How is it arguing people were 30 times richer? The dollar was worth 30 times more, that is undeniable. However, people would only be 30 times richer if they had the same amount of dollars, which they didn't. A millionaire today would be 30 times richer if he had a million dollars back then, sure. The devaluation of our currency and the rise in standard of living are two separate issues, having nothing to do with eachother.
yea i can't agree with your statement about 30 times richer. My parents paid $490k for their house in 1998 and that house is no $1.2M so would their $490k be worth $490k today if it weren't utilized from that timeframe? No bc that same cash would buy them 1/3 of the house they could have bought then. Meanwhile gold in 1998 was $278 and is $1300 today so that same $490k would have given them $3M in today's purchasing power..... All Im saying is with the big decline yesterday i was contemplating making a physical purchase and wasn't so sure if having it physically was worth paying a premium when i can buy GLD for spot price. Silver fell 5% yesterday,USLV fell 16% that's a great entry....
Lols don't bother bringing those tools. The sistas will provide you with the grooming tools and apparati. But the white girls might appreciate rubber bands
If you bought stocks in 2009 then you would have a lot more purchasing power too. Anyhow, do not buy USLV long term.
I help manage an online physical precious metals brokerage on a proprietary exchange called the SmartMetals Platform. The singular purpose of the Hard Assets Alliance is to provide customers with a simple, low-cost way to buy and sell precious metal, with the convenience and security of ready storage inside or outside the United States. There are also integrated storage and IRA options, as well as other cool products and features. You can find out more about it at www.HardAssetsAlliance.com. To answer the OP's question... paper metal (ETF) is geared toward traders who are looking to make (or lose) a quick buck. Physical metal is for wealth preservers and folks who are worried about the dollar losing value. That's a short answer, in a nutshell.
I'd say it's important to have a varied investment portfolio, with physical gold included, in the form of bullion or coins, and the kind you get to hold in your hand. The general consensus is around ten to thirty percent. I'd edge towards the middle of that. For medium to longterm investing gold is seen as a safe option that can show remarkable gains.
Why am I not surprised? Imagine if you found treasury bonds issued by the US government in 1000 BC. The interest you'd earn would be astronomical. Anyway, ancient Egypt didn't use money but a system of barter and credit: http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/prices.htm. They didn't use coins and certainly didn't have paper money. But, gold or paper money, the archeological signficance of a find would be far more valuable than the value of the commodity its made of. And, comparing the archeological value of the one versus the other, that a paper note would have survived thousands of years would make it much more valuable than an artifact of gold, which we have plenty of. The whole line of argument is specious anyway. If you want strangers to be able to dig up and use your wealth thousands of years from now, then yes you should buy physical gold (or iron or hydrogen or any other useful element that won't degrade over time). Anyway, to answer the question, no I've never bought gold outside of jewelry. If you want to preserve value over the long run, you're better off with the stock market.
