Investing in precious metals is something more and more people are realizing is an important part of preparing for the future.
It's funny to me how many people I talk to who are only recently considering the idea, when it has been standard investment professional advice to hold 5% of one's portfolio in precious metals for as long as I can remember. (I say this not being an investment adviser myself, so of course, this post is me sharing my viewpoints, not professional investment advice.)
Lately I've heard the professionals recommending more like 10% or even 25%! That should tell you what's coming that they're in the loop on.
Getting the Metals
Even once you decide that you're going to invest in precious metals, and which ones, and how much of your portfolio, you still have to decide what form the investment will take.
Will you buy "paper gold" on COMEX and not bother with the physical stuff's delivery, storage, and insurance?
Will you buy bullion from a dealer and store it in your home or a safety deposit box at the bank?
Will you invest in an ETF like GLD or SLV?
Will you buy stock in mining companies?
A New Option
Last night I was checking prices on some bars I was thinking of buying and saw a new splash page for Provident Metals' homepage.
This basically means that you can buy physical bullion and have it stored for you at the Royal Canadian Mint at no monthly storage cost!
You can take physical delivery anytime you want, but selling it doesn't require you mail it in the way typical physical bullion purchases required. And of course, you don't need an extra insurance policy on your bullion, since presumably at least the Royal Canadian Mint can handle security pretty well. I know my home policy only covers bullion up to $200 and beyond that I have to take out expensive additional policies, including getting the metal appraised each time it goes up in value, with my policy cost going up with it.
Even cooler, your ownership of the bullion is tracked by blockchain!
From the site:
Each transaction in DGGold is permanently recorded onto a blockchain ledger using cryptography. This means that the data is converted into an unbreakable code that cannot be deciphered by an unauthorized user. Senders and receivers (such as DGGold and the Royal Canadian Mint) can only authenticate each other through matching key pairs, which protects the integrity of the data throughout the entire transaction and storage process.
What Do You Think?
Is this still buying physical gold to you, or really just another way of accounting for COMEX trading?
I'm really thinking of doing this, but would be interested in hearing what others think of it first.
Photo Sources: All images from Provident Metals website