Gold & Silver Wealth Preservation

Buy Gold? Silver? Certificates of Deposit (CDs)? Stock? It seems that everyone has a different answer and opinion. For some of us this is a giant confusing soup of options.

It is difficult to understand what Wealth Preservation means if you live and work in the USA. This is because we have had a more or less stable currency and until recently we were the economic engine of the World.

In this context Wealth Preservation means to get to keep your savings, I am talking about savings accounts, CDs, pension funds such as IRAs, 401ks, Roth IRAs, Money Market Accounts, Money invested in stocks-bonds, etc… in other words financial assets that are very liquid, I am not talking about assets such as real estate property or businesses.

Whether you have millions of dollars or a couple of thousand, you can use these principles to your advantage. I don’t want you to get lost into the complications. From the point of view of the attorney or the CPA, the question of Wealth Preservation becomes a game of navigating the laws and the IRS Code. While this is necessary for very large transactions and acomplex assets structure, you can still use some simple “rule of thumb” methods which don’t require big shot attorneys or IRS Code Specialists.

Quite a few of my clients have asked me about whether or not they should buy Gold, or whether Silver is better, etc… when I asked them how much they are thinking on investing in these metals, I get figures of less than $100,000 down to a couple of thousands. The idea behind this, according to them, is to invest in something that is 100% safe which would accrue in value.

I believe that if you were thinking along these lines, Gold or Silver is not what you should be looking for. There are many reasons for that: it is unlikely you would be able to buy Gold or Silver in small quantities & with the required purity at a price that would preserve your value, let alone sell it and then recoup it. Gold or Silver sold at retail is much more expensive than bulk bullion, which is what you would want.

Liquidity is also the other factor, when you need liquid funds, it is not going to be that easy to sell Silver or Gold and you may not get back what you expect, especially if you really need the funds.

A simple option for Wealth Preservation which is very popular internationally however unknown or very little used here at home is Foreign Currency. Part of the reason why, is that the US Dollar has been the currency to which other people convert to as a Wealth Preservation Strategy. This is changing rapidly though; the Dollar is quickly losing its value and will continue to do so.

The Swiss Franc is the jewel of Foreign Currency. The Swiss economy is run very differently from ours. They have ample gold reserves, and they make more than they spend. The Swiss Franc is so strong and stable, that recently the Swiss Government has had to devalue it on purpose (this means make it less valuable) so that other countries can afford to visit Switzerland and buy its products. This is an example where a rich, stable and prosperous society has had to artificially lower the value of its currency because everyone else’s money is losing value.

Usually countries are forced to devalue its currency, not the other way around.

Buying Swiss Francs, abbreviated CHF, is simple, the costs are minimal, you can buy a couple of hundred dollars worth of CHF or hundreds of thousand if you wish, you can convert them back at any time for a small fee, you can also take them overseas and spend them as Swiss Francs too (the Swiss Franc is an internationally recognized strong currency) or simply convert back into US Dollars as needed.

You are able to preserve the value of your dollars at minimum expense and your investment stays 100% liquid at all times! You have total control, at all times.

Currencies fluctuate on a daily basis however it is my opinion that on a medium to long term trend the CHF will continue to gain strength against the dollar. Their fundamentals are in place, we abandoned ours decades ago.

Nothing wrong with buying Gold or Silver providing you do a thorough research & know the limitations, however it is my personal opinion that no matter how wealthy you are, a portion of your assets in foreign currency is an essential ingredient.