vaults. No more excuses.
Get started now…
- Simply add any qualifying metals to your cart,
and at checkout select “Secure Vault Storage”—it’s that easy!
We’ll automatically create a storage account for you, and keep you updated
as your metals are shipped and received by your chosen vault provider.
Or call us at 1-888-319-8166 (international +1-310-566-6655) to place an
order over the phone.
Learn more about our fully
allocated storage program.