(See below for references in the text).
There are several ways to invest in gold. Be it in future (1) to speculate or parts hidden in a wool socks buried in the wall of your House in the event that the economy would collapse, passing by the ETF and certificates, in short, isn't means lacking. All these beautiful investment vehicles have their lots of advantages and disadvantages. Explain each of them exhaustively lengthen this article considerably, so as the title suggests, we will focus especially on the purchase, storage and sale of physical gold. But first, why invest in gold?
Gold, haven
Gold is regarded as a safe haven, because, precisely, it tends to keep its value. "Yes but concretely, what does it mean?", do you ask, eager to learn more? In the Old Testament, there is a passage recounting the King Nebuchadnezzar bought 350 loaves of bread for an ounce of gold. I have not done statistical studies on the average of the price of bread recently, but at about $ 3 per loaf, it would cost us $ 1050 for 350 loaves. With an ounce of gold at ~ $1350, it can be said that gold has relatively kept its purchasing for more than 2000 years. Similarly, we would be inclined to believe that the price of crude oil, one of the most important amenities, is quite volatile. On the other hand, when it is measured in grams of gold rather than in U.S. dollars, the course becomes rather stable suddenly.
Then that fiduciary currencies, or fiat money in French, continue to lose value and are not supported essentially that confidence and Governments, gold, retains its purchasing power and is on no political power.
An old Wall Street saying: 'Allocate 10% of your net worth in gold and wish that it does not rise' why? Because usually, when gold rises, it's that something wrong elsewhere. In times of economic crisis, people willing to put their ball safe from the storm took refuge in gold which, due to the law of supply and demand, saw its value increase. According to the World Gold Council, between 2% and 10% of a portfolio invested in gold protects it from the vagaries of the market and improves performance on a long-term perspective. To use the poker analogy, it helps reduce the variance.
In addition to the advantages mentioned above, we can say that gold is a rather "convenient" convenience. Unlike the hundreds of currencies in circulation in the world, gold acts as international value. No matter where you will find on the globe, your gold metal will be exchangeable. And as if this were not already quite nice, the value and demand remains relatively uniform in all countries, making it a convenience among the most liquid, in the financial sense of the word. Speaking of liquidity, being a metal, it is also fungible, which allows to divide it, gather to desired formats. Whether you want a piece of one-tenth of an ounce or an ingot of 400oz, it is to your liking (and your wallet) then notice at the Survivalists, gold is an imperative for your post-apocalyptic kit.
Where to buy gold?
The three main formats of purchasing physical gold are; jewellery, coins and bars. On the other hand, from the perspective of investment, jewellery are probably an option to avoid. In most cases, the premium paid (2) will be high considering the desirability and the work done by the artist. It is also important to know that a piece of 14-Karat or less may need to be refined due to its low quality during a possible resale. On the other hand, it is always possible to get your hands on antique pieces or vintages in auctions at low cost, which can be a pay and fun way to accumulate gold.
Gold, meanwhile, in addition to their value in gold coins, also possess a numismatic value. The piece is historical, more it market according to supply and demand, and therefore with a much higher premium. The most common parts are the Krugerrand, with 46M troy ounces (3) outstanding, the Australian Gold Nugget (Kangaroo), the Vienna Philharmonic, the Candian Maple Leaf, the Chinese Gold Panda, french Napoleon (or Louis of gold), the British Sovereign and the American Eagle, to name only these. He must know that these parts have a purity playing between 90% to 99.9%, what to check before making your decision. They are minted in format 1 oz, 0.5 oz, 0.25 oz and 0.1 oz. Parts are available in several places, especially among retailers and boutiques of collectors with pinion on street or online. Unfortunately, counterfeit gold coins are a reality and it is therefore prudent to buy a merchant whose reputation is made for a long time. It is possible to visit the sites of American and Canadian currency to see the list of the dispensers approved (4).
Bars are the most traditional way of investing in gold. Larger than the parts, the formats vary between 1 oz and 400oz. The advantage of this is the low premium due to the quantity per bar and the absence of historical value. Found the bars usually in the same shops for parts, in addition to find them in brokerage firms and banks. Beware of counterfeiting with the parts, to also use extra caution with the bars due to their more flexible parameter in terms of appearance. Some rules as Good Delivery attempt to minimize fraud in determining physical characteristics to respect and establishing a chain of custody from the refiner. The most popular refineries are PAMP, Credit Switzerland, Johnson Matthey and Metalor.
As the price of gold varies every day, it is important to check how much it deals before making your purchase. Several sites are offered to you, including gold.org (5) and Bloomberg (6). The symbol for gold is XAU, not to be confused with the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index (7), and will be presented as follows: XAU to CAD or XAU to [insert currency]. It goes the same for Silver (XAG), Platinum (XPT) and palladium (XPD).
Storage
Depending on what and how much you buy gold, you have several options. Not need to graduate to understand that to bury a brick of 400 oz of pure gold in her garden is not there is safe. Do not forget that investment in precious metals is safe at the height of its storage. The buyer of old jewelry at a discount or the small investor collecting some common gold coins can probably opt for a small fort installed safe at home away from prying. By cons, for a person who does not necessarily have possessions to carry by hand at any time, she would sleep probably better by renting a safety deposit box in a financial institution. Costs more or less $ 40 / year (vary according to size and the institution) may be worth, especially if you have several thousand dollars in metal. If you decide likewise keep your gold jealously at home, don't forget to call your insurer which, unsurprisingly, reevaluate your premium rising.
Resale
Resale operates in essentially the same manner as for the purchase, and the same places. It is important to have retained all papers and certificates that you have been given when purchasing that prove the authenticity of the room or the bar. It is noted that a potential buyer may request an analysis, especially in the case of bars, which reduces the profitability of the investment. In the case of distance selling, transportation costs to deliver the secure any seller to be considered.
Regarding taxes, know that there is no GST / HST payable on or when it has a purity of 99.5% or more, as well as money with a purity of 99.9% . In terms of taxation, note that the gain or loss from a sale are taxable or tax deductible under the rule of gain or capital loss. On this last point, a discussion with your accountant or a tax would be notified before you embark on a major sale.
Alternative methods
So much for what is the physical gold buying, hoping you have informed about its ins and outs. This article goes on and it's getting late, so if I woke up the Scrooge in you, stay tuned. In the next section, I will elaborate a little more on the allocated gold and certificate purchase.
(1) A financial contract obligating the buyer to purchase an asset (or the seller to sell an asset), such as physical commodities or financial instrument at a predetermined price and future date.
(2) Percentage above or below the intrinsic value of the content
(3) Unit of measure of Anglo-Saxon mass generally used for precious metals. A troy ounce equals 31.1034768 grams.
(4) http://www.mint.ca/store/mint/customer-service/trouver-un-marchand-1400026?lang=fr_CA http://catalog.usmint.gov/bullion-dealer-locator
(5) http://www.gold.org/investment/interactive-gold-price-chart
(6) http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/XAUCAD:CUR/chart
(7) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XAU
