Gold and Silver advice

NotRichAtAll

thanks for all the replies and links

masonic

markj113 wrote: »

No VAT to pay when delivered to the UK, all legal and above board.

Taken from the F.A.Q page -

"
Do I have to pay VAT when the goods are delivered?Our company EPM Trading GmbH guarantees the correct clearance (taxation) of the coins when they are purchased or acquired.
If your residence or delivery address is within the European Union, you receive fully taxed goods.
The goods are delivered to your doorstep, so you don't have to pay any taxes. The price that we display on our website, is the final purchase price. Only the shipping costs are added to it. Due to the German tax legislation, no tax (VAT) is indicated on your invoice (cf.. § 25a UStG).
We've even set up a UK based bank account for UK customers."
https://www.silver-to-go.com/en/faq/

Doesn't that merely state that VAT is paid, but not itemised on the invoice?

DiggerUK

Digger Mansions have most of our retirement savings in gold, very happy we are too. You on the other hand have come here with what seems a bright idea to buy some gold or silver.

It has been pointed out that you have to pay 20% vat on silver, and I am glad to see you have been put off silver. In my opinion it is also a fools purchase, but that discussion is best kept for another thread.

Buying gold to me is a smart move.........but a word to the wise. Do some research, it is also a fools purchase to buy something you know little about.

May be best to buy a sovereign, follow its fortune, and learn a bit more..._

puk999

DiggerUK wrote: »

Digger Mansions have most of our retirement savings in gold, very happy we are too.

The price of gold dropped from $1800/ounce in mid 2012 to $1200/ounce today with no signs of rising, and no income being produced. Why exactly are you happy about it?

I now see why you put a warning symbol next to most of your posts

EdGasket

Where are you going to keep the gold coins? Are you going to insure them? A smarter and cheaper way to invest in gold is via a low-cost sharedealing service and buying a gold exchange-traded fund (ETF) like iShares SGLN which is backed by physical gold. If you want leverage to the gold price go for the gold producers ETF SPGP; seems to have about 2 X leverage to the gold price and the fund benefits from dividends paid by the mining companies.

DiggerUK

puk999 wrote: »

The price of gold dropped from $1800/ounce in mid 2012.........Why exactly are you happy about it?

We never paid a dollar for our gold.......but with an average price per ounce of less than £650, we can smile.

p.s., the peak for gold was in September 2011.....£1170.
..._

jimjames

DiggerUK wrote: »

We never paid a dollar for our gold.......but with an average price per ounce of less than £650, we can smile.

p.s., the peak for gold was in September 2011.....£1170.
..._

Presumably that means it's now much lower than the peak?

grey_gym_sock

basically, gold (or silver) combines the (very high) volatility of shares with the (very low) average returns of cash. what is there to like?

however, it is possible that including a very small percentage of precious metals in a larger portfolio (mainly consisting of shares, gilts, corporate bonds, etc) will improve overall returns. because precious metals have some tendency to move in the opposite direction to shares.

alexanderalexander

Although I completely agree with the precious-metal-sceptic posts above, I would say that if it really is your considered opinion that precious metal prices are about to head north, and you are hell bent on putting some money behind this opinion, you'd be much better off going for a specialist fund which invests in precious metal miners. Golden Prospect Precious Metals is an investment trust I know of in this category, but I think there are also a couple of unit trusts and the ETF mentioned above. The value will be geared to the price of the metals (so bigger risk, bigger return), there's some chance of getting an income from it, and there is no problem with secure storage.

alexanderalexander

grey_gym_sock wrote: »

however, it is possible that including a very small percentage of precious metals in a larger portfolio (mainly consisting of shares, gilts, corporate bonds, etc) will improve overall returns. because precious metals have some tendency to move in the opposite direction to shares.

I think you're right that it might smooth overall returns (which is not to be sniffed at entirely -- some people really value smoother returns, whether from an emotional or practical rationale), but I'm not sure it'll increase overall returns in the long term as the gold will usually go back down as the equities go back up (as has happened over the past three or four years).