Newbie here who has seen the light & decided to devote about 10% of my portfolio (excluding real estate) to precious metals. My goals are more around pure investment/ROI rather than investing a lot of time in researching/buying/selling coins as a hobby. My time horizon is long-term. So, let's say you have $100K to invest. What would you do? 1. How much would you invest in Gold vs Silver? Platinum or Palladium? 2. How much in bullion bars vs government minted coins? 3. For Gold & Silver bars - PAMP Suisse, [SIZE=2][SIZE=2][SIZE=2][SIZE=2][SIZE=2][SIZE=2][SIZE=2][SIZE=2][SIZE=2][SIZE=2][SIZE=2][SIZE=2][SIZE=2][SIZE=2]Cre[SIZE=2]dit Suisse[/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE], Others? [SIZE=2]4. Gold Coins - AGEs, Maple Leafs[SIZE=2], [SIZE=2]Krugerands, Ph[SIZE=2]ilharmonics, Pandas, Kangaroos[SIZE=2], Others?[/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE] [SIZE=2]5. Silver Coins - ASEs, Maple Leafs[SIZE=2], [SIZE=2]Krugerands, Ph[SIZE=2]ilharmonics, Pandas, Kookaburras[/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE], Others?[/SIZE] 6. Reputable, Low Commission Online Merchants - APMEX, Protivdent Metals, Others? 7. Or Local Coin Dealers? If so, how do you figure out who is honest, reasonable commissions, etc? 8. Other thoughts? I plan on taking physical possession and start off with a small pilot order to make sure everything goes okay. Thanks so much in advance for your help!
I hold 80% gold and 20% silver. if i was you i would start by buying some palladium, I see palladium doubling soon. I find gold is cheaper at the coin store, but silver is cheaper online. I would stay away from platium and go for 30% palladium 50% gold 20% silver or if you wanna take a risk i would do 100% palladium ATM and trade palladium for gold and silver later. or maybe 90% palladium 10% silver but thats kind of risky without the gold as gold is ur base of ur investment and as for what kind of coin or bars, go for 999 pure with the lowest premium for silver and palladium, for gold go to a coinstore and ask if they have any gold for spot price, normally they will have a lot of different 22k coins or sometimes 24k for just spot. personally i like the canadian maple for silver and palladium as they are 9999 pure instead of 999 pure like the other coins and bars, remember these two are idustral metals ATM so you want the purest. for gold i like the 22k British soveriegns as they are cheap and was at one point used by most of the world, gold is a monetary metal so 22k is fine.
Welcome to CT! You are going to get a wide variety of responses (some good, some bad, some comical) and still be left wondering what to do with YOUR money. If you have $100K to invest, I would suggest not listening to people on the Internet you do not know and seek the advice of a trusted financial advisor in person (who comes with references). JMO. TC
As usual I agree with Topcat. I would hire a financial adviser or the like with a proven track record. For one of my investments there is a free yahoo group and they post when they are moving money around funds etc. They have a 20% track record so for the past year or so i have changed my positions based off of what the group recommends. I have seen roughly 23% returns.
Personally I would not hire a financial investor, they will take fees and most aren't any better than just randomly picking stocks. No one cares more about your money than do!
As far as best sites to purchase, I'd say Goldmart/Provident/Tulving for best prices on bullion. Apmex is good for semi-numis and more uncommon stuff but are more expensive for bullion. I think silver is the best precious metals to invest in, it's cheaper than it was in 1980 (although there was hunt brothers fiasco)! If silver is going to reach its inflation adjusted all-time high on this bull run then that would be around $150. Gold is probably the safest metal, it doesn't tend to fluctuate as violently as silver, so if you like a safer play then gold may be best. I could go on and on, but its best if you do your own research anyways, good luck!
Dear OP, If you want to put 10-20% of your 100k to invest in metals then just do SLV or GLD. What a "nut" it is to try & store/secure the physical metals. Of course, the only silver/gold I have is being a bear to store... & it is not that much.....certainly not a 100k worth. A financial advisor is going to do nothing but take a good 5-10% off your portfolio a year. Take your 100 grand, open up an internet account & get free trades for opening the account. Don't try to day trade, don't panic when things go down , and invest in DIVIDENDS. Never pay maintenance/yearly fees for any account. The professionals know no more then you...their just trying to make their monthly payments off the back of your money & lack of knowledge. The little guy can do it....never panic & believe what you invest in. I need fuel, I need electric, I need food, I need my phone, I need my cable, do some banking......BUY where you spend. At least you can feel that your getting a piece of your money back through ownership/appreciation and dividends. I am guessing your not living in Manhatten, CT, or the Hamptons. Go with a financial advisor & that is where they are trying to get... Cheers
I would stick with gold and silver in a ratio of about 50/50 and forget the other metals. They might be difficult to sell. I would also only buy US government minted coins. Again, because they will be easier to sell when the time comes. The online dealers you mention are okay. Stay away from Ebay. You might also want to diversify into gold and silver ETFs, or something like CEF. And also buy some gold stocks. Nobody knows what form of precious metals will perform best, so a combination of coins, ETFs and gold stocks might be the way to go since your goal is pure ROI. Good luck.
The main thing I would advise is to stay away from bars. Bars are hard to sell since many fakes are being made and they don't have tight tolerances of size and height to verify authenticity. Stick with government issued coins if you wish to buy PM is my advice, be that junk coins, .999 modern bullion issues, or whatever. US government MAY be worth it in the long wrong, but any government issued I believe is much superior to private issues or bars for reselling.
Lol. If there is one stock I would pick to short over the next few years, that would be my pick! Maybe that is what Frank meant.
Simply, if you have to ask what to invest in, then DON'T! Especially when it comes to raw materials (silver, gold) or rare coins. Study, learn and then dip your top into the market.
OP here - You know, the Newbie... I just wanted to thank all of you for your replies. You've given me more to research and think about. Maybe I'll post down the road on what I decided or at the very least begin to to provide meaningful contributions on PM in other posts once I learn more. Thanks again!
If you plan to hold for long term, here is what I'd do and am doing. a) Since I believe silver has better potential that gold for medium term, I'm stacking more of this. By dollars as a measure, 75% vs 25% gold. b) I'd stay away from platinum and palladium. I only have 1 1/10th ounce platinum eagle, because I want to have one and don't care about return on that. c) For gold, I have small lunar coins because the premiums I paid for them is in line with what I'd have to pay for gold eagles and maples, so I bought them because I like the design better. I do also have gold eagles, but prefer the lunars as I think I might have a better chance at collectable premium. I might not too, but it's a chance I'm willing to take. d) For silver, I would stick with govt issue, but I have diversity within them hoping to catch some collectable premium on some of them. If I was newer to this than I am, and I'm not some savvy vet that's been buying since the 70's or 80's, the things I'd look at are those that you can buy at release with limited premiums. That would be things like the RCM wildlife coins, Antelope, Moose and Cougar, also things like Perth Mint lunar series or Kookaburras if you can get them at reasonable money. I wouldn't go back and try to buy the RCM Wolf or Grizzly, the premiums are too high, but the others you can buy for premiums of about $3 over spot. The lunars and kooks for about $5 over spot, and you might consider Panda's for the $6 over spot they're selling for now also, that's current year issue, and 2011 and 2012 for a couple $$ more, not the older issues. e) Eagles and Maples are not a bad idea for a "core" stack, or 90% US coinage. They tend to sell for close to spot, $2 to $3 over for the eagles and maples, and if you work at it 90% for spot. They are nice to have for a base, but they are tied to the spot market of silver, and I wouldn't count on getting any collector premiums out of them. You might, but it's not as likely as the other things I mentioned. f) The very last thing I'll say is stay off ebay, and deal with reputable dealers, Goldmart, Provident, Apmex and the like. The chances of getting burned on ebay are significant, especially if it's a "too good to be true" type of deal. It's not worth the hassle, IMO, and being new you might get burned and not even know it until it's too late, way too late. g) The last thing I'll say is be careful of Fancy Coin Syndrome. (or round if you prefer) Some mints make things that they sell for double spot at release up to $100 per ounce or in the case of the Chinese fans and flowers, even $200 per ounce. They might or might not work out in the long term, but paying that much up front is a very large gamble if you're looking for ROI. There are many that will tout items like this, and they may have done very well with them. I'm not saying don't do it under any circumstances, but if there is a place I'd tread very lightly, it's there. Be careful and remember why you've decided to stack, it's easy to get sucked in to fancy stuff, just wanting something different then going back and overpaying for stuff that 2 months later you kick yourself for buying. In the end it's up to you, just keep in mind why you're doing what you're doing, but there is nothing wrong with treating yourself, but it can be difficult to not go overboard. I'm sure I left stuff out, but that's all I have for now.
