Posts by John Rodriguez5

Gotta ask three questions here (might sound dumb, but whatever). 😁

1. Why the hell is everyone fighting over tiny fluctuations in the spot price when actual gold bars and coins always carry a premium anyway?

2. Why does anyone even care about the ATH when 99.9999% of people haven't bought or sold at those exact levels?

3. Why are we obsessing over the USD price when almost everyone on this forum is trading in Dollars or maybe just local cash?

In terms of actual purchasing power, the price is only a few percent off that record. Besides, even the folks who were buying back in 2011 when things peaked probably didn't have the luck to nail that exact peak day.

Michael Morgan5 said:So, I’m buying less than $10,000 just because I asked about showing an ID?
Honestly, I have no idea how you’re jumping to those conclusions.

There was a time when I used to post photos of my receipts on this thread specifically to deal with people like you, but I just don't have the energy for it anymore.
If you’re really that curious, go back and scroll through the archives from a few years ago.

The logic here is pretty straightforward.

At a bullion bank, you’re paying $10 more per ounce than you would at a place like Sam's Club.
Then, at the bank, you're getting $18 less than you would at Sam's Club. That's an $18 difference—not $8. You can take my word for it, or better yet, after reading your nonsense, I actually went and double-checked the numbers myself.
That means you're essentially throwing $28 per ounce down the drain.
Where exactly are you seeing a 0.5% saving in that? Because your math is completely broken. 😵

And don't even get me started on the fact that the bank's inventory is practically non-existent; I basically have to hand them my cash upfront just to have them source the goods within a week.
In America... yeah, right.

Besides, I'm self-employed and the dollar is only the fourth most common currency I deal with, so I'm not losing money on double conversion fees if I decide to buy gold from some startup that popped up two years ago and offers way worse rates than the big players.
You can dodge the tolls, especially the ones in neighboring states; the ones in Austria aren't worth the hassle anyway.
I have an auto refill setup, but all of that is peanuts compared to a straight $28 loss on every single ounce.

Michael Morgan5 said:So, I’m buying less than $10,000 just because I asked about showing an ID?
Honestly, I have no idea how you’re jumping to those conclusions.

There was a time when I used to post photos of my receipts on this thread specifically to deal with people like you, but I just don't have the energy for it anymore.
If you’re really that curious, go back and scroll through the archives from a few years ago.

The logic here is pretty straightforward.

At a bullion bank, you’re paying $10 more per ounce than you would at a place like Sam's Club.
Then, at the bank, you're getting $18 less than you would at Sam's Club. That's an $18 difference—not $8. You can take my word for it, or better yet, after reading your nonsense, I actually went and double-checked the numbers myself.
That means you're essentially throwing $28 per ounce down the drain.
Where exactly are you seeing a 0.5% saving in that? Because your math is completely broken. 😵

And don't even get me started on the fact that the bank's inventory is practically non-existent; I basically have to hand them my cash upfront just to have them source the goods within a week.
In America... yeah, right.

Besides, I'm self-employed and the dollar is only the fourth most common currency I deal with, so I'm not losing money on double conversion fees if I decide to buy gold from some startup that popped up two years ago and offers way worse rates than the big players.
You can dodge the tolls, especially the ones in neighboring states; the ones in Austria aren't worth the hassle anyway.
I have an auto refill setup, but all of that is peanuts compared to a straight $28 loss on every single ounce.

If you aren't being secretive, what's the gig that pays that well? I can barely scrape together a few bucks of whatever you've got in your profile pic from my pathetic little paycheck. 😁

bluebison55 said:Sorry if this is a bit off-topic, but I didn't want to start a whole new thread just for this, and I figured the experts here would know the deal.

Is there actually a safe place to store physical gold?

Don't get me wrong—I’m not asking anyone to tell me where they hide their stash; I'm not that crazy. I'm more curious about whether things like a bank safety deposit box are even an option, or if there are legal limits on what you can hold. I've heard rumors that it's actually not allowed, but I can't find anything clear about it on any bank websites.

I realize a lot of people here don't trust the banking system, so my question might sound a bit silly to some. But honestly, I deal with attempted break-ins at my house every couple of years, so keeping everything under my roof just doesn't feel smart. I'd much rather have it tucked away somewhere else.

Yeah, I've heard from a few people that banks won't touch gold storage either. Maybe that was true a few years back, but these days most major banks allow it: https://www.chase.com/personal/bank/safe-deposit-boxes
https://www.wellsfargo.com/deposit/safe-deposit-boxes/

Not sure how big those tiny little boxes are, but you could probably get by with a medium one for less than $333 a year. There's also a cheaper route if you just want to store the gold itself: https://www.kitco.com/storage/

Arthur Long5 said:The Vanguard fund shows a tracking error compared to its underlying index.
Which specific Vanguard fund did you pick?
Some funds track their benchmarks more accurately than others, while some lag behind... there is always a slight margin of error, and one also has to consider the possibility of someone selling the fund below its net asset value.

A Vanguard fund characterized by high trading volume and significant liquidity should theoretically exhibit a much smaller deviation...

We're talking about GLD here—the absolute heavyweight in the gold ETF space. I ran the numbers on random stretches over the last decade, and the correlation is obvious: the longer the timeframe, the bigger that negative drift from the spot price. It makes sense, though. The fund needs to eat somehow.

If you're planning on parking a massive chunk of change for the long haul, physical gold is hands down the move. As for the guys trying to play the short-term speculation game? They almost always screw up and lose their shirts, so they couldn't care less about a sub-1% annual fee.

Susan Hernandez82 said:I finally settled on a gold ETF to avoid dealing with swaps. It seems like the simplest route. Haven't pulled the trigger yet; waiting for my account to get activated and everything else.

I'm not expecting some massive moonshot either. This isn't a long-term play for me. A 15% return would be plenty. I already laid out why I think prices will rise. Nobody in their right mind is dreaming of $100,000. You'd need a total collapse. Like the USA going bankrupt or something. Probability is 0.001%. As for Bitcoin, I'll just short it.🙂

Nothing in life is free! They might not call it a "swap," but it’s still gonna cost you. 😁

Example:

Gold spot price on 12/07/2015 = $1,071.43
At the time of this post = $1,314
Percentage increase: 22.64%

Closing price for the gold Vanguard on 12/07/2015 = $103.11
At the time of this post = $123.97
Percentage increase: 20.23%

With the Vanguard, about 2.41% of that growth just vanished. Brokers and funds aren't running charities here. 🙂

Susan Hernandez82 said:Honestly, I can't decide between physical bullion or paper assets. My plan is just to flip it in a few months if I see a 10%-15% jump.
I'm not sure if buying investment gold for such a short window even makes sense. What are the overhead costs? Are there hidden fees?

ico1, I didn't follow your point about brokers. Why wouldn't I be able to withdraw my cash after selling?

Physical gold is hands down the better move. With digital, you're fighting swap fees, which basically forces you to rush out of a position too early and miss the real rally. Plus, whatever tiny profit you scrape together, the IRS is gonna take their cut. Don't forget the deposit/withdrawal fees and the whole "trusting a broker with your money" risk factor.

With bullion, there’s no tax headache, and time actually works for you instead of working against you like it does with derivatives.

velvetfalcon44 said:Moro, if you're looking for them in NYC, they're over at the Empire State Building on the 11th floor—you just gotta navigate those elevators. You enter through the underground passage, then take the lift, turn right, and head down the side street.
If you're buying up to $10,000 worth, just go through moro.com and pick it up at their Manhattan office—you can pay cash there (or via wire transfer). You could also swing by their Chicago location. For anything over $10k, you'll need to do a bank transfer.
If you're using USD, just stick to moro.com.
Up to $25000 you can just pay cash on the spot.

Moro is fine, but they're overpriced.
At Gold Bank, a 1kg bar is currently sitting at $93 https://www.bankazlata.com/kategorij...vanije-poluge/

While at Moro $94 ($0.92 way more expensive)

wearyotter36 said:Can one of the veterans here call this what it is—trolling? Some people might actually take this seriously.

Do me a favor. Look at the price right when we ditched the gold standard back in '71. Calculate how much it’s shot up per decade since then, and then come back and stop embarrassing yourself with comments like this.

dustyridge87 said:Dollar-cost averaging is a powerhouse strategy. If you can set aside $667 every single month to invest, then trying to buy a full ounce upfront would require four months' worth of capital in advance, which completely defeats the whole point of periodic buying.

Is it standard practice to DCA into gold every few months? Because if that's the case, just disregard my previous point. In your view, is picking up a 10g bar every month a solid move?

Look, if you're weighing up saving for retirement versus dumping an extra ten grand a month into something, I’m telling you—gold is still a winner. The price surge over the next few decades is gonna more than cover whatever fees you're paying to get in. Honestly? Just grab an ounce every couple of months. The price swings aren't chaotic enough to justify freaking out and buying every single week. Just stick to the plan.

I don't even know where to start with this one. Just total nonsense. Honestly, some people really need to get a grip. kaže:
The spreads abroad are way tighter. Over here, you're looking at a massive 1-2% gap between the buy and sell prices for one-ounce Philharmonic coins. It's ridiculous.

Check out this price list for setting up investments over at smh.net. It’s basically everything you need to know if you're looking to get your money moving. Just a heads-up: look it over before you jump in.

The spreads get pretty wide when you're dealing with smaller amounts. Like, right now, if you're looking at just one unit, the spread is sitting at about 4.5%. We're talking 125.00 versus 131.80. Not exactly great.

Sure, Austria might be cheaper, but only if you're buying in bulk. If you try to order it through the mail, the shipping costs alone will eat up any profit margin a distributor here in the States would make. And don't even get me started on the cost of driving over there just to pick it up myself.

dustyridge87 said:There’s an 8% spread on the 10-gram pieces, a 5% difference for the 100-gram ones, and it drops to 4% once you hit the 500-gram mark. Let’s say I decide to go with the 10-gramers—since dropping a massive chunk of cash on the bigger bars all at once feels like a bit much for me right now—we’re still talking about needing at least a 10% price surge just to see a measly 2% profit. Gold would have to rally back to those peak levels we saw way back in 2013 just to break even.

I don't know, man. Taking a position and instantly losing 5% to 18% of your purchasing power feels like a losing game from the jump. Honestly, the thought of looking at silver spreads makes my head spin, especially when you factor in how volatile the price is and then tack on the sales tax.

Are these actually standard margins for precious metals?

What do you mean by "too much of a massive investment all at once"? Yeah, losing 5-18% immediately is brutal, but nobody in their right mind buys 1g pieces. To me, anything under an ounce is a waste. A bar like that costs $2833 and the spread is 3%, which is totally fine. Plus, you buy gold for the long haul. If you hold for 10 years, expecting a 100% gain is realistic, so that little spread becomes basically nothing.

Thomas Patel6 said:Not trying to act like a know-it-all here... but I just went to measure that old 5-cent nickel we used to have. It's about 18 millimeters across.

Meanwhile, that New York Philharmonic coin weighing 3-ish grams, which costs roughly $333, is only 16 millimeters wide.

Look, I'm definitely no expert when it comes to gold investing... But paying around $333 for a coin that's literally smaller than a nickel?! Isn't gold a little overrated?

😁 I felt the exact same way when I held a 1 kg gold bar for the first time. It's basically the size of an iPhone, yet it's worth like $90. Here’s the link to the pic.

But honestly, if you actually stop to think about it, size and weight don't mean squat. Look at it this way: if you toss a coin and a $100 bill on a scale, the coin is gonna weigh more, but the cash is obviously worth way more (for now). Seems totally backwards, right? But why should something tiny or light be less valuable than something big and heavy? Back in the day, with cell phones, the rule was always the same—the smaller the thing, the higher the price tag.

These guys made some solid points about why gold is priced the way it is: https://www.goldcorp.com/gold-value/