Where are you invested in gold?

Discussion of the Gold portion of the Permanent Portfolio

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Mr Vacuum
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Re: Where are you invested in gold?

Post by Mr Vacuum » Sat Oct 21, 2017 9:33 am

1/2 mix of IAU and SGOL because they're available and cheap.

1/2 bullion (Buffalo) through Fidelity. I don't like the responsibility of securing and selling coins (or foisting the same on my survivors). Fidelity bullion gives me a chunk that's plainly worth what the metal is worth and theoretically is salable during market holidays. It takes a phone call and hefty commissions to buy and sell, so it's essentially permanently stashed away where I won't mess with it. I have read the ETFs' prospectuses and am comfortable with the risks, but why not take the extra diversification for gold expected to be held for a long time?

All in tax-advantaged accounts not because of gold specifics but because lopsided accounts and emergency fund considerations dominate that decision.
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sophie
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Re: Where are you invested in gold?

Post by sophie » Sat Oct 21, 2017 10:10 am

Shawn, glad to hear someone else has tried that Fidelity bullion program. I noticed a while ago they'd lowered their prices, so the fees are comparable to the ETFs if you hold it for a few years. I don't know why I've been hesitant to pull the trigger, I guess because no one else on the board has tried it to my (prior) knowledge.

Some money in ETFs is nice for ease of selling. 25% max though. ETFs make me nervous because they're untested in some market environments, including precisely the ones you need gold for. I'll still be stuck with them in some accounts, because that bullion program only applies to IRAs.
Mr Vacuum
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Re: Where are you invested in gold?

Post by Mr Vacuum » Sat Oct 21, 2017 11:53 am

sophie wrote:Shawn, glad to hear someone else has tried that Fidelity bullion program. I noticed a while ago they'd lowered their prices, so the fees are comparable to the ETFs if you hold it for a few years. I don't know why I've been hesitant to pull the trigger, I guess because no one else on the board has tried it to my (prior) knowledge.

Some money in ETFs is nice for ease of selling. 25% max though. ETFs make me nervous because they're untested in some market environments, including precisely the ones you need gold for. I'll still be stuck with them in some accounts, because that bullion program only applies to IRAs.
It was your thread that tipped me off that the storage fees had come down. That’s when I pulled the trigger. Thanks, Sophie!
boglerdude
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Re: Where are you invested in gold?

Post by boglerdude » Sat Oct 21, 2017 8:44 pm

For Perth unallocated coins:
https://www.perthmint.com/storage/pricing.html

1% fee to buy or sell. Of the day's spot price?

No storage fee.

If you want the actual coins, convert to allocated, and pay 5% fabrication fee.

What type of gold coins do they send? Do they report sales or anything to IRS?
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Hal
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Re: Where are you invested in gold?

Post by Hal » Sun Oct 22, 2017 6:01 am

boglerdude wrote:For Perth unallocated coins:
https://www.perthmint.com/storage/pricing.html

1% fee to buy or sell. Of the day's spot price?

No storage fee.

If you want the actual coins, convert to allocated, and pay 5% fabrication fee.

What type of gold coins do they send? Do they report sales or anything to IRS?
Hi Boglerdude,

I have only purchased allocated coins, however the cost was based on the exact time the order was placed. See link.

The coins received were Kangaroos, however frankly I don't really care. I think its just what they are minting at the time.

All financial transactions over 10,000 AUD are reported to the Government, and I would imagine that is shared with the USA. Supposedly, its to stop terrorist (coin collectors ?? ), but I think its more to do with chasing taxes.

http://www.perthmintbullion.com/au/default.aspx

Hope this helps,
Hal
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sophie
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Re: Where are you invested in gold?

Post by sophie » Sun Oct 22, 2017 8:49 am

For pool allocated storage in an IRA, I'd say Fidelity's 0.5% storage fee is a pretty good deal, and within the ballpark of an ETF's expense ratio (0.4% except for IAU). It used to be something like 2% a year. Buy/sell fees are not a big deal for long term holdings, which is what you would want to use this for.

Regarding Perth Mint: if you trust the online depository account, it's almost a no-brainer to put your taxable, buy & hold ETF money there, because of the free storage. From there you have the option of converting to allocated storage, for which you pay storage charges, fabrication fees, and eventually additional fees to convert back to unallocated to sell.

The tax implications of Perth Mint gets complicated. The Mint set up the accounts so that they're not a bank, and they state on the website that they do not report transactions to the US government. However, you're still required to comply with the foreign account reporting laws, and note your money transfers to the Mint create a paper trail. You're responsible for tracking your cost basis, which gets tricky because the Perth Mint doesn't track it for you - you'd have to scan through collected monthly statements to figure it out. Hopefully there's a year-end statement I'll be able to download and save.
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Cortopassi
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Re: Where are you invested in gold?

Post by Cortopassi » Thu Oct 26, 2017 8:06 am

Another interesting possibility for an area to invest in (eventually?) or stay completely away from. Crypto currency backed by gold.

https://www.themaven.net/mishtalk/econo ... dmjHVgwyYg

I know nothing about crypto stuff other than I had never planned to ever get into them, but I will at least research this.

Not entirely sure how this is different from GoldMoney.
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