What is the safest way to invest in gold: physical storage or ETF?

[pastet89]

Is it safer to invest in gold ETF or to buy physical gold and to store it somewhere?

The physical stuff seems super complicated and risky to me, how to get it, transport it, keep it in good conditions, think of a place to store it without risk of a physical theft etc...
I have zero experience with gold but to me the risk of someone stealing it from home seems higher than a reputable brokcker like IB going down for example.

And if you don't store it at home but at a bank safe or sth similar, what's the difference between this and ETF - when the gold is not in your hands anyway?

On the other side, we discussed recently in the crypto topic for tokenized gold that putting the gold in the hands of other companies means trusting them and risking they to fail.

I would be happy to hear opinions on that from people with experience in gold investing.

 

[JohnLocke]

No matter how you look at it, an investment is fraught with risk. If we completely disregard the possibility of confiscation due to either a lack of documentation for the money used to purchase the gold, or because of war breaking out, then I would say that both scenarios carry equal risk, essentially 50/50!

It's much easier to invest in Gold through ETFs than buying Gold and transporting it as you suggest. However, it must be said that there are thousands of Gold depots where you can also buy and sell the gold, so it never leaves its physical location. And there are safety deposit boxes where you can order Gold to be kept for you until you arrive as agreed.

 

[Mister Sir]

Did you know at one time aluminum was worth more than gold! Also did you notice how much palladium went down recently ... ..wow...... To answer your question to protect yourself as fully as you can.... I would try to mine my own gold because for the most part win even if gold goes down!!! The problem with this method is the time you spend not finding gold, the time you spend learning how to extract gold, and the time reviewing the law of the country you choose to prospect and take home gold... That's my brief answer.

 

[turmpy]

I don't understand your answer

 

[JohnnyDoe]

Do you prefer owning gold or a piece of paper stating that someone holds your gold? Do you trust more yourself or a third party?
Answer these questions and you will understand what is best for you.

 

[Mister Sir]

Don't be a sucker and buy gold at a ultra premium price!!!! Dig it up yourself

 

[turmpy]

Don't be a sucker and buy gold at a ultra premium price!!!! Dig it up yourself

really useful if you live in a country where you can't dig it up in your garden

 

[Mister Sir]

People throw out electronics, computers, car parts, appliances etc all the time - some of them contain gold, platinum or silver.

 

[uplana]

People throw out electronics, computers, car parts, appliances etc all the time - some of them contain gold, platinum or silver.

But it's a hell of a work! Shopping a few gold bars seems better.

 

[Mister Sir]

My way is a lot of work I definitely agree but at least you won't be suckered for money just time. The in between is to deal with the "Guerillas / Miners" and deal with getting killed, hurt, robbed, or ripped off vs receiving a bargain... You also have to factor in "inferior" gold verifiers that are not 100% accurate.

There are so many videos on YouTube of people finally selling there gold only to find out it's gold plated, fake gold, or gold with a lot less purity than they thought. And worst of all when you try to sell it back they take a 25%-40 percent discount and even a higher discount if it's jewelry....
1) oh it has scratches blah blah percent off
2) oh it's from this country we don't accept it
3) oh come back tomorrow we don't have enough cash
4) oh we got to give you less because it's casted and not minted.
5) or the worst is when they take your coin without a serial number and they do a switcheroo on you and you can't prove it...


Ps I forgot to mention that you got to carry that heavy stuff around while ur reviewing prices.

 

[wellington]

Can’t remember the exact amount but as I understand something like 40% of gold is used for jewelry - have a look around you and consider the following.

- what % of under 40s own gold jewelry?
- what % of over 40s own gold jewelry?
- - what % of that is over 60?
- do you see the under 40s buying gold jewelry in the future?
- is the world becoming more digital?

- Are the next cohort more likely to want to hold say Bitcoin or gold?

- what’s the impact of all the gold currently in jewelry hitting the scrap market in mass over the next 3 decades?

 

[Mister Sir]

Human Capital gets paid a lot more than gold whether it's elite useful talents, skills, attractiveness etc.

 

[jkl197]

I thought everybody knew that in Switzerland there are many companies offering the service of storing your gold in dedicated vaults which is different from the usual safe box in the bank vault (the first place governments go to check when they want to put their hands on the citizens pockets).
Sure you have to do your own DD on the swiss gold storage providers and see if you trust them.
Probably there are similar services in other countries, but surely I would not trust anything in US, UK, EUSSR, and all the others.
Good luck

 

[Radko]

I thought everybody knew that in Switzerland there are many companies offering the service of storing your gold in dedicated vaults which is different from the usual safe box in the bank vault (the first place governments go to check when they want to put their hands on the citizens pockets).
Sure you have to do your own DD on the swiss gold storage providers and see if you trust them.
Probably there are similar services in other countries, but surely I would not trust anything in US, UK, EUSSR, and all the others.
Good luck

I'm using Silver Bullion in Singapore.

 

[Marketint]

You have dassafe in Austria. It was 100% anonymous. The lucky one that paid long in upfront (it was possible to pay up to 30 years) can still use it anonymous. If you want to renew it you have to give your identity.

Home - Das Safe

Das Safe Seit 1984 Willkommen im Wiener Traditionshaus DAS SAFE in 1080 Wien Wir freuen uns über Ihr Interesse an unserem Wertfachvermietungs-Unternehmen im 8. Wiener Bezirk/Josefstadt und stellen Ihnen gerne unsere Leistungen rund um die sichere Verwahrung Ihrer Wertgegenstände oder Daten vor...

www.dassafe.com

I don’t know if there are still such services around the world?