Preparedness for when

thriftwizard

Seems to me there's also a growing awareness of how our economy really works; this is about the third such article I've seen shared by fairly mainstream, unaware friends this week. The article itself is old, but it was news, and completely shocking news, to the friend who shared it.

jk0

Frugalsod wrote: »

The problem is that if it is not a UK coin then it will be subject to VAT and capital gains tax. The Gold Sovereign is subject to VAT but not capital gains tax. Which is very handy in if you had to spend it, then no more CGT on top of any sales tax on the goods that you just bought.

Actually gold doesn't attract VAT either. Have a look here: https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk

Frugalsod

thriftwizard wrote: »

Seems to me there's also a growing awareness of how our economy really works; this is about the third such article I've seen shared by fairly mainstream, unaware friends this week. The article itself is old, but it was news, and completely shocking news, to the friend who shared it.

I still think that the mainstream media are completely lost in terms of what is actually happening. In fact most bloggers on Zero hedge are right about some things but not for the reasons that they think. Their models are wrong as are most government models. You can see this by the number of downgrades and adjustments that have been made by the Bank of England and the IMF.

Since most people are dependant on the mainstream media they do not know any better. Though they can see things that do not make sense and put it down to their neck of the woods or their industry being different from the rest of the economy.

This should cause concern amongst London readers

http://uk.businessinsider.com/deutsche-bank-calls-the-top-on-londons-insane-property-bubble-2015-10?op=1?r=US&IR=T

Frugalsod

jk0 wrote: »

Actually gold doesn't attract VAT either. Have a look here: https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk

I was confusing it with silver. You are right.

Yes but do you have £24000 to buy one 1Kg of gold? Most do not.

Witless

jk0 wrote: »

Actually gold doesn't attract VAT either. Have a look here: https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk

Apparently it does, depending on circumstances, according to this -

The gold was seized during an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) into a £9m smuggling plot.

The investigation saw the gang's leader, Chaudry Ali of Middlesex, England, jailed for nine years in 2012.

Mike Parkinson, assistant director of the HMRC's Fraud Investigation Service said: "This was part of a VAT fraud.

"The individuals that were involved in this were bringing this gold in from Dubai, but then working it through from Frankfurt in Germany and therefore not declaring it for VAT purposes."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-34679812

[Deleted User]

Frugalsod wrote: »

So imagine our government achieves its 2% surplus. Now that means that households will need to run 2% deficits every year ie. through increased borrowing but with wages stagnant would banks agree to this, and would most sensible people do this if they realised this is not a short term thing but permanent? No they would simply cut spending so that they were running a surplus as well. So what this means in reality is that 2% a year is simply evaporating out of the economy.

Aren't you overlooking something?

With the country running at a surplus, there is no interest (or indeed repayments) being paid, which means more money remains in the country, meaning taxes can be cut, effectively giving everyone a pay rise.

[Deleted User]

The very last thing I will invest in by way of prepping is gold or silver or anything of that ilk. I may be wrong but if we had to leave home for any reason then carting around precious metals just in case someone would take them as barter/exchange and having to leave behind equipment/supplies because of it would seem madness to me. I assume that after things settled we would all be in the same case of having to fend for ourselves and certainly wouldn't barter anything for something as useless as a lump of pretty metal no matter what it's value today, a sack of wheat or potatoes would be worth immeasurably more than a gold coin.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

The very last thing I will invest in by way of prepping is gold or silver or anything of that ilk. I may be wrong but if we had to leave home for any reason then carting around precious metals just in case someone would take them as barter/exchange and having to leave behind equipment/supplies because of it would seem madness to me. I assume that after things settled we would all be in the same case of having to fend for ourselves and certainly wouldn't barter anything for something as useless as a lump of pretty metal no matter what it's value today, a sack of wheat or potatoes would be worth immeasurably more than a gold coin.

Prob this is why people in medical/ dark ages buried their stash of gold jewelry etc, so they could flee with what they needed to survive, and then thought they would go back and collect their stash once things settled down

Nargleblast

You could always get a huge pair of old fashioned bloomers and sew your stash of gold and jewellery into special pockets inside. Be a bit uncomfortable when you sit down, though!

And the clanking noise when you run would be a dead giveaway.

Frugalsod

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

Aren't you overlooking something?

With the country running at a surplus, there is no interest (or indeed repayments) being paid, which means more money remains in the country, meaning taxes can be cut, effectively giving everyone a pay rise.

So are you. Running a surplus is basically sucking money out of the economy. It gets into the same problem that individuals suffer in a deflationary phase. The value of debts rise in real terms compared to incomes. Greece is running a 4% primary surplus but the interest on the debts are still outstripping the ability to run a surplus and pay off debts. So eventually they will need another bailout. And this is the policy that our glorious leaders are following.