Investing in Gold (info about different products)

LongHaul_2

For investment gold you should really think about non-physical forms.

Big lumps of gold tend to live in audited warehouses managed by serious companies who act as custodians/clearers. If you remove gold from this system it is much harder to sell, as the people buying it will have to verify it (if they have any brains) before they accept it back into the system. That is an expensive and difficult process, not least because if you show up at a bank with a gold bar the entire money laundering team would want to come out to have a look.

You can own non-physical gold via an ETF or via a retail platform.

If you are worried about market turmoil then make sure the ETF / platform owns the gold, and isn't lending it out or replicating the return via a derivative swap.

If you are worried about armageddon buy tuna and weapons, as the ETF, platform, and coins won't be much use. I think axes would be good - handy as a weapon but also for woodworking.

I'm not making a recommendation but if you want a starting point to investigate platforms I used BullionVault when I started stockpiling back in 07 and have been pretty happy with their service. I think a number of others have since sprung up so I'd suggest comparing prices, liquidity, and of course security.

Hope this helps
Tony