This pope sounds like a Marxist.

You must put your decisions within the context of your overall financial situation. The OP is living in EU. They pay lots of tax and have big social security nets. I guess an average EU person pays around 40-50% in tax, if they go unemployed they can get around 2000 EUR/month, many have partially pa...

I think it's a FIAT currency that has become the world's currency of choice due to the economic development of US and the fact it was the last to remove gold backing. Compared to other FIAT currencies that are purely "violence-backed" to create a monopoly on money in a certain geographical...

No need to hold CHF. One can get sufficient exposure to various currencies and market conditions by holding total world ETF for their equity part. I was thinking a bit more what I would do if I were living in one of the developed EU countries with heavy welfare: 1) calculate built in welfare support...

Any of the passive portfolios will most likely do just fine over the long term (including EU-PP). So just stick with what you have decided on and use these discussions only to further your understanding and confidence in whatever portfolio you have chosen.

If I were in Sweden, paying in tons of tax money and sitting on top of that world famous welfare system, I do not think I would even be holding any bonds. Or I would do some kind of calculation that takes into account the welfare available like if it is a part of my fixed income. For example, if you...

HB was emphasizing world crisis likes USD. USD crisis likes gold. Chinese, Russian, Australian, Canadian, South American, etc. currencies were all going down last year, and gold was just staying the same wrt USD. Any of these guys holding gold might have instead held USD and have the same effect in ...

So in the US, if interest rates get to the point of diminished returns, maybe swap out 10 year bonds instead of 30? Or even shorter? 5-7 year? What do people think? Just switch to a Bogleheads portfolio. No big deal. Long term it all boils down to pretty much the same with one road maybe a bit bump...

Yes, I think EU people should have a Bogleheads style portfolio with 10% or so gold.. not PP.. something like 40% short/intermediate treasuries, 10% gold, 50% total world market. EU bonds suck, the relationship between Euro and gold is not the same as USD and gold, immigration, crazy welfare systems...

Sold my PHYS position (~5% of my PP) and told myself I'll buy IAU in few days after a small pullback. Gold is up 2% since then. So frustrating :-). Trading sucks even more than Sprott :-). I guess I'll wait few more days for a real pullback :-( edit: ~3% up.. I guess I'll just buy stocks today so it...

Just got rid of all my PHYS!

Just imagine the upside at the point when 30 yrs German bonds are paying -2.0%. You'll have great returns if you buy at 1%.

Thanks for links!

Sure gold provides local protection.  Look below.  You'd be up 20+% if your currency was the Rand, for example. Yes, but in the last year: USD/ZAR close:16.39524 low:11.27764 high:17.19697 so if one has held USD instead gold in South Africa, he'd be up 45%. So gold definitely doesn't "care&quo...

Gold is gold, but it doesn't offer the same protection when you combine it with non-US assets. Gold reacts primarily to the US-dollar. So a non-US PP could still be a good and diversified portfolio, it won't offer the 'bulletproof protection'. That's my understanding too. It's critical that USD is ...

Gold was up in euros. Gold has nothing to do with whatever fiat currency. EUR just dropped. Gold wasn't really moving anywhere. Also, USD was up in EUR pretty much the same as gold if not even more. You could have held USD instead of gold and have the same result. From what I understand, according ...

Gold was up in euros. Gold has nothing to do with whatever fiat currency. EUR just dropped. Gold wasn't really moving anywhere. Also, USD was up in EUR pretty much the same as gold if not even more. You could have held USD instead of gold and have the same result. From what I understand, according ...

haha, I would love to make you a special PPP offer (permanent portfolio paradise) if only that having US clients is a big no no for us (and for virtually all banks here) but that's an entirely different story.  But if you are saying that PP only works in USD, I have a problem.  Let me check on what...

I think one should not underestimate the role of USD as the world reserve currency in the design of the PP. HB was right that world crisis likes USD not gold. I think this is what we are witnessing now. For example, EUR is shrinking for quite some time and you're not having rise in gold since USD i...

I think one should not underestimate the role of USD as the world reserve currency in the design of the PP. HB was right that world crisis likes USD not gold. I think this is what we are witnessing now. For example, EUR is shrinking for quite some time and you're not having rise in gold since USD is...

Thanks, so you are telling me you were happy buying/selling with the following options selected: -Market -Fill or Kill as opposed to selecting options -Limit Price -Day Also, does anyone know what is this Third-Party Price indicated and what is it relevant for compared to the also indicated Real Tim...

As a NRA, there is a huge difference between holding US Treasury Bonds directly vs. thru an ETF. In the first case there is no tax on the interest and it's estate tax exempt. Be careful with ETFs. Hold total world market on LSE, not on US exchanges as it's also significant estate tax difference.

Do you place market orders or limit orders at Fidelity. I never tried that market order that "gets fulfilled through a third party" at Fidelity. Do you get a good price? Also, do you think that representative assisted trade is worth 19.95? Can they get better price than what we can get for...

No conversion fees. Partial share was sold to round down the number of shares (0.2 share in my case) and cash was deposited. Cost basis looks fine.

Mine converted fine too. I guess I have to also rationally check their prospectus and the trust rather than selling it just because I'm pissed off with the conversion.