Aren't today's gold prices all the more reason why the answer should be yes? I suppose that's subjective, but if the answer were a definitive no then I would expect the gold price to be much lower.
While I won't disagree that this is sound advice, I personally dumped my ROTH IRA when the DOW was below 10,000 because I lost trust in the market. The money I put into silver around that same time was from other sources, however even with today's silver price that money has outperformed what I would have left in my ROTH by leaps and bounds. It's hard to argue with results (short term, yes, proven over time, not necessarily), but I do agree that a ROTH is one of the best places to keep your money if you are going to have it with a financial institution. I just don't feel like having it with any institution comes with a low enough risk for me be comfortable with it. I like to be in control. Maybe that's just a personal problem.
The premium you pay for 1/10th ounce/gold covers the extra liquidity you get with these coins. You get it back when you sell or use the coin in trade. Use a credit card, and it costs you a 3% premium. (either directly or indirectly) Here is a story. I was at a coin show a few months ago that was being held in a smaller city located in the US South. I struck up a conversation with a farmer dressed in old overalls. i.e. someone that I'd incorrectly stereotype as someone not interested in gold at all. To my amazement, during our conversation he reached into his overalls and pulled out a long tube of 1/10 oz AGEs. He said he used these for currency purposes and the dealers at the shows would give him much better deals than if he were paying with fiat money. He said he has used them for other bartering purposes as well. (I suppose this is made easier in an area where everyone knows everyone else.) So I say if you are interested in this coin, go for it. It has it's advantages.
In my opinion [and nobody knows the future with certainty], gold is still a good investment although it may not be the best investment anymore. Welcome to Cointalk!
My personal preference is to do the work to learn how to pick stocks yourself, or do the research and go with one of the better mutual fund managers rather than invest in what is new or trendy. But it's a matter of personal preference. A young investor must also balance the tax advantages of a Roth with anticipated needs for the money for things like a home purchase or unexpected emergency expenses. Not everyone is investing for retirement.
Not to get too far off topic but you can have a ROTH and still invest in PM (or just about anything else) via an ETF. It doesn't have to be in the equity market. The ROTH is simply a nice tax shelter. All gains are TAX free and once you are 59 1/2 you can withdraw the entire fund. You can even pull out $10k tax free towards the purchase of your first home. So when you are 20 and in a very low tax bracket you can stick money in the ROTH. Then later chances are you will be in a higher tax bracket and you can pull the money out tax free.
Another thing to consider for people in their 20s is that 59.5 is a long way off. There is a probability that everyone will have to judge for themselves that the present law won't exist for another 4 decades, or that Roth funds will be folded into social security, or that tax policy will change, or that some other changes will be made that make it less favorable to lock up money where you can't get to it easily. It isn't always a good idea to put a large portion of your savings out of reach.
1/10 Oz sell quite well in secondary markets like Ebay and it is easy to dump and take profits. Sending 1 oz coin via mail to total stranger is always bit risky. Only problem with smaller denomination is you are going to spend a lot more over premium for it and you are going to spend more to store it (50 cents each for Air Tite for example and need 10 slots in an album vs just 1 for 1 oz coin).
This still carries the inherent risk that precious metals protect against which is that if you don't hold it you can't protect it.
Air tites on bullion? My bullion, including my gold, is lucky if they are stored in plastic tubes, flips at best.
Or if a person is not educated enough to pick stocks, (not a comfortable proposition), I would advocating learning enough to know what areas of the market to invest in. Then I my first choice would be a no load index mutual fund with the lowest fees you can find. I won't go into the pages of text explaining this, but most of the time you are guaranteed best results picking a no load fund with lowest fees, ignoring management skill. That whole discussion is way off topic, though I imagine Cloud and I one day will fight that fight. Chris
I have everything in AirTites' especially their condition can affect the resale value. Maple leaf i recently sold in the bay fetched 200 bucks while another with some wear and tear sold for around 180.
Hey, you probably know what you are doing man. Not doubting you. I am just old school, and buy bullion for bullion. To be fair, I did not pay the premiums for pretty new coins, I bought some bars, rounds, but mostly junk. We just have different bullion, fair enough. No offense meant. Chris
You're buying the wrong gold bullion if you don't think it needs to be protected, silver...thats a different story.
**** yah, I think it's worth it. I listened to a guy tell me anything less than a 1/2 ounce was a waste because of the premiums. However, that works both ways and the 1/10ths should give premiums when selling. I wish I went this route. Much easier to accumulate.
I'm not a big index fund fan but I also recognize that for many people without financial training, that's about the best they can do. It really isn't much more difficult to research and find a good actively managed fund that has a good chance of outperforming the index fund most of the time. It might be as easy as watching a few episodes of the PBS show Wealthtrack when they interview fund managers and pick the one or two that impress you most.
I just bought a couple of 1/10th oz as x-mas gifts,i figure you can pay more in the front end or after Jan 1 2012 pay more on the back end. I do believe thats when (through the new health care bill) that the selling of any PM valued at more then $600 is subject to a 1099 IRS forum? If i am wrong on this i am sorry but i could swear ive seen that written a couple of places before. I mean dont get me wrong i always pay my taxes.............i throw up all my $$$ in the air and what does not come down the goverment gets. LOL Happy holidays and hear the hoof beats of the pale ridder!!
I think it was proved a few years ago that a chimpanzee picking stocks did better than the majority of "trained professionals" who picked stocks for clients. IMO, concerning the present market, when risk of failure has been removed by the government for a number of industries, then it becomes a random crap shoot that even the monkeys know better than to get involved with. There is no longer any metric that anyone can use to evaluate a stock, when the market depends upon and is subject to constant government intervention. Anyone who says otherwise is deluding themselves or they have an inside connection to this mess.